Katie Lam: Britain is descending into anarcho-tyranny

Katie Lam is the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the MP for Weald of Kent.

For far too many people in Britain today, the phrase ‘anarcho-tyranny’ is a frighteningly accurate description of day-to-day life.

In short, it describes a situation in which the law-abiding are punished, while rule-breakers get away with wrongdoing. Despite no longer having the will, or ability, to maintain control over rule breakers, the government compulsively creates new rules and new sanctions for the law-abiding, in order to maintain some semblance of authority. Sound familiar?

Though there are many contenders for the government department most guilty of imposing anarcho-tyranny, the Ministry for Housing, Local Government, and Communities must surely warrant a place on the podium. Few other departments are as guilty of making life harder for people who are just trying to do the right thing, while turning a blind eye to the most flagrant misconduct elsewhere.

On the one hand, young people who work hard and do the right thing are finding it harder and harder to move out and start building their own lives. Thanks to this Government’s Renters’ Rights Act, rents are rising, and landlords are busily offloading their properties – meaning fewer options for those looking for somewhere to live. At the same time, Labour have totally failed to tackle the problems in our planning system, and their tax hikes and red tape are just resulting in fewer new houses being built. That’s particularly true in Sadiq Khan’s London, where housing starts fell to their lowest ever level in 2024-25; construction began on just 4,170 new homes across the entire capital.

For people wanting to rent, to buy a new home, to make changes to their existing home, to build houses in the places that people want them, or to rent out property that they already own, the answer from this government has consistently been more regulations, more rules, and more restrictions.

That’s not to mention the rise in council tax, or the department’s absurd ‘Anti-Muslim Hostility’ definition, a rebranded version of their Islamophobia definition, a backdoor blasphemy law which will prevent public servants, including the police, from talking openly about difficult subjects like Islamist extremism or female genital mutilation.

At the same time, the department is a soft touch when it comes to rule-breakers.

A small minority of travellers are breaking the rules and being allowed to set up new caravan sites, without permission, causing massive disruption to the people living nearby. Far too many councillors openly pander to particular ethnic, religious, or racial groups in their campaigns, including through campaign materials in foreign languages. Some of the most expensive property in the country is being used as taxpayer-subsidised social housing, often for people who have come here from abroad – today, nearly half of London’s social housing goes to people born overseas.

And far too many people see local councils handing out dodgy contracts, or wasting taxpayer money, while failing to deliver basic services.

People are fed up, and rightly so. We all deserve to live in a country where people who work hard and do the right thing are rewarded. Those who work hard, and who want to, should be able to buy a new house, in the place that they want to live, without having to save up for several decades. They certainly shouldn’t have their hard-earned money spent on providing subsidised housing to foreign nationals, in some of the country’s most expensive properties. Nor should they have to put up with the disruption caused by those who break the rules, or with the religious and cultural separatism which has taken root in far too many of our towns and cities.

I’m so grateful to Kemi for asking me to hold the Government to account on all of this, as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government. James Cleverly has left big shoes to fill, and I look forward to following in his footsteps.

It’s also a real privilege to join so many talented colleagues in the Shadow Cabinet – both existing and newly-appointed. Kemi has put together a superb team, and I’m proud to be working alongside them. I can’t wait to start taking the fight to this Government.