As tower-block evacuations become politicised, a national emergency body is needed

SIR – The cynical exploitation by the Labour Party of the Grenfell Tower tragedy has been followed by Camden council’s evacuation of tenants from “unsafe” high-rise blocks.

More Labour councils will follow suit, and any Conservative councils that fail to “protect” their tenants in this mindless fashion will be castigated for their inaction. Jeremy Corbyn will foment unrest at every opportunity.

The Government must now take a firm grip of the situation and create a body equivalent to Cobra to deal with this emergency. The piecemeal approach is no longer sufficient. Dr Tad Paluchowski.

West Chiltington, West Sussex

SIR – Camden council can’t guarantee the safety of residents in suspect buildings without complete evacuation. In 2015, 1,780 people were killed on British roads. The public require a guarantee not to be killed by speeding, drugged or drunk drivers on the roads. What steps is the Government to take to ensure with the same vigour as Camden council that our roads will be “guaranteed” safe?

Knutsford, Cheshire

SIR – Why not install temporary external water-risers, with a roof perimeter drenching system triggered by fire detectors, perhaps combined with fire wardens, as an interim measure to keep people safe while all the work needed is completed?

Mevagissey, Cornwall

SIR – Would it not be less disturbing for residents, and a lot cheaper, to operate a fire-watch system, as was used during the Second World War? Residents could be asked to volunteer to safeguard their own property and their neighbours’.

Unfortunately for councillors, this might not be headline-grabbing. J N Kemp

Cassington, Oxfordshire SIR – It is being said that the cladding of tower blocks was done to improve appearance. This is a misconception. Cladding was provided to comply with EU legislation.

Colchester, Essex

SIR – Ofgem sets annual targets on energy suppliers under the Energy Company Obligation to install energy-saving material. One eligible measure is external wall insulation.

Was the Grenfell cladding paid for, at least in part, under this scheme?

Ofgem no longer has a technical directorate that might have considered the safety aspects of material that is subsidised. Nor does Ofgem any longer sit on standards committees.

Former director, Gas Consumers Council Langford, Bedfordshire

SIR – As a retired structural engineer, I know that, in the early Sixties, London County Council, investigating the replacement of slums and wardamaged housing, proposed five 20-storey blocks of flats for Wapping. Its Special Structures Division carried out a feasibility study. The structure was to be steel-framed with concrete floors and concrete internal walls, and the whole of the external cladding walls would be made up of structural plastic units including insulation.

The fire risk of the proposed plastic cladding was investigated at the Fire Research Station, Hertfordshire, where a three-storey full-scale structure was built. Once a fire was started in the ground-floor, it took a few seconds for the window to burst, and then flames spread rapidly across and up the cladding.

What happened to the reports concerning this experiment? Were they destroyed or archived when the LCC and GLC were disbanded ?

Why aren’t full-scale fire tests on vertical cladding elements carried out today as in the early Sixties ? Bryan A Bishop

King’s Lynn, Norfolk