Home » News » Currently Reading:

Tragedies are not political opportunities

November 9, 2017 News 1 Comment

I am rarely moved to post on Facebook or any other social media, but I cannot allow John Healey MP’s outrageous statement to pass without comment. Mr Healey is the Shadow Housing Minister and was being interviewed on Good Morning Britain about the proposal to retrofit sprinklers in all tower blocks following the Grenfell Tower fire. This proposal has been about for many years but has largely been disregarded by the authorities.

As part of the interview Mr Healey stated, and I believe this is verbatim,… that the Grenfell incident represented a

“complete breakdown of the Building Regulation and Control system”.

Complete breakdown???!!!!

For the uninitiated, the Building Regulations consists of parts A to Q, each part dealing with a different aspect of the building process. Part A, for example, deals with structure; Part L thermal insulation; Part P electrical installations and so on. Fire protection comes under Part B.

While there are incidents from time to time that cause a revision in the Building Regulations – Ronan Point being a fine example – the regulations are, by and large, a sensible and robust method of monitoring construction.

There have been reports that Part B was wilfully disregarded, inadequately applied or just plain wrong when it comes to Grenfell Tower, and I do not claim to know how accurate any of those theories are, and I am sure there are people looking into the matter. There may even be a revision in Part B as a direct consequence.

But for a Member of Parliament to go on national television and claim that there has been a “complete breakdown” in the Building Regulations is naïve, inaccurate and just STUPID!!!

Currently there is 1 comment on this article:

  1. Mike Evans says:

    Very well put Keith. Unfortunately many politicians have the dangerous self confidence to talk authoritatively about things that they are completely ignorant of.

Comment on this Article: