Yimby Angela Rayner has urged MPs to back Labour’s planning bill so affordable homes can be built – saying Britain will only grow if we start saying yes.
The deputy prime minister wants to introduce new laws to remove barriers to growth and rip down red tape preventing the construction of thousands of new houses.
“As deputy prime minister I get to speak to so many great people,” she wrote in the Mirror over the weekend.
“Do you know what I hear more often than almost anything else? That people feel like you can’t get anything done anymore. Whether it is getting a secure home to call your own or the critical infrastructure this country needs to build to grow, for too long the answer has been no – and it is time that we change that.
“I am sure the readers of the Mirror will be all too familiar with this and will know that by creating blockers and saying no, it has just made people worse off.”
Rayner believes fast tracking the planning process will be crucial to meet the government’s commitment to build 1.5 million new homes in the next five years.
“This nonsense cannot continue. I made a promise to the country that we will deliver the biggest boost to affordable and social housing in a generation,” she said. “We can’t do that unless we start saying yes.”
She added: “I am now calling on my colleagues to help us secure a smooth and speedy passage of our Planning and Infrastructure Bill so it can become law as soon as possible.
“It’s time to roll up our sleeves, make these seismic reforms become a reality for millions of working people and families… and start saying yes.”
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