Skip to main content
Cladding crisis scale unknown 8 years after Grenfell blaze
MPs say ministers have 'heads in sand' on safety
A general view of Grenfell Tower, in west London, February 9, 2025

MINISTERS were told to get their “heads out of the sand” today as MPs slammed their plans to fix dangerous cladding eight years after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government was criticised for still not knowing how many of up to 7,000 buildings remain unsafe, how much their remediation will cost to address nor how long it will take.

Campaigners welcomed the damning report by the public accounts committee (PAC), which backed their calls to make industry pay for the removing the deadly cladding.

Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards added: “No-one should be forced to live in a home in which they feel unsafe.

“Yet thousands of people are still living and working in dangerous properties.

“Ministers accepted the findings of the independent inquiry and now need to push on with reforms to boost protection for social housing tenants and prevent a repeat of such an avoidable tragedy.

“The legacy of Grenfell has to be safer homes for everybody.

“Unsafe cladding must be removed from every tower block in the country as a priority.”

Morning Star call for advertising
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
NEU 17.4.25
Britain / 17 April 2025
17 April 2025
By Berny Torre in Harrogate
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede
Britain / 17 April 2025
17 April 2025
By Berny Torre in Harrogate
Social media
NEU Conference 2025 / 17 April 2025
17 April 2025
Similar stories
The scene following a fire in a tower block in Catford, sout
Britain / 5 September 2024
5 September 2024
Government fails to announce timeline on fixing unsafe structures in wake of Grenfell report
Firefighters at the scene after a blaze at a block of flats
Britain / 27 August 2024
27 August 2024
Starmer slammed for ‘not say a word about the building safety crisis since he became prime minister’