60 high rises have failed fire safety tests

● Figures revealed as politician says Grenfell Tower victims ‘murdered’

Sixty high-rise buildings in 25 local authorities have failed fire cladding safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster, the government said yesterday.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has revealed that all the buildings that have so far submitted cladding samples have failed combustibility tests.

Blocks in Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-tees, Sunderland, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth and London are affected.

The announcements came as shadow chancellor John Mcdonnell claimed that the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were murdered by “political decisions”.

Some 60 high-rise buildings in 25 local authorities across the country have now failed fire cladding safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster, the government has said.

The announcement came after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid revealed that all the buildings that have so far submitted cladding samples have failed combustibility tests.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-tees and Sunderland had buildings that failed tests, while Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth have already been named.

Islington, Lambeth and Wandsworth joined Barnet, Brent, Camden and Hounslow on the growing list of London boroughs, while the 11 other areas are yet to be named by officials.

Confirmation that 60 buildings had failed fire safety tests came as shadow chancellor John Mcdonnell claimed that the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were murdered by “political decisions”.

He said: “Those families, those individuals – 79 so far and there will be more – were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades.

“The decision not to build homes and to view housing as only for financial speculation rather than for meeting a basic human need made by politicians over decades murdered those families.”

Camden Council leader Georgia Gould said yester- day that around 200 residents from 120 households were refusing to leave their homes in four tower blocks evacuated in the Chalcots Estate in north London.

She took the decision to clear 600 flats on Friday night after London Fire Brigade inspecting officers identified concerns over the combination of external cladding, fire doors, gas pipes and insulation.

Around 60 people stayed in nearby Swiss Cottage leisure centre on Saturday night as 3,000 displaced residents faced weeks in temporary accommodation.

Ms Gould explained that some residents have issues, including agoraphobia, and want to be sure they have suitable accommodation before moving out of their flats.

She added: “The last thing I want to do is force people out of their homes, and the conversations I have been having with residents in these buildings is that they are happy to work with us.”

Ms Gould said the council had more hotel spaces and 100 flats becoming available for residents today.

“We hope to get many people into more secure accommodation as quickly as we can,” she said.

“The priority is to make sure that the people in those blocks have somewhere that they can directly go to and making sure that they are safe.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan has backed the council’s decision to evacuate the tower blocks.

“You can’t play Russian roulette with people’s safety,” he said.

Paul Dennett, the city mayor of Salford, also revealed last night that work had begun to remove cladding on nine high-rise blocks in the Pendleton area.