Blair: I'll never be a Cabinet-maker
Tony Blair declared himself a DIY disaster today - but vowed not to leave the fight against homelessness half finished.
Admitting woodwork was "not my thing", the Prime Minister tried his hand at carpentry at a training centre for former rough sleepers in Stratford. He told a group of trainees chiselling out a door joint: "It is going to be impossible to make it look like I know what I'm doing."
Mr Blair received encouragement from 42-year-old Sean Rice, who only months ago was living rough in Lincoln's Inn. "Do this one and you can have a new door at No10," he said.
The Prime Minister's visit came as new figures revealed a 71 per cent fall in the number of people sleeping rough over the last three years in Britain to just over 500, beating his target six months ahead of time. A total of 264 people are registered homeless in London, down from 621 in 1998. The drive has been sustained by a cash injection of £158million, which has paid for the construction of 5,000 homes and the provision of 800 permanent hostel beds.
The Rough Sleepers Unit is now to become part of a wider Homelessness Directorate, which will help the former homeless get training, jobs and a permanent place to live. Mr Blair said today: "Those taken in off the streets will not be left to fend for themselves. The most important thing is that people need to get a home, get a qualification and then get a job."
He also took time out to do a little Christmas shopping as he visited Aspire, a catalogue company run by former rough sleepers.
