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May grilled over missed Lakanal warnings revealed by Inside Housing research
Theresa May has been questioned in parliament over Inside Housing research which revealed that ministers had failed to act on multiple fire safety warnings in the months before Grenfell.
Last week the magazine exposed how Gavin Barwell, who was housing minister in 2016 and 2017 and is now Ms May’s chief of staff, received seven letters from the group of MPs responsible for scrutinising fire safety rules between September 2016 and May 2017.
Ministers Eric Pickles, James Wharton and Stephen Williams were also contacted, with 21 letters sent in total and no action taken by government.
During Prime Minister’s Questions today, Sarah Jones, shadow housing minister and Labour MP for Croydon Central, said: “The prime minister is a busy woman, she might not have seen the latest report from Inside Housing.
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“Inside Housing have revealed that three successive ministers were written to over a total of 21 times over four years by the all-party group on fire safety, urging them to act to make sure we avoid another fire following the Lakanal House fire.
“The last of those 21 letters was written a month before the Grenfell Tower fire. No action was taken.
“What does the prime minister believe ministers should have done when they received that advice?”
As she spoke, MPs could be heard saying “disgraceful”.
In response, Ms May said: “Ministers always look very carefully at the expert advice that they receive, but the whole question of what has happened and the advice that was available is a matter that will be looked at in the second phase of the public inquiry.”
Housing secretary James Brokenshire could be seen nodding, but one MP called out “that’s pathetic” as the prime minister returned to her seat.
Downing Street told Inside Housing that the prime minister’s comments should not be interpreted as suggesting that ministers will be called to appear at phase two of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
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Update: at 10:07 20/06/19 the story was updated following information received from Theresa May’s office.
