Tories are attacked over vote on Grenfell
KIRKLEES’ two Conservative MPs have been sharply criticised for voting against an amendment to implement the recommendations of the official Grenfell Inquiry.
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) and Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) were among 317 Tories who voted down a Labour amendment to the fire safety bill.
The final vote in the House of Commons on Monday was 318 against and 188 in favour, a margin of 130.
Labour’s Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) and Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen) voted in favour.
There were no Labour rebels. Conservatives similarly voted en bloc.
The amendment would have put into law the fire safety recommendations made during phase one of the inquiry when the final bill gained royal assent. Those recommendations include: Requiring owners or managers of flats to share information with their local fire service about the design and materials of external walls
A requirement to carry out regular inspections of lifts and individual flat entrance doors with evacuation and fire safety instructions shared with residents of the building.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked both Mr McCartney and Mr Eastwood to comment on why they voted as they did.
Mr Eastwood said: “The Government is putting forward legislation that allows the first phase recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry to be implemented.
“The Fire Safety Order consultation ends on October 12 and Labour’s amendment risked preempting the conclusion of the consultation. It is important that we get the details right.”
Reaction to the vote was immediate, and scathing.
On Twitter the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) wrote: “Every single Tory MP who voted against this amendment should hang their heads in shame.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called it “a shameful dereliction of duty”.
Speaking to the LDRS Mr Sheerman said: “We know that there are flats and apartment blocks across the country that are badly designed and badly clad.
“But that coming together [to fix the issue] has rather filtered away. I am sad and disappointed by that.
“We were all determined not to let Grenfell happen again, and we should all have voted for what is right.”
Former MPs Thelma Walker and Paula Sherriff were among those venting their anger on Twitter.
Ms Sheriff, the Labour MP for Dewsbury from 2015 to 2019, wrote: “I knew my MP would faithfully toe the party line come what may, but to find he voted against implementing the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations makes me feel sick. Meeting Grenfell survivors will stay with me forever and I’m so sorry that they continue to be let down.”
Mrs Walker, who snatched Colne Valley for Labour in 2017 but lost the seat in 2019, wrote: “I heard the Grenfell Tower survivors’ stories and also met officers from the FBU. I shall never forget the trauma, so visible, on their faces.
“My MP chose to ignore the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations. Shame on him!”
The Grenfell tower block in North Kensington, London, was engulfed by fire on June 14, 2017. The fire spread from a fourthfloor flat across the outside of the building via flammable external cladding.
The disaster killed 72 people.