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Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn was initially the rank outsider when the Labour leadership election began in July as he had never held office in the parliamentary party but he stormed to a clear victory.
In his first major speech as official Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, he addressed the annual gathering of the Trades Union Congress yesterday (15th September 2015). He made clear that should he become prime minister there would be stronger state intervention in the house-building industry and a local authority building programme would be a top priority.
“The issue is we have to address the housing crisis that facing so many people all over the country. The free market isn’t solving the problem of homelessness,” he said.
He continued: “We have to change our housing policy fundamentally by rapidly increasing our council house-building programme to give real security to people’s lives.”
Construction union Ucatt, which came out as an early support of Andy Burnham’s leadership bid, liked what it heard.
Ucatt national secretary Brian Rye said: “Jeremy Corbyn spelled out his vision to create a fairer and more equal society. His commitment to solving the housing crisis is welcome and long overdue; he recognises this cannot be achieved without a massive council housebuilding programme.”
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