Phone buzzing with hopeful leaseholders after M Gove's appearance at the Select Committee today: "The govt has a responsibility to make buildings safe but we also have a responsibility to relieve some of the responsibility faced by leaseholders atm, who are innocent parties...
"...and being asked to pay disproportionate sums when there are individuals in business, some of whom still in business who are guilty men and women."
He's talking specifically about cladding- question is whether that approach will extend beyond it.
Says an "insufficient..."
...responsibility" is being showed by developers.
When asked about buildings below 18m with non-cladding problems Gove says there may not be negligible risk but question is how best to mitigate it. Says dept is working on this. Says he's a "complete sympathiser" to those who...
..are trapped unable to get sell. Repeats that with buildings under 18m and with non-cladding problems "the right people" should be held accountable and that leaseholders are facing "an excessive burden."
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Mark Fletcher, new Conservative MP for Bolsover who sits on the Standards Committee: “I had no problem voting for the report which was discussed last week [on Owen Paterson] I would do the same again today.”
Difference in attitudes between Conservative intakes (which has been reported on) on display in the debate.
Fletcher: “Mr Paterson would have been found to have broken the rules under any process that we create and we should not kid ourselves on that front.”
NEW: SNP’s Pete Wishart writes this letter to Commissioner of Police Cressida Dick asking the Met to open a formal investigation into the series of peerages given to people who have been/are Conservative Party treasurers and donors.
Earlier today the Trade Sec Anne Marie Trevelyan denied the suggested link:
SNP say the letter has been received and they’ve been assured of a response as soon as reasonably possible.
No 10 have confirmed the Prime Minister won’t be responding to the standards emergency debate in the Commons later today- he’s visiting a hospital in the north east.
Instead it’ll be Steve Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister.
Last night Keir Starmer called for an apology from the Prime Minister for the government’s conduct throughout the affair. PM appears to have given him his answer 👇
PM says there’s been “absolutely no discussion” about a peerage for OP.
Syas he hopes there’ll be “cross party agreement” on MPs’ standards. This has been line from govt for days. Problem is doesn’t recognise that that has been made less likely as a result of last week’s events.
Big moment for the Biden presidency. Congress finally passes infrastructure bill- $1.2 trillion, the biggest single federal investment in infrastructure (incl measures to combat climate change) in over a decade. Got 13 GOP votes. Will be a relief to the administration.
But at a cost- bigger social spending package which liberals wanted removed, with a promise it’ll come before the House by November 15th (after budget implications are worked out).
Hope will be gives Biden some much needed momentum.
Three potential wrinkles
1) it’s a lot of new spending. Possibility of adding to worsening inflationary outlook. 2) Obama’s first two years were legislatively successful (had huge congressional majorities). Didn’t stop the shellacking in the midterms of 2010. 3) if libs...
As the dust settles, so many questions flowing from the budget. How can it be that living standards are stagnant for 20 years? What is the plan to fix it? What will the consequences be? What, in that context, does levelling up mean? It's the central feature of British politics.
Much for policy makers and politicians of the last decade or more to reflect and ask what their role has been and how it might have been different. It's a staggering phenomenon.
Resolution Foundation: "In the 16 years leading up to 2008, average earnings grew by 36 per cent; in the 16 years following 2008, real wages are forecast to have risen by just 2.4 per cent in total. The country is still in the weakest decade for pay growth since the 1930s."
Robert Jenrick stating quite plainly here that because the Treasury isn’t willing to step in and either pay for fire remediation costs, or make developers pay more for it, leaseholders are having to pick up the balance (even though they are entirely blameless).
Jenrick was of course the responsible Cabinet Minister until just a few weeks ago.
Jenrick says this was battle he was fighting with the Treasury for several years.
Government is paying around £5bn in support. But as I’ve reported many, many times such is the crisis of confidence in this part of the housing market this only scratches the surface. Not least because support is only available for cladding and buildings over 18m.