Conservative Party praise for the UK’s design expertise has been welcomed by Alan Jones, but the RIBA president warned that the party needs to be judged by its actions rather than its words.

Prime minister Boris Johnson launched his party’s general election manifesto at the weekend and saluted the sectors in which the UK is a “world leader” – architecture and design among them.

Johnson’s manifesto says his party is sticking to predecessor Theresa May’s target of ramping up housebuilding to the 300,000-units-a-year level by the mid-2020s. It also suggests a new Conservative government would “encourage innovative design and technology to make housing more affordable, accessible and suitable for disabled people and an ageing population”.

…