The Sun is attacking a Labour MP for buying a house

Conservative MP Andrew Percy has accused Labour MP Laura Pidcock of being a “hypocrite” for buying a house. And The Sun has jumped on the bandwagon, calling the MP for North West Durham “shameless”.

Hypocrisy?

Pidcock recently secured a mortgage for a £250,000 house in a village in County Durham. The Sun claims the Labour MP said she “could ‘never’ afford a deposit for a home”. She made these comments about affordable housing during an appearance on Radio 4’s Week in Westminster. She told listeners:

There’s a whole generation, and I include myself in this, of young people who will never be able to afford the deposit to actually buy a home, not just in London – I know that is completely out of reach for thousands of people – but in North West Durham too.

And that’s true. She is part of a generation that includes a large bulk of people struggling to afford a deposit for a house. But these challenges often get downplayed, thanks to claims that millennials could buy a house if they only stopped buying sandwiches and avocado toast.

Percy believes Pidcock including herself in this generation and then buying a home “is hypocrisy, pure and simple”. The Skwawkbox has previously criticised the Conservative MP for Brig and Goole, as well as Mail Online, for a “false attack” on Pidcock, which it said amounted to a ‘desperate smear attempt’.

The state of the housing market

On BBC Radio 4, Pidcock also said she “would love a council house”, but stressed “there aren’t enough”. Indeed, David Orr, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, commented in September that the government has to stop ignoring the lack of social housing. Back in June, the Conservative Party U-turned on its pledge to build more council homes, as promised in its manifesto. And experts have argued that Theresa May’s pledge of £2bn to councils is unlikely to make much difference.

The housing market has reached a state of crisis under the Conservative government. This is the issue that matters. But Percy, The Sun and The Mail have decided that attacking a Labour MP for buying a home is more important than her concerns about affordable housing.

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Featured image via Wikimedia/Flickr