A Labour minister in the housing department has relinquished her duties overseeing building safety and the government’s reaction to the Grenfell Tower disaster following pressure from survivors and their families. Rushanara Ali was asked to step down from her post after attending the Franco-British Colloque, an event that brings together business leaders, senior politicians and civil servants. Despite not quitting altogether, Ali said she was giving up her safety-related responsibilities due to “perception matters”. Ali was one of six MPs present at the conference this year, according to the register of MPs’ interests.
The conference is attended by co-chairs Pierre-André de Chalendar and senior representatives from the UK government. De Chalendar was until recently chair of Saint-Gobain, the parent company of Celotex, one of the firms criticised for its role in the Grenfell Tower cladding system. The combustible insulation provided by Celotex was used in the cladding which meant the fire spread rapidly inside the building. The Colloque meeting occurred before the last general election, several months ahead of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and sources have indicated that de Chalendar no longer serves as co-chair.
The findings from an investigation into the disaster have left victims and their families angry and also accused Celotex of launching a “dishonest scheme to mislead its customers” over the safety of its insulation on high-rise buildings. The revelation that a minister at the heart of the housing department responsible for overseeing building safety is also in attendance at an executive-level event that involves one of the companies at the centre of the investigation was seen as unacceptable. Ali, elected as member for Bethnal Green and Stepney since 2010, spoke out about severing ties with Saint Gobain back when she wasn’t a minister.
A recent report has been published that criticised the government’s response to the disaster that claimed 72 people’s lives and injured 70 in June 2017. Following the report, Ali said it was unacceptable “that the government has failed to take decisive action to improve building safety following the Grenfell Tower fire”. She said that the affected families had been waiting for urgent improvements to their housing and more assistance. Survivors of Grenfell Tower have also complained that, two years on, they have been “abandoned and forgotten”, the advocacy group said, despite £26m being donated to the survivors’ fund
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