Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner says word is too 鈥榮ubjective鈥�
A new report from Policy Exchange, a centre-right think tank, has called on Labour to embrace 鈥榖eauty鈥� as a key plank of its growth and housebuilding programme.
It follows the recent announcement that references to the beauty agenda 鈥� a key priority of the previous Conservative government 鈥� would be removed from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), to be replaced by a commitment instead to 鈥渉igh-quality design鈥�.
The Tories鈥� commitment to beauty in the built environment, spearheaded by former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, had grown out of the 黑洞社区 Better, 黑洞社区 Beautiful Commission.
The commission, co-chaired by Roger Scruton and Nicholas Boys Smith, had argued that embracing beauty could help break down resistance to new housing.
The Policy Exchange report argues that Labour should be wary of repeating what it describes as the mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s, when it claims both main political parties prioritised a 鈥渄ash for units鈥� over a commitment to creating enduringly beautiful housing and places.
According to the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Angela Rayner, Labour鈥檚 decision to ditch 鈥榖eauty鈥� from the NPPF was because it was 鈥渢oo subjective鈥� a term.
The decision by Labour to ditch the previous government鈥檚 beauty agenda was welcomed recently by RIBA president Muyiwa Oki, who said: 鈥淚t can cause confusion because something that鈥檚 beautiful to one person can be not beautiful to another. That鈥檚 why we want to focus on the language of high quality and embed that into the NPPF.鈥�
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