Business of the House

Ruth Cadbury Excerpts

Thursday 6th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I do not think the result in Bristol does do that, because the decision does not set a precedent. It was a case decided by a jury on the facts before them. I shall therefore not be going out of here immediately afterwards and drawing a moustache on the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside, much though I am opposed to regicides in principle and think that they deserve to be removed from pedestals broadly speaking. I think we should recognise our history even when the figures in that history are not ones that we individually admire. Our island story is a complex one, and there are varieties in all people of good intentions and less pure intentions. My hon. Friend is right that we should protect monuments and that they should be removed only by a due process, but one of our greatest monuments is the jury system, which is the great, sublime protector of our liberties.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

Thanks to funding from the Mayor of London, Hounslow council will be buying over 500 homes and bringing them into council ownership, including a number of former council homes sold under right to buy. These will provide secure, affordable homes to over 500 families in housing need, with 25 going to young care leavers and 20 going to Afghan refugees to whom this country owes a debt. Will the Leader of the House congratulate the Mayor of London and the London Borough of Hounslow, and find time for a debate on the importance of public investment in truly affordable and secure housing?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

First, I would say that the Mayor of London has no money; it is taxpayers’ money. The hon. Lady needs the conversion that has worked on the shadow Leader of the House. It is of course important to have affordable housing. The Government are increasing the supply of housing, with £10 billion being spent on housing supply since the start of this Parliament, which will unlock over 1 million homes, including £300 million of locally led grant funding to unlock small brownfield sites and improve communities, and with £12 billion of expenditure on affordable housing from 2021. These things are happening and they are led by central Government, but it is taxpayers’ money.