Latest news with #nimbys
Times
06-08-2025
- Politics
- Times
‘Nimby' attacks alienate rural voters, Labour MPs warn Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer is being warned by Labour MPs to tone down the government's attack on 'nimbys' amid fears it is alienating voters in rural constituencies that the party won for the first time in 2024. The prime minister was told the phrase was divisive and risked a further drop in the 'goodwill' shown by rural voters that handed Labour a historic election win last year. The Rural Research Group, which represents 26 MPs from countryside constituencies, said it was wrong to label people 'nimbys'. The acronym stands for 'not in my back yard' and has been adopted frequently by Starmer to characterise those he has said are standing in the way of Labour's growth plans by blocking new housing and infrastructure. But the group said there was a tendency in Westminster to 'focus on dividing lines' that 'often pit rural against urban, and nimbys against yimbys ['yes in my back yard']' — with the former 'seen as people living in rural or semi-rural communities'. They conducted polling that found 56 per cent rural of rural voters did not see themselves as nimbys, compared with 16 who did. 'For development to succeed in rural areas, it must respect and reflect the deep connection to land, nature and local identity,' the MPs said. • Pro-growth Labour MPs dismayed at concession to green 'nimbys' Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, who chairs the group and won the seat of Suffolk Coastal for Labour for the first time in 2024 from the former deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey, said that calling people nimbys was 'toxic'. She told The Times: 'We need to put the term 'nimbyism' to bed. It excludes a whole set of voters from a conversation about what local growth and local opportunity means for them, in their area. 'Shouting people down and calling them nimbys won't win support for local growth. 'But if we capture what matters locally, build in for nature, and make growth inclusive for our rural areas — we can succeed where the previous government failed.' Starmer has repeatedly attacked 'nimbys' in a bid to demonstrate the government's commitment to boosting growth through housebuilding and new infrastructure projects. Since becoming prime minister, he has vowed to 'take on the nimbys', branding them 'blockers' who want to 'frustrate growth' and are part of 'the alliance of naysayers'. The group's intervention will be seen as evidence of growing concern among rural MPs about Labour's poll ratings, particularly given the hit to farmers from Rachel Reeves's changes to inheritance tax in her budget. • James Rebanks: 'The farming crisis? It's much bigger than inheritance tax' The emergence of more 'research group' caucuses in parliament also mirrors how Conservative factions sought to wield their power under previous administrations and demonstrates the restlessness felt by some Labour MPs. Starmer was told to show more recognition of rural identity, which the rural group said had 'for too long been misunderstood and overlooked by policymakers'. They said housebuilding was still important, with 80 per cent of those surveyed saying they were concerned younger people will not be able to buy their own home. Most — 65 per cent — were happy for development to proceed, so long as it was done thoughtfully and with consideration for local identity and needs. However, the group said that rural areas 'often have higher housing targets than their urban neighbours' and are bearing the brunt of big energy projects and grid upgrades as part of the government's drive towards net zero. 'For many rural voters, this is something that they are increasingly aware of, as they witness new infrastructure and developments appearing in their locality,' the MPs said in their report, Understanding Rural Britain. • Why Labour is failing to build the homes Britain needs Their polling showed rural voters prioritised spending on the NHS above all else (59 per cent), followed by agriculture and the rural economy (51 per cent), education (48 per cent) and tackling crime (44 per cent). The most popular spending cuts were foreign aid (53 per cent) and welfare (44 per cent).Given the potential threat posed by Reform UK, the group also highlighted widespread disillusionment with the established political parties. Almost two thirds of rural voters — 65 per cent — said they have little trust in politicians, according to the poll. The MPs said: 'This should serve as a clear warning sign to all parties: disillusionment in rural Britain runs deep, and restoring trust will require more than promises — it must be backed by visible, long-term local action rooted in authenticity.' A Labour source defended the party's record, saying: 'We are proud of our ambition to create a fairer Britain.' They said that working families were yet to 'feel that sense of fairness' and that all people 'deserve a secure place to call home for them and their loved ones'. The source added Labour would 'unashamedly deliver on that promise', as well as its commitment to build 1.5 million new homes during the parliament with adequate infrastructure and healthcare for new residents.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Net Zero tsar Ed Miliband's wife joins 'nimby' campaigners against new housing development they claim has too many 'noisy' heat pumps
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused 'nimbys' of holding Britain back – but the wife of Energy Minister Ed Miliband seems not to have got the memo. For it has emerged she has joined a neighbourhood campaign against a small block of flats being built near their £3m Victorian home. Even more embarrassingly for Mr Miliband, one of the biggest bugbears of his wife Justine Thornton's fellow campaigners is the multiple 'noisy' air source heat pumps due to be attached to the outside of the controversial development. And the Energy Secretary is leading calls for such heat pumps to be installed on ALL new buildings, even though critics point out they cost several times as much as gas boilers, which face being banned. The dispute has hit the conservation area of Dartmouth Park in liberal north London, where Turkish property developer Dicle Guntas Girman, 36, four years ago bought a 1930s detached house for £1.7m. It lies close to the elegant villa occupied by former Labour leader Mr Miliband, wife Dame Justine, 54, a high court judge, and their two sons – which previously found them accused of living a life beyond the dreams of their electorate when they were revealed to have two kitchens. Ms Girman and her company HGG London Limited have now applied to demolish the £1.7m house, and replace it with a block of flats containing six flats over as many storeys, collectively worth more than £6m. Well-heeled neighbours including actor Benedict Cumberbatch are up in arms – and so is Mr Miliband's wife. Perhaps mindful of her husband's governmental commitment to building 1.5m homes by 2030, however, her formal letter of objection to the plan insists she is not against ALL developments. It's just this one to which she is saying 'Not In My Back Yard'. Dame Justine wrote to the council: 'No objection to the principle of redevelopment into flats particularly in the context of the need for more housing. 'However, the proposed design appears to be too tall, too bulky and too dense for its plot given the context of the surrounding houses and the wider conservation area. 'The nearby Highgate Newtown residential development is a brilliant example of thoughtful design in harmony with neighbouring properties. 'This application presents another opportunity for the Council to demonstrate its commitment to the provision of sympathetically designed housing by acknowledging the benefit of redevelopment whilst rejecting this particular design.' Earlier this year Mr Starmer declared he would put 'the country's future prosperity ahead of the whims of nimbys who have been holding us back for too long', and said he himself was a 'Yimby' – Yes In My Back Yard. The developers of the flats say they could 'deliver new housing on a brownfield site in line with national and local planning policy objectives'. And Labour, in its drive to enable the building of those 1.5m houses, says it its new Planning Policy Framework redevelopment of brownfield sites 'should be approved unless substantial harm would be caused'. Mr Miliband's wife certainly has dozens of fellow opponents however, with arguments demolishing a decent house to replace it does not constitute a brownfield site, and that the block of flats would tower over the Victorian conservation area 'like a Mediterranean hotel complex'. But many are particularly vexed by the six external air source heat pumps planned for the block – just a fraction of the millions Mr Miliband, 55, wants across Britain. Neighbour Karla de Montbel objects to the development's 'increased noise as the heat pumps (6!!) are inadequate for the size and also located too close to neighbours'. And Ruth Liebling says: 'The positioning of 6 heat pumps in an enclosure at ground level would cause constant noise pollution to nearby properties as they are so near to them.' Speaking in his Government role – but perhaps not over the table in either of his kitchens - Mr Miliband has vowed to 'take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists' impeding his 'Net Zero' drive to stop Britons using fossil fuels. Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake told the Times: 'Red Ed joins the not-at-all exclusive club of 14 other serving cabinet ministers who have objected to housing developments in their areas.'
Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Ed Miliband's wife turns nimby over plan for flats near London home
Sir Keir Starmer's government may have declared war on nimbys in pursuit of economic growth, but it could lead to awkward conversations at home for some in the cabinet. Dame Justine Thornton, the wife of the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has objected to the construction of a new block of flats near the family home, claiming it is 'too tall, too bulky and too dense' for their north London neighbourhood. Thornton said that Camden council should send developers of the five-storey block near their £3 million Victorian home back to the drawing board. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch is among dozens of residents in Dartmouth Park, near Starmer's north London constituency, to protest that the proposed building is not in keeping with the area's Victorian houses.
