Death by cuts

The first duty of any government is to defend its people. Yet fire safety regulations have not been updated since 2010, a period during which cladding of tower blocks has become common. Despite a 2009 tower block fire in which six people died and cladding played a role, the government has not issued new fire regulations, despite assurances that it would do so from former housing minister Gavin Barwell, who became Theresa May’s chief of staff after voters rejected him as their MP in this month’s election. In 2014 his predecessor as housing minister said in a debate that building developers should not be made to fit fire sprinklers because the increased cost could discourage building. And last July, Department for Education guidance on school buildings removed the requirement for sprinklers to be fitted in new schools, which had been required in a previous draft of the regulations. This, of course, will save money on the education budget. This is life under the Conservatives. Cutbacks, affecting everything from bin collections to fire safety checks, for 95 per cent of the population, tax cuts for the richest 5 per cent who have no need of any of these services.

And these are the policies great swathes of Scots now support, having voted Tory at the last election.

PHIL TATE Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh