Motions on housing and on water renationalisation — all of them, as far as we know — have been ruled out of order for conference.

The pretext is that their content is substantially covered in the National Policy Forum report. Read the NPF report, and whether you think it is good or bad, indisputably it is thin and inconclusive and says little on either issue.

Even the cross-party EFRA Parliamentary Committee has called for a public takeover of Thames Water, “urging the government to either put the company into Special Administration or to consider emergency legislation that takes control of its financial affairs”.

Only 1,040 new council homes were started in the calendar year 2025, while over 14,000 were lost to “Right to Buy”. On 25 August 2026 the first tranche of grants from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme was announced. The bulk goes to housing associations rather than councils; only 60% is scheduled as social rent; this is only part of, not an increase on, the £39 billion in funding over ten years announced in June 2025.

On neither council housing nor water is the government on a settled course requiring the wider Party just to applaud and wait. We should debate.

In 2025 motions on the two-child benefit cap were ruled out of order. Eventually the government conceded to Party opinion on that. Let’s have a chance for Party opinion to express itself on housing and water renationalisation.