The Prime Minister began by acknowledging the truly horrific
event which took place in Southport yesterday. He said the
thoughts of the whole Cabinet, and the entire country, were with
those who were attacked and their families who are going through
an unimaginable ordeal. He said the Home Secretary is in
Southport now. He added that it was hard to find words to express
what the grieving families and community must be going through.
The Prime Minister turned to the Deputy Prime Minister to provide
an update ahead of her statement on planning reforms later. He
said the country had not built the homes that we need, the
average age of someone buying their first home continues to
increase, there are pressures on renters, and housebuilding was
important to the government's growth agenda.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the country faced an acute housing
crisis that had resulted in high levels of homelessness, over one
million households on social housing waiting lists, homes on
average in England costing more than eight times average incomes
and fewer than 200,000 homes forecast to be built this year. She
outlined that later today the Government would set out plans to
lay the foundations for 1.5 million new homes across Britain over
this Parliament. Working people are facing huge
challenges to find a safe and decent home to call their own
and this government is setting out the first steps to make this
happen.
Turning to the economy, the Chancellor said the £22 billion of
unfunded commitments from the previous Government had put
significant pressures on the public finances. She made it clear
that these are not the decisions she wanted to make but the scale
of the overspend inherited has meant she needed to step in to
restore economic stability.
Finally the Education Secretary updated on the steps she is
taking to break down barriers to opportunity, with a focus on
improving outcomes for children and young people and ensuring our
children's life chances are not determined by family background
but by their own talents and hard work.
