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'Worst policies in history!' Camilla Tominey tears into Steve Reed amid damning Labour polls
Sep 28, 2025
Camilla Tominey has torn into Labour frontbencher Steve Reed after a new poll suggested Sir Keir Starmer is now the least popular Prime Minister in history.Polling conducted by Survation for LabourList exposed widespread discontent within Labour's membership, with 53 per cent wanting new leadership before the next general election.Instead of answering, the Labour frontbencher tried to deflect, blaming the Conservatives for leaving behind a “broken system” and insisting it takes “18 months from an application to a home being built”.WATCH THE CLIP ABOVE FOR MORE
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0:00
Thank you for being here
0:01
This isn't the best start to Labour conference, is it? We've got polling suggesting that Keir Starmer
0:06
is now the least popular PM in history. His approval rating, God forbid
0:11
is below Boris Johnson after Partygate, Liz Truss after the mini-budget. It's even lower than John Major at his lowest ebb
0:21
Well, we shouldn't be surprised at any of that, I don't think. Why
0:26
When we know that trust in politics and politicians is so broken because, actually, of the broken promise of Boris Johnson and his friends
0:35
Hang on, you mean it? We had austerity, we had Brexit, didn't do what it was supposed to do
0:38
It's Boris Johnson's fault that Keir Starmer is unpopular. Well, they've shattered trust in politics, and I'm afraid it's shattered
0:44
and people are not going to give their trust back until they see change that they can feel in their lives
0:51
So what we've started to do as a government is start to turn around the issues people voted for change on
0:55
So with 10 months with this government, wages have gone up faster than in 10 years under the previous government
1:01
And one of the things that people are really worried about is the cost of living. So the fact they're now seeing wages rise faster than prices for the first time
1:08
is a real benefit, but it takes time for that to feed through. We're not going to have party political broadcasts on the show
1:15
Let's just be realistic about this. That's just what we're doing as a government for people. I know, I get that. But let's be honest, Keir Starmer is far less popular now
1:22
than he was when he was elected PM. The reason for that is he keeps on doing U-turns, flip-flopping
1:28
aides are leaving Downing Street in droves. Angela Rayner's had to resign
1:33
Peter Mandelson's had to be sacked. He's coming out with wildly unpopular policies that he then has to reverse
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when the left says, by the way, this wasn't why you were elected. Now I've got the digital ID card scheme
1:45
Two million people have already signed a petition. So the least popular PM in history has now come up with one of the least
1:51
popular policies in history. He's doing a terribly bad job. I know that's the GB News narrative, but it isn't actually true
1:58
No, that's the country's narrative. There's more money in people's pockets after 10 months of this government
2:04
than after 10 years in the previous government. Really? People wanted to cut the record-breaking NHS waiting lists
2:12
We've got 5 million more appointments. We promised to do 2 million
2:16
We've done 5 million. That's cutting those waiting lists. 35,000 people had no right to be in the country have been removed
2:22
that the most for a decade I going to be on the stage shortly announcing a record breaking new generation of new towns so we can build the homes people want to live in when the previous government stopped building Now I recognise that trust in politics is broken but we are delivering the change people want to see
2:39
I know it takes time for that to feed through. But what you don't do is stop, start, have the revolving door we saw under the Tories
2:45
Well, this has been a revolving door. We'll stay the course and we'll make the change happen. The revolving door. Let's list the people who have left so far
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Sue Gray, Louise Hague, Tulip Sadiq, Andrew Gwynn, Matthew Doyle, Rush Anara Ali, Nin Pandit, James Lyon, Angela Rayner, Claire Reynolds, Lord Mandelson, Paul Ovenden, Steph Driver, the brilliant Steph Driver who was Director of Communications
3:05
Even she can't bear to be inside number 10 anymore. This is the ultimate revolving door
3:11
The door hasn't stopped spinning for the people leaving number 10. Absolutely not. Do you know, I think we have one year, we had three Prime Ministers under the Conservatives in just one year
3:19
Grant Shapps had three different cabinet roles in just one year. we're going to stay the course with this Prime Minister
3:25
and we're going to keep doing what we need to do to put money in people's pockets. So the announcements I'm making today around housing
3:30
it's really important. We have a housing crisis in this country because the previous government wouldn't build the homes
3:36
people want to live in. And so we've got young people some of them might be watching this show today
3:40
who simply cannot get that first foot on the housing ladder and they deserve the chance you and I had when we were younger
3:46
So we're going to give them we're going to build the homes
3:49
so they can share in the dream of home ownership that so many of us that are older enjoy
3:55
How many homes have you built so far under Labour? Well, do you know how long it takes for our planning application to go through
4:01
Just how many? Do you know how many or how long it takes? Just give me the figure. Well, we're currently dealing with the tail end of what the Conservatives were doing
4:08
because it takes more than 18 months from an application to the home being built
4:11
Please answer the question. I'm not going to take the blame for what the Tories did. I'm going to take the blame for what Labour does if it goes wrong subsequently
4:18
We're changing the rules to speed up planning so that the problem we're seeing now doesn't happen again in the future
4:24
How many houses have been built under Labour so far? Starts have gone up by 29%
4:30
What I can't do... Can you give me a figure? I know it's really low and I'm appalled by it as well
4:35
What's the figure? But that is because the Conservatives didn't get the applications through. Please don't tell me you don't know the number as Housing Secretary
4:40
The Conservatives didn't get the applications through. Do you know... 29% up starts compared to the previous year
4:46
How many new homes have been built since Labour took power? I don't have the exact... I'm not Wikipedia
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No, I'm not Wikipedia. I'm here to talk to you about policy. No, you're the housing secretary
4:55
That doesn't mean I know every single statistic going on in the entire housing sector. You don know how many housing Well you only know it because it written in front of you But I not in charge of housing How can my producer have this figure and you not have it Well because somebody researched it for you and given it to you
5:09
You should know it. And someone hasn't researched it for me and given it to me. No, what I know I need to do is build new homes
5:14
You're the housing secretary and you don't know how many houses have been completed under Labour
5:18
We're announcing today plans to build a new generation of new towns for the first time since the Second World War
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That will be more than 300,000 new homes, giving young people the chance to get their foot on the housing ladder
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giving people that are stuck in squalid, substandard, expensive rental accommodation the chance to get somebody they can afford to rent
5:36
OK, forgive me. It's putting the key to a decent home in the hands of the British people
5:40
Forgive me, Steve Reed. Because you've got a stat on a bit of paper that I haven't got that says nothing whatsoever
5:45
I'm surprised. Other than that you're trying to do a gotcha moment. And that's so sad for your viewers because they're probably like a sensible debate
5:50
This is silly. Yes, it is. It's not a gotcha. Camilla, it's very silly. It's not a gotcha for me to ask you as Housing Secretary how many new homes have been completed since Labour took power
6:02
That is like the most basic stat. But I know it's unacceptable. I know it's unacceptable because we're dealing with the tail end of the Tory failure to get applications in
6:10
They scrapped housing targets. We're putting them back in. We've got a law going through Parliament now that will get royal assent in November that will speed up the planning process
6:19
so that when we get an application, quicker to get a consent, quicker to get spades in the ground
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quicker to get that home built, somebody can buy it, somebody can rent it, we will end the housing crisis that we saw under the Conservatives
6:30
I'll tell you how many have been built so far. It's 117,390
6:35
And it's too low. It's far too low because at that rate it's going to take 13 years
6:40
to reach your 1.5 million housing target by the end of Parliament
6:46
But I fear, Camilla, you're not listening to what I'm saying. I'm listening, but I've just asked you for a really basic figure, and you're saying it's a gotcha, and it's not
6:53
You keep speaking over me when I'm trying to explain what we're doing. So we're changing the planning laws. It's going to get royal assent in November
6:58
It will speed up the planning process, and then we're working with the developers to make sure that they're trading up enough people
7:04
in construction, in engineering, in quantity surveying, so that we can build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament
7:10
It won't be built at the same rate in Year 5 as in Year 1, because the changes that we're making now will make it go faster as we work through the Parliament
7:18
So we will get those homes built. The level right now is unacceptable
7:23
but it's at that level because the previous government didn't do when they were in power what I'm doing today
7:28
to speed it up. Well the last year that they were in power they did get up to 200 plus homes in the final year But my question is this How can you say that you definitely meet that 1 million housing target
7:41
when so far you're nowhere near it? In London... Well, I just explained that
7:45
We're changing the rules to make it happen faster. So you're guaranteeing that? You're guaranteeing 1.5 million
7:49
Yes. My job depends on it. Your job depends on it. You can call me back here at the end. When we've gone through this Parliament
7:54
you can call me back here and I will be held to account. But what I have committed to do is 1.5 million homes
8:00
I've met the developers in my first week they told me a whole load of areas where
8:03
they want work speeded up I'm going to announce an acceleration package in two
8:08
or three weeks time based on what the developers have told me they want so that we can do everything we need to do to get those homes built faster. Do you appreciate my point I know you've said it's a gotcha but
8:17
it's not a gotcha why would people have confidence that you'll meet the
8:21
target if you didn't have an answer to the question how many homes have you built so far
8:25
You've got a researcher who gave you that stat. I am changing the way that the planning rules work
8:31
I'm taking down the barriers that get in the way. We've got a law going through Parliament now that will speed up planning
8:36
precisely so we can get more homes built for the young people
8:39
that need somewhere affordable to rent or to buy and to get families out of overcrowded accommodation
8:45
Homelessness went up 50% under the last government. People living in temporary accommodation up 50% after the last government
8:51
Affordable and social house building down 75% under the last government and rents went up 50% under the last government
8:58
That's all because they refuse to build. I won't refuse to build. In fact, my slogan is build, baby, build
9:04
and we're going to get those homes built because people's lives and livelihoods and life chances depend on it
9:09
OK, so it's borrowed from the Donald Trump school. He says drill, baby, drill
9:14
You want to say build? Build, baby, build. Do you like Donald Trump? It's eye-catching. Because Sadiq Khan thinks that he's a racist and an Islamophobe
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and yet your leader has just rolled out the red carpet for him? Well, he is the President of the United States
9:25
and the United States are our closest ally, so it's quite right. So is Trump a racist and an Islamophobe
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or someone that should be welcome to the country? Well, he does sometimes say slightly strange things
9:34
Racist things? He said London was going to adopt Sharia law. That absolutely isn't the truth
9:38
You know, I'm proud to be a Londoner. I represent a London constituency. Nobody is looking at bringing in Sharia law
9:44
so Donald Trump was wrong on that. But the US is our strongest trading partner
9:48
we secured a trading deal with the US recently it was the best trade deal that any country in the world has secured
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and it protected tens of thousands of car workers jobs in this country
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and it means we can export more British goods to the US than before I'm getting a countdown in my ear Steve Reid
10:03
thank you very much indeed for your time this morning that's Steve Reid coming up we're going to be speaking to
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