Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to lead demonstration against the Housing Bill
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to lead a demonstration in London on Sunday in opposition to the Housing Bill.
The national demonstration, organised by Kill the Housing Bill campaign, will march on parliament, urging the government to impose rent controls and secure homes for all.
Protesters are to meet at Lincoln's Inn Fields at midday and march via Aldwych and the Strand, before crossing over the river to the South bank, and returning over Westminster Bridge to parliament. The march will end with a rally in Parliament Square at 2pm.
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"Labour is opposing it in parliament but I’m also opposing it outside parliament by supporting the Kill the Housing Bill demonstration," said shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
"Millions of people across the country are struggling to afford to rent or buy a home but the government is callous in its disregard for people's right to secure themselves the right to a decent home," he added.
The bill includes measures to extend right to buy to housing association tenants, force the sale of high value vacant local authority properties, and introduce a charge on tenants in council houses earning more than £30,000 per household a year, or £40,000 in London.
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However, the communities and local government committee has warned that the Conservative policy of "right-to-buy" could reduce the stock of affordable housing.
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's only MP, who will be participating in the protest, said: "This bill is being used to pull the rug from underneath those who rely on our already limited stock of social housing, destroying the very bricks and mortar of the welfare state. It is also a sure fire way to extend – not end – the housing crisis."