Margaret Beckett

Outrage at 'secret' eco-town bid

The Weston Otmoor site was called the "biggest threat" to Bicester's survival Council leaders in north Oxfordshire have been accused of making a secret bid to build an eco-town. Cherwell District Council put forward plans for...

Beckett tells MPs: 'Tenants can keep homes for life'

Housing Minister Margaret Beckett was praised today for "knocking very firmly on the head" reports that council tenants could lose their right to a home for life. Last week it was reported that the Government was looking at...

Government unveils £200 million drive to end rough sleeping

A major new drive to end rough sleeping by 2012 was announced by the Government today. Rough sleeping numbers have been driven down over the last decade and have stayed down due to concerted efforts across Government, the...

Housing and homelessness top of agenda as Blears holds first youth panel meeting

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today holds her first meeting with the new youth panel representing communities across England - set up to give young people a voice within Government - with housing and homelessness top of...

Beckett: Eco-towns programme 'totally on course'

The Government's programme for building new eco-towns is "totally on course," Housing Minister Margaret Beckett insisted today. But she told MPs that ministers' plans to build three million new homes by 2020 were an "ambition"...

Beckett attacks 'unscrupulous' landlords over evictions 'scandal'

Unscrupulous sale-and-rent-back landlords who threaten to evict hard-pressed families were attacked for "scandalous" practices by Housing Minister Margaret Beckett today. Mrs Beckett said it was a "very serious and alarming...

Chris Maume: Ali and Frazier diminished by memories of Manila bitterness

Muhammad Ali is an international treasure, the closest thing the world has to a secular living god, a fistic mixture of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. Joe Frazier is a sad old bloke living in a shabby, pokey flat above his...

Extracts from the Hugo Young Papers, 30 years of conversations with major political players

When Hugo Young died he left behind detailed notes of 30 years of conversations with the stars of the political scene. They are now to be published. Here we present an exclusive extract, covering the early years of New Labour

'More could be done' on carbon emissions measurement in homes

More could be done to reduce the carbon emissions measurement of homes in the UK, according to the chairman of the Construction Products Association (CPA).Adrian Barden, writing in Construction News, explained that the...

The Sketch: Is Harriet harmed or did Bryant leave his brain in the lobby?

What's going on between Harriet and her protégé, Chris Bryant? One old stager told me that no secretary of state likes it when their assistant or under-minister makes a hit. Oh, they laugh along in public, but inside they die a...

1 2 3 4 next »