Sheila Gilmore
Main Page: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)(10 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
Once I have been spared from my duties in the Chamber, I intend to go to the Tea Room where I shall expect an orderly queue of hon. Members lining up to volunteer.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
In a recent debate the Secretary of State told me that in England landlords did not refuse housing to people on housing benefit, yet a big landlord was reported in the press as saying that he was moving completely out of letting to housing benefit tenants. Will the Secretary of State now carry out a proper inquiry so that he can give a clear answer to the point I raised in that debate?
Mr Pickles
With all respect to the hon. Lady, she was making exactly the same point about an article that had been in the Daily Mail that very weekend. I pointed out, with enormous respect, that there are a lot more private landlords than just that particular gentleman, and I do not think he represents anything that speaks of the sector as a whole. The short answer is no.