Michael Gove has accused Sir Keir Starmer of destroying the dream of homeownership for thousands of families after Labour blocked plans to ease river pollution rules to boost housebuilding.
In what critics described as a humiliating defeat for the government, Labour peers killed off a move by ministers to disapply rules that have imposed a moratorium on housebuilding in significant parts of the country.
Environmentalists welcomed the decision in the House of Lords, which they said would protect rivers and wildlife from unnecessary pollution. Developers said it would exacerbate Britain’s housebuilding crisis and lead to 16,000 fewer homes being built each year.
Gove accused the Labour leader of putting “short-term political calculation ahead of the long-term interests of the country” by killing off the plan
