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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Call for migrant housing rethink | Call for migrant housing rethink |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The Industry Minister Margaret Hodge has said UK families should be given priority over immigrants when it comes to receiving council housing. | The Industry Minister Margaret Hodge has said UK families should be given priority over immigrants when it comes to receiving council housing. |
| She said a "transparent" points system giving weight to length of residence, citizenship and national insurance contributions would be fairer. | She said a "transparent" points system giving weight to length of residence, citizenship and national insurance contributions would be fairer. |
| Mrs Hodge also says she herself is an immigrant - she was born in Egypt. | Mrs Hodge also says she herself is an immigrant - she was born in Egypt. |
| The Refugee Council condemned Mrs Hodge's comments, saying asylum seekers are not entitled to council housing. | The Refugee Council condemned Mrs Hodge's comments, saying asylum seekers are not entitled to council housing. |
| Mrs Hodge, writing in the Observer, said: "So a recently arrived family with four or five children living in a damp and overcrowded flat with the children suffering from asthma will usually get priority over a family with less housing need who have lived in the area and are stuck at home with the grandparents. | Mrs Hodge, writing in the Observer, said: "So a recently arrived family with four or five children living in a damp and overcrowded flat with the children suffering from asthma will usually get priority over a family with less housing need who have lived in the area and are stuck at home with the grandparents. |
| "We should look at policies where the legitimate sense of entitlement felt by the indigenous family overrides the legitimate need demonstrated by the new migrants. | "We should look at policies where the legitimate sense of entitlement felt by the indigenous family overrides the legitimate need demonstrated by the new migrants. |
| "We must debate these difficult questions." | "We must debate these difficult questions." |
| Need basis | Need basis |
| Nancy Kelley, head of international and UK policy at the Refugee Council told the paper: "The way to counter some of the views put forward by far-right parties is not to follow their lead". | |
| She also pointed out that people who are confirmed as refugees in the UK are entitled to council housing but on the "same basis as a UK national, on the basis of need". | She also pointed out that people who are confirmed as refugees in the UK are entitled to council housing but on the "same basis as a UK national, on the basis of need". |
| Speaking on BBC One's Sunday AM programme, Labour Party chairman Hazel Blears said there was a need "to tackle these tough issues." | Speaking on BBC One's Sunday AM programme, Labour Party chairman Hazel Blears said there was a need "to tackle these tough issues." |
| She said: "You have got to look at allocations policies to show that they are fair. | She said: "You have got to look at allocations policies to show that they are fair. |
| "It is just the same as the welfare system, you have got to show that is fair as well. | "It is just the same as the welfare system, you have got to show that is fair as well. |
| "People in this country have a real sense of fairness they are prepared to do their bit but they want to know the system actually works for them." | "People in this country have a real sense of fairness they are prepared to do their bit but they want to know the system actually works for them." |