The saga over whether deputy prime minister John Prescott can stay in his union-owned flat took a new twist this week as it emerged that Lambeth council has not heard of any plans to convert it.
Transport union the RMT claims to have applied for planning permission for three five-bedroom units to be built at Maritime House in Clapham, south London. The new homes would go to low-paid workers attached to Maritime House or nominated by Lambeth council.

If this plan went ahead, Prescott would be evicted, but the council said it had yet to receive a formal application from the union.

So Prescott could hang on to the flat he has had use of for 33 years, qualifying for it because he was a steward on the Cunard Line before becoming a trade union officer.

A spokesperson at the ODPM said: "This is a private matter between John Prescott and the union."

The flat first caused controversy last summer when Prescott resigned from the union after RMT bosses withdrew funding from the deputy prime minister and several other Labour MPs.

Source

Housing Today