Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Nigel Nelson

Boris Johnson on track to make 160,000 children homeless during time as PM

Boris Johnson is now on track to create nearly 158,000 homeless children if he serves his five years as PM.

And that is equivalent to the number of kids who live in Manchester.

Analysis by shadow Housing Secretary John Healey shows the alarming 75 percent rise in children’s homelessness since the Tories came to power nearly ten years ago.

This Christmas there will be more than 127,000 stuck in emergency B&Bs or hostel accommodation because their parents cannot find a home. That’s up from 72,600 in 2010.

The figures also include runaways sleeping rough on the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

Homelessness has risen by 75 percent since the Tories took over almost 10 years ago (VALDA KALNINA/EPA-EFE/REX)

And if the average 6,087 rate of increase continues for the duration of this Parliament by Christmas 2024 157,800 children will be without a permanent roof over their heads.

Mr Healey said: “Homelessness fell at an unprecedented rate with the last Labour Government.

“But under the Conservatives even more children will be homeless this Christmas.

“This is what ten Tory years means in practice, and the shocking scale of homelessness is clear in every town and city across the country.

Shadow Housing secretary John Healey (Getty)

“The Conservative victory at the election means this national shame is set to get worse.”

The figures show that Mr Johnson is on course to see the number of homeless children more than double over the Tories’ 15 years in office.

The PM already has 837 of them in temporary accommodation in his own Middlesex backyard of Hillingdon.

One in 107 children are now homeless under the Tories rising to one in 24 in London.

And according to homeless charity Shelter every eight minutes a child loses the roof over the heads, that’s 183 each day.

The government has a target for ending homelessness in England by 2027 and the Department for Housing says: “Every child should have somewhere safe to live.

“Councils have a duty to provide temporary accommodation to those who need it.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.