Government U-turns on support for bird-friendly swift bricks in new homes

The government is refusing to support a new amendment to install a swift brick in every new home – a U-turn by Steve Reed since he became housing secretary.

When he was environment secretary, Reed told a campaigner, Hannah Bourne-Taylor, she was “pushing at an open door” and he and others wanted to add to the party’s manifesto her proposal that developers must include a £35 hollow brick in every new home.

But since becoming housing secretary – infamously sporting a “build baby build” red cap at the Labour party conference – Reed and his new department are refusing to support a fresh parliamentary attempt to make the bricks a legal requirement for new homes.