HODGE PLAYS THE BNP CARD - AGAIN

22-05-2007

Industry Ministry Margaret Hodge has echoed one of the BNP’s favourite mantras by claiming that migrants are allowed to jump the queue get priority for social housing - a view which simply isn’t backed up by the evidence in the West Midlands.

In an article forThe Observer, Hodge claimed that “we need to question and debate whether our rules for deciding who can access social housing are fair and promote tolerance rather than inviting division.

“Even if we were vastly to increase the amount of social housing available, we would still need to ration what will always be a limited resource.

“We prioritise the needs of an individual migrant family over the entitlement others feel they have.

“So a recently arrived family with four or five children living in a damp and overcrowded, privately rented flat with the children suffering from asthma will usually get priority over a family with less housing need who have lived in the area for three generations and are stuck at home with the grandparents”.

That maybe true in Barking, the constituency that Hodge represents, but it doesn’t apply in Birmingham.

The city’s cabinet member for housing John Lines told us that newly arrived economic migrants don’t have any automatic entitlement to a council house, but are steered instead to the private sector where a booming "buy to let" market ensures that the supply is plentiful.

Asylum seekers are housed in difficult to let blocks, but the cost is met by the Home Office not the council taxpayer.

Lines said: “She should be working harder to allay the fears - often unfounded fears that people have out there. There is not queue jumping in Birmingham”.

It’s a similar situation in Dudley, where Linda Sanders the director of adult, community and housing services, said:

"Dudley Council's lettings policy does give preference to local people. People wishing to move into Dudley are generally only offered properties for which there is no local demand.

"The law clearly states that housing need should be the main factor in allocating council housing but Dudley does take account of the length of time on the waiting list, as at the moment an applicant would receive more than 50 points for time on the list.

"In Dudley newly arrived workers are a very small part of the population and are often not even eligible to join the waiting list for council housing

"It needs to be recognised that the position in Dudley will be different than in the South East where there are many more people who are economic migrants. Most of our local authority housing allocations are for people in housing need on the waiting list rather than due to homelessness, which is probably the reverse of the situation in London Boroughs."

A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council told us: “As it stands our policy gives less preference to applicants who live outside the city or have been here less than a month. A review of Wolverhampton Council's allocation policy is nearing completion and will look at how this may be strengthened.”

No one is denying of course that there is often resentment among white working class communities about new arrivals who are perceived to be getting a better deal.

What’s surprising is that we have a minister who is all too ready to pander to their prejudices - which are all easily preyed upon by the extreme right.

Having “talked up” the BNP’s chances at the local elections in 2006 - helping them into second place in Barking and Dagenham - it seems that Hodge still hasn’t learned her lesson.

If she wants to look at practical solutions, instead of coming on like a closet racist, maybe she should address the policies of her own party - especially it’s perpetuation of the Right To Buy scheme which has taken tens of thousands of council houses out of the social market.

She might also want address Labour’s wilful promotion of the over-heated economy of South East England, making it the main draw not only for migrant workers but also many talented and ambitious Brits.

Come on Margaret - instead of coming on like a member of a far-right party, why not sound like a Labour MP for a change?

(to see Margaret Hodge's article in full click here)