MP's wife in row over scheme for homeless

The wife of a former Home Office minister is embroiled in a row with Labour-controlled Camden council over its plans to house homeless families in the borough.

Jill Wills, whose husband Michael is MP for North Swindon and was a Home Office minister until July, claims that the "bullying" tactics of Camden councillors toward residents concerned by the proposals made her "ashamed" to be associated with the Labour Party.

She has written to one councillor to demand an apology after a recent meeting turned into a slanging match.

"I am a Labour supporter and I was ashamed to be associated in any way with the Labour Party at this meeting," she told the Evening Standard.

Mrs Wills is one of more than 50 Belsize Park residents who have expressed concerns over the proposals to turn former nurses' accommodation into a hostel.

The Thirties property on England's Lane - directly opposite the homes of comic Frank Skinner and Little Britain star David Walliams - housed nurses working at the Royal Free Hospital until it was sold to a private company in the Nineties. Just before Christmas it emerged that Camden was trying to negotiate the lease so it could place one and two-child families there.

But residents fear that the plans, which could see 162 families with 200 children under the age of five move in, will place an unprecedented squeeze on overloaded local services. They also say it is "inhuman" to move a three-person family into a room intended for single occupancy.

They claim that Camden council behaved in a "furtive" manner in rubber-stamping the proposals before residents were even consulted.

"My problem is they are trying to cram too many people in the space and it's unfair on those people," said Mrs Wills. "Most people are willing for it to be social housing. But the issue is, there has been no consultation. It was rubberstamped before we were even aware of it." Mrs Wills has also written to Labour councillor Patricia Callaghan demanding an apology after she accused the MP's wife of "nimbyism" at a meeting to debate the proposal. Mrs Wills said: "We will go for a judicial review if Camden chooses to be so high-handed."

But Labour member Janet Guthrie, chair of the overview and scrutiny commission that hosted last month's meeting, today defended Camden's plans. She said: "We have a duty to provide the best accommodation possible for homeless families and in a difficult market England's Lane is a good solution.

"If they take this to judicial review it will be very expensive for them and for the council."