Clearly Lisa Nandy had her Weetabix this morning. She’s just wrapped up her keynote speech at the Housing 23 conference in Manchester, where she launched a thundering tirade against the “cowardice” of those proposing “politically easy” solutions to the housing crisis. Her rent control diatribe may as well have come straight from the Adam Smith Institute:

“…rent controls that cut rents for some, will almost certainly leave others homeless. It might be politically easier to put a sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems, but if it is cowardice that got us here, it is never going to get us out…”

While it is refreshing to see a Labour politician finally understand rent controls are a disastrous idea, this is quite a damascene conversion for the shadow Housing Secretary. Just nine months ago at Labour Party Conference, Nandy herself declared she was “personally very interested and attracted by the idea” of… rent controls. She even said her party would consider handing mayors new powers to “freeze rent increases in there local areas over the winter“. Now, apparently, she’s considered that idea and decided it would be an act of cowardice…

Unfortunately this puts her on a war path with her party’s own Mayor of London, and front bench colleague Tulip Siddiq. Both call for rent freezes every five minutes, with Tulip Siddiq sending a written question to Michael Gove on the idea back in April. Sadiq Khan called for a two-year rent freeze just days ago. So that’s Labour’s top housing spokesperson insisting the Mayor of London’s policy proposal would actually increase homelessness…