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Prime Minister refuses to extend the evictions ban
The government has received backlash from both Conservative and Labour MPs for its refusal to pay for cladding removal from shorter buildings (below 18m), forcing many leaseholders to take out loans to cover the costs.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick made the announcement in the Commons today following Boris Johnson‘s weekly PMQs session, sparking Tory MP Stephen McPartland to call it a “betrayal of millions of leaseholders”. Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire responded by blaming “government choices” for “repeated undelivered promises”.
“As a result of government choices, three-and-a-half years on from the Grenfell tragedy in which 72 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in unsafe homes, many more unable to move,” she told MPs.
Earlier on Wednesday, president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen said she “deeply” regrets the EU’s threat to override the Northern Ireland protocol during a row over coronavirus vaccines. The bloc had considered triggering article 16 of the protocol to allow vaccine checks at the NI border, before hastily retracting the threat.
Speaking about the fiasco, Ms Von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “Allow me a word on the island of Ireland. The bottom line is mistakes were made and the process leading up to the decision and I deeply regret that.”
Her words come the day after Boris Johnson’s top Brexit negotiator, David Frost, described recent relations between the UK and the EU as “more than bumpy”.
Grenfell United: ‘Heartbreaking’ announcement ‘too little too late’
Grenfell United, which represents the bereaved families and survivors of the London tower block disaster, said government measures announced today by Robert Jenrick were “still a long way from what is needed to fix this scandal”.
In a statement, the campaign group said: “For over three-and-a-half years we’ve been raising the alarm that thousands of people are living in unsafe homes and another Grenfell could happen at any time.
“It’s heartbreaking to say but once again today’s announcement is too little, too late.
“It does not address the various fire safety issues that are surfacing in many unsafe buildings. We needed something to deal with this mess once and for all – we didn’t get that today.”
The group added that “residents should not be forced into loans and new debt just because of the height of their building”.
It called for the development and construction industry to be “held fully responsible for what they have done”, adding that a “small levy” simply “doesn’t cut it”.
Sam Hancock10 February 2021 14:08
Labour MPs weigh in on cladding loan announcement
Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire has called the announcement by Robert Jenrick, that the government will only strip dangerous cladding from buildings over a certain height, a “repeat of undelivered promises”.
She told the Commons on Wednesday: “As a result of government choices, three-and-a-half years on from the Grenfell tragedy in which 72 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in unsafe homes, many more unable to move.
“And today’s announcement is too late for too many. It’s a repeat of undelivered promises and backtracks on the key one that leaseholders should have no costs to pay.
“The Chancellor said last March all unsafe combustible cladding will be removed from every private and social residential building above 18 metres high, but that has not happened. Buildings haven’t been able to access the fund and £9 out of £10 is still sitting where it was.
“At every stage, the government underestimated the problem and delays caused it to grow. They still don’t know how many buildings are unsafe, where they are or what danger they pose.
“And until we have answers to those basic questions Government will continue to make mistakes, offering piece-meal solutions that then have to be updated when they don’t deliver.
Meanwhile, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner and MP Margaret Hodge also weighed in on the issue:
Sam Hancock10 February 2021 13:23
Cladding decision ‘betrayal of millions of leaseholders,’ Tory MP says
Conservative MP Stephen McPartland, a vocal critic of the government’s handling of the cladding crisis, has tweeted:
Sam Hancock10 February 2021 13:14
Leaseholders in shorter buildings must take out loans to remove cladding
The government will not pay to remove cladding from shorter buildings, leaving many leaseholders to take out loans to meet their huge costs.
Although housing secretary Robert Jenrick said no-one “will pay more than £50 a month, the announcement risked a backlash from Conservative MPs.
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 13:02
Leaseholders in high-rise residential blocks will not face cost for cladding removal, says Jenrick
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that leaseholders in high-rise blocks of more than 18 metres will not face costs for the removal of unsafe cladding.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon, the minister announced what he described as an “unprecedented intervention”, which will provide £3.5 billion in funds for the removal of cladding.
He added that leaseholders in medium-sized blocks would not have to pay more than £50 per month for remedial work.
Thangam Debbonaire , the shadow housing secretary, said hundreds of thousands of people still live in unsafe housing. She called the proposals “too late for too many” and a “repeat of undelivered promises”.
The government’s announcement comes three and a half years after the Grenfell fire tragedy.
Robert Jenrick makes his cladding announcement in the Commons
(Reuters TV)
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:57
Knowledge of Scotland not essential for government’s new ‘union unit’ jobs
The government is recruting staff for a new “union unit” to counter the SNP’s drive for Scottish independence.
However, the Cabinet Office’s job advert for four policy positions does not require candidates to have knowledge about Scotland.
It states that “understanding of policy issues relevant to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland” is only “desirable” – rather than essential.
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:44
Boris Johnson’s accidentally calls Speaker ‘Mr Crisis’
Boris Johnson accidentally calls Lindsay Hoyle ‘Mr Crisis’.mp4
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:39
Government failing to protect vulnerable, says Rayner
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has hit out at Boris Johnson for failing to say whether a ban on eviction would be extended.
“Families are facing eviction in less than 2 weeks, in the middle of a deadly global pandemic, because this government is refusing to protect them,” she tweeted.
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:31
Labour should ‘stop sniping from the sidelines’, says Johnson
Boris Johnson said the opposition should “stop sniping from the sidelines” and instead “back business and back the British people”.
Keir Starmer replied by saying that Labour “would rather listen to businesses” than the Conservatives, adding that the prime minister had not made any decisions on business rates or furlough yet.
Speaking during PMQs, the Labour leader added: “I’m not going to take lectures from a man who wrote two versions of every column he ever wrote as a journalist, proposed Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize and gave Dominic Cummings a pay rise.”
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:28
UK’s coronavirus border regime not strong enough, warns Starmer
The government has not done enough to protect the UK’s borders from the arrival of new coronavirus variants, Keir Starmer has warned.
Citing research from Oxford University, the Labour leader said there were 33 countries who had tougher border measures than the UK. These include Canada, Denmark and Israel.
Boris Johnson responsed by reasserting that we have “one of the toughest” border regimes in the world.
Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 12:12
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