With public spending on council homes at an all time low, and with labour as keen to sell of or privatize as much council house stock as possible, poor families are being turned out onto the streets at the rate of 80 people a day in Scotland (total population 5million).

Latest figures show the numbers of homeless people applying to councils for help has risen from 41,000 in 1996-97 to 43,100 in 1997-98.

Shelter Scotland ( a housing charity), said this showd the Scottish parliament was fast becoming "an empty promise" to thousands of families. Lorna Clark, their campaigns manager said: "Every working day in Scotland, 80 children become homeless. This is not a crisis waiting to happen. It is the agonising reality for far too many Scottish families. Nobody can deny that these figures are appalling, not simply for the people involved, who daily face the misery and uncertainty of no place to call home, but also for the policy-makers who must deliver solutions.