£3.5bn for cladding ‘betrays millions’
THE housing secretary has been accused of betraying millions of leaseholders after he unveiled a £3.5billion package to end the cladding scandal.
Robert Jenrick said no leaseholders in high-rise blocks in England would face bills for removal of unsafe cladding.
But critics said the money – for those in flats over 59ft tall or with more than six storeys – is no help to people in shorter blocks whose unsafe flats have been rendered unsellable.
Combustible cladding allowed flames to spread in the 2017 blaze that killed 72 people at Grenfell Tower in west
London. And pressure group Grenfell United dismissed Mr Jenrick’s plan as ‘too little, too late’, adding: ‘We needed something to deal with this mess once and for all.’ Conservative MP Stephen McPartland tweeted: ‘It is a betrayal of millions of leaseholders.’
Mr Jenrick said he would develop a long-term scheme to ensure people in lower to middle-rise blocks pay no more than £50 a month for cladding removal. A new levy will also be imposed on future developments.
A DOUBLE amputee war veteran hailed a ‘real hero’ by Prince Harry has been subjected to a foul-mouthed rant for using a disabled parking badge.
Ex-Royal Marine Ben McBean, who lost an arm and leg in a landmine blast in Afghanistan, was given a barrage of abuse as he got out of his car for a hospital appointment.
A stranger shouted he was a drain on the taxpayer and called him a d***head when he parked at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.
The 33-year-old, who has prosthetic limbs including a realistic-looking hand, had only recently been given the badge following a campaign by his MP.
‘I used it for the first time on Friday as I was attending an appointment about an operation,’ the father-of-two said. ‘There were no spaces as usual and then I noticed the disabled car park and remembered I had the blue badge.
‘I parked there and jumped out the car and a woman called me a f***ing draining d***head, something like that.
‘She even shouted about her dad being in the Navy and told me I didn’t deserve the
badge. I was shocked but I just walked off. Unless I am in shorts and T-shirt I don’t look like a double amputee.’ Ex-commando Mr McBean was befriended by the prince after his injury in the conflict in 2008. Aged just 20, he was expecting to die on the flight home that he shared with Harry. But after a remarkable recovery, he completed a marathon just a year later.
The temporary blue badge he was given at the time was soon taken away as he was deemed not to require it.
But his MP Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, managed to get him his new badge last year. Mr McBean, who needs an op to remove tissue damaged by shrapnel, said: ‘I only use the badge if I really need to. Some idiot will judge you by your race or disability. I feel sorry for others who have a disability that you can’t see and face a similar reaction.’
A PAEDOPHILE who posed as girls online to trick 52 boys into sending him indecent images of themselves has been jailed for 25 years.
David Wilson admitted 96 child sex abuse offences relating to the victims aged between four and 14, but the National Crime Agency said it has evidence he approached more than 5,000 children.
Sentencing him at Ipswich crown court, Judge Rupert Overbury told the 36-year-old: ‘Any decent human being will be astonished at the level of depravity involved.’
The ex-roofer set up fake social media profiles to send images of girls in exchange for videos and images of the victims, the NCA said. He then threatened to share
these unless they sent more extreme footage or, in some cases, abused younger siblings on camera.
The NCA said Wilson, from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, was caught thanks to Facebook’s help. But it warned the web giant’s move to extra encryption ‘poses an existential threat to child protection’ online.