LABOUR’S CLADDING HYPOCRISY

McDonnell blamed deaths on Tory cuts – but majority of danger panels are from councils run by HIS party

THE majority of tower blocks covered in dangerous cladding were approved by Labour-run councils.

They signed off unsafe panels for as many as seven in ten of the high rise blocks that have failed fire safety checks.

So far every sample of cladding examined since the Grenfell Tower blaze – from 120 buildings around the country – has been found to be dangerous.

In some cases, the cladding was chosen specifically to cut costs.

The revelation comes days after Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell tried to blame the Tories for the tragedy in which at least 80 died, claiming victims were ‘murdered by political decisions taken over recent decades’.

And shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has said the deaths – most of which police say came from only 23 flats – are ‘a direct consequence of Tory attitudes in social housing’.

Jeremy Corbyn yesterday tried to score political points in the Commons, saying the blaze ‘exposed the disastrous effect of austerity’. Tory MPs accused Labour of ‘distasteful’ attempts to politicise the disaster.

Theresa May said the cladding of tower blocks began under Tony Blair’s Labour government, telling MPs: ‘This should be an issue that, across this House, we recognise is a matter that has been developing over decades, has occurred under governments of both colours, under councils of all political persuasions.’

The Prime Minister announced that cladding on 120 tower blocks in 37 local authority areas has failed government fire safety tests. They have not all been named but the Mail has identified 80 of them. Despite Labour Party claims, only six of these 80 buildings had their unsafe cladding approved by Tory-led councils.

But 57 of them – 71.25 per cent – were fitted with the cladding while the work was overseen by Labour town halls.

Some 86 per cent of the buildings were approved by left-wing councils, led either by Labour or by councils dominated by a combination of Labour and Liberal Democrats.

In Manchester – which has been run by Labour for more than four decades – 17 high-rise buildings need cladding removed after failing fire tests.

Officials are now insisting they all have sprinklers and integrated fire alarms.

Another 17 buildings failed the cladding tests in neighbouring Salford, which has also been dominated by Labour.

Last weekend there were chaotic scenes in Camden, north London, which is run by Labour, as 3,000 people had to leave their homes for their safety. Blocks in the Chalcots Estate were found to have the same cladding as Grenfell Tower.

It was installed as part of a £66million refurbishment of the estate overseen by Rydon, the firm involved in the Grenfell refit.

Inspectors also found 1,000 missing fire doors in the blocks and there were concerns about gas pipe insulation, inaccessible stairways and breaches of internal walls.

Camden Council approved the

planning application on June 16, 2004, for ‘alterations and refurbishment including recladding with insulated aluminium rain screen system’.

A planning document seen by the Mail suggests the cladding was chosen for financial reasons.

It states: ‘ Rendering was another mooted alternative, but discolouring and ongoing maintenance costs (although cheaper at the outset), escalates over the lifetime of the buildings, discounting the viability of this option.’ The council – which was also run by Labour at the time – says planning officers only consider how buildings are used and what they look like, while ‘specific details on fire regulations would not be required to be submitted or approved as part of these applications’.

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday Mr Corbyn faced shouts of ‘shame’ and ‘apologise’ from Tory backbenchers after he blamed the Grenfell Tower tragedy on the Conservative policy of ‘austerity’. The Labour leader said: ‘When you cut local authority budgets by 40 per cent we all pay a price in public safety.

‘Fewer inspectors, fewer building control inspectors, fewer planning inspectors – we all pay a price. What the tragedy of Grenfell Tower has exposed is the disastrous effect of austerity.’

Mrs May, after pointing out that cladding tower blocks began under the Blair government, added that it was an issue that ‘we should come together and ensure that we get to the answers of why this has happened over many years, what has gone wrong and how do we stop it from happening again’.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone told the Mail: ‘Attempts by Labour to politicise the Grenfell Tower tragedy have been incredibly distasteful. We should be coming together in the national interest, not turning this into a party political issue.’ Around 30 students have been moved from a Nottingham Trent University accommodation complex after tests on cladding showed three blocks at Byron House have the type of material used at Grenfell Tower.

Sir Martin Moore- Bick is expected to be appointed today to lead the public inquiry into the disaster. Mrs May has insisted that residents will be given a say over the direction of the investigation by the retired Court of Appeal judge, who is a specialist in commercial law.