Parliament gets fire safety gear Tories deny to tower blocks Scandal of MPs’ £1.3M sprinklers

PARLIAMENT is to be fitted with £1.3million-worth of sprinklers – as the Tories refuse cash for unsafe flats like Grenfell Tower.

The Government plans to spend £118million upgrading fire safety in its Westminster HQ while hundreds of thousands across the country miss out.

A mother who lost her home in the West London blaze which killed at least 71 in June said she was “disgusted”.

Lessons

And Labour urged the Government to set aside an additional £1billion to retrofit tower blocks with sprinklers.

Leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The life of a tower block resident is worth as much as an MP or peer. The Government must learn the lessons of Grenfell.”

His call was echoed by Grenfell survivor Helen Gebremeskel, who was on the 21st floor with her 12-year-old daughter when the fire broke out. She said: “We just about escaped with our lives but we lost dear friends.

“I am disgusted the Government can find millions for Westminster but won’t fund local councils to protect lives in ordinary social housing blocks.”

Shadow Housing Minister John Healey branded the plans for Parliament “shameful”, adding: “Grenfell was a national disaster that demands national Government responds.”

The amount set aside for Westminster was highlighted earlier this year after research by Inside Housing magazine.

At the same time, housing minister Alok Sharma declined a request from Nottingham City Council for £6million to provide sprinklers in 13 towers.

And last month Communities Minister Sajid Javid refused four times to confirm the Government would pay to retrofit sprinklers in tower blocks.

Labour’s letter to Theresa May calling on the Government to retrofit sprinklers has attracted almost 60,000 signatures so far. To sign visit: bit.ly/mhs-mw