Party Lines: November 10th

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By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

On a day when most political stories have been drowned out by the NUS tuition fees demo and the aftermath, Labour’s shadow team have still been working hard to hold the government to account.

Caroline Flint responded to today’s High Court ruling against the government’s plans to scrap regional housing targets, said:

Caroline Flint“The High Court ruling raises embarrassing questions about the way Eric Pickles ripped up plans for desperately needed new homes. The government’s decision to scrap regional housing targets, without thinking of the impact, has led local authorities to ditch plans for 160,000 new homes – 1,300 every single day. It has also undermined the construction industry by creating confusion and uncertainty.”

“Added to a housing budget cut by more than half, the coalition’s housing policies are doing little to meet the aspirations of the hundreds of thousands of families who want to live in a decent home.”

Jim Murphy spoke to Sky News this morning, and was critical of the government’s decision to have aircraft carriers without planes for ten years:

Jim Murphy“How does the government have this degree of absolute certainty that our aircraft carriers [should] not have aeroplanes on them for ten years? It doesn’t seem to make sense for many people in the military. These questions have to be answered by the government.”

And as the Prime Minister continues his Chinese trip, Douglas Alexander appeared on the Daily Politics, and said that the rise of China is one of the most significant political developments of our time:

Douglas Alexander Profile “I think if you look at the rise of China, not just over the last decades, but looking ahead, one of the dominating stories of all of our political lifetimes is going to be the rise of China. We seem to be a bit obsessed by the reach of Europe, I think a much bigger story is going to be the rise of China.”

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