A HOUSING shortage that will push thousands of children into temporary accommodation this Christmas and leave a record number of rough sleepers out in the cold is a crisis that “shames us all,” Labour said yesterday.

Up to 125,000 youngsters across Britain, including 100,000 in England alone, will spend the festive period stranded in short-term housing or bed and breakfast hostels, according to new government statistics.

Shadow housing minister John Healey said homelessness should not be inevitable in a country as prosperous as Britain.