A LABOUR government would launch a huge council home-building programme to help address the crisis of housing in cities like Oxford, John McDonnell has said.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail on Thursday night, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer also criticised the extension of the right to buy to housing association tenants.

He claimed it was putting "desperately needed" social housing into private hands, as it would be paid for by forcing councils to sell their most valuable properties.

Mr McDonnell said local authorities should instead be allowed to build thousands of new homes, recalling how his life had been transformed when his family moved into one. 

He said: "I was born in a slum in Liverpool. We moved out and were put in a council brick-built home, with a garden front and rear and my brother and I had our own bedroom for the first time.

thisisoxfordshire:

  • Hundreds of people piled into Oxford Town Hall for the talks.

"We had a front room and a kitchen and it was warm and it was solidly built.

"What Labour wants to do is give local government the freedom to start building again to satisfy the massive demand among people who need a roof over their head in this country."

He said future council homes should be "ecologically-sound... like properties we see across Europe but not here".

The MP for Hayes and Harlington is on a town hall tour across Britain to discuss 'New Economics' with local Labour parties and the public. 

About 600 people attended one of the events at Oxford Town Hall on Thursday night, when TUC deputy general secretary Paul Nowak and economist Professor Ozlam Onaran also spoke.

Mr McDonnell added: "We are bringing together a whole range of economic advisers but also people with hands-on experience within industry.

"As we have seen tonight, people are just fascinated."