A Labour London council jetted its chief executive out to a yacht on the French Riviera yesterday in a bid to flog off desperately needed council housing to profiteers.

Haringey Council boss Nick Walkley attended the private "working lunch" on high-end property developer Arup's Clara One vessel in Cannes as part of a push to shore up controversial development plans covering some of the borough's biggest estates.

And he was joined in the exclusive resort city by Haringey executive member for housing and regeneration Cllr Alan Strickland, who spent Thursday talking up a storm on a panel titled "Transforming Tottenham" at international real estate show MIPIM.