Tory claim Labour opponent advocates 'seizing private land'

The Labour candidate for the Earley and Woodley constituency has rebuffed Conservative accusations about the content of her book that was published this year.

Labour MP hopeful Yuan Yang has been accused by the Conservatives of suggesting that the state should be able to seize land from private owners.

The Conservatives have made the allegations from excerpts of Ms Yang's book 'Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China' which was published this year.

The party members have claimed that within the book, Ms Yang argues that land and other resources in China, the UK and other developed economies are being 'hoarded'.

An excerpt from the book states: “Land and other resources are hoarded and used ineffectively."

Ms Yang also wrote governments allow for “a minority with vested interests [to] successfully defend their power at the expense of the majority of the population."

The Conservatives have also argued that Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party of 'throwing his support behind developers rather than local people' and would 'shake up planning rules' including those relating to the Green Belt.

Answering the allegations against her, Ms Yang pointed out that mention of the UK is only made in the epilogue, with its focus being on the coming-of-age stories of four Chinese women based on her reporting for the Financial Times.

She also referred to the Chinese Hukou system, people were either urban or rural residents and were expected to live and die in the same locale.

Ms Yang argued the Conservatives are 'mistaken on every point' of their allegations'.

In full, the paragraph reads:

"Up to now, it has seemed unlikely that the [Chinese] government would or could address many of the roots of social immobility that this book explores: the hukou system, the deep inequalities in education and health-care provision, the exploitative nature of the low-waged manufacturing and service sectors. Simpler problems than these afflict much richer countries with longer- established political institutions – not least my own, the UK. Governments are easily trapped in cycles where a minority with vested interests successfully defend their power at the expense of the majority of the population, delaying long- needed reforms. As a result, in China and elsewhere, land and other resources are hoarded and used ineffectively. Unfair advantages, like tax breaks and hukou privileges, are held on to by the wealthiest. Political attention is given to those with access to power, rather than those who most need change."

Ms Yang said: "I absolutely do not state that land and other resources in the UK are hoarded, nor at any point do I propose state intervention to seize land from private owners.

"This is a complete falsehood and is not in any way representative of my views or the points made in my book.

"The housing crisis is well known to be one of the UK's biggest barriers to economic growth, but for 14 years the Conservatives have failed to act. Labour will get Britain building again, creating jobs across England, with 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

"Labour would speed up the delivery of infrastructure through planning reform. We would balance infrastructure building with house-building to make sure that developments are livable as well as affordable, so that nobody has to drive for miles to get to shops or schools – an issue that concerns many of our residents in the southeast of Earley and Woodley Constituency.

"Labour will also prioritise the development of previously used brownfield land where possible, while taking a strategic approach to greenbelt land designation, and release lower quality grey belt land with ‘golden rules’ ensuring community and nature benefits."

In the UK, the government and councils have the power to purchase land using a Compulsory Purchase Order.

Ms Yang faces off against councillor Pauline Jorgensen, the Conservative candidate, Tahir Maher for the Liberal Democrats, Gary Shacklady for the Greens and Alistair Hunter from the Social Democratic Party.

Voting takes place from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, July 4.