Browse content similar to 18/06/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good morning, and welcome to the Sunday Politics. | :00:39. | :00:40. | |
Not good enough - that is Theresa May's | :00:41. | :00:42. | |
own verdict on the response to the Grenfell Tower fire, | :00:43. | :00:47. | |
but that is also what a growing number are saying about her | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
Having failed to win a majority, Mrs May will face a daily battle | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
to win the votes she needs in Parliament, which is maybe why | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
the new Leader of the Commons has already cancelled next year's | :01:00. | :01:01. | |
And Labour are claiming the Government isn't legitimate. | :01:02. | :01:10. | |
Have they forgotten that, despite defying | :01:11. | :01:12. | |
all expectations in the election, they didn't actually win? | :01:13. | :01:14. | |
In London: The terrible Grenfell Tower fire | :01:15. | :01:16. | |
How could such a tragedy be allowed to happen | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
And with me to discuss all of that and more, | :01:21. | :01:32. | |
three journalists who always defy expectations - Steve Richards, | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
Julia Hartley-Brewer, and Tom Newton Dunn. | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
And they'll be tweeting throughout the programme. | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
Theresa May's authority was already in freefall even | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
before her faltering handling of the appalling disaster | :01:47. | :01:48. | |
Yesterday she admitted the official response had not been good enough. | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
This morning's front pages, as well as reflecting the full | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
horror of that tragedy, are also full of claims | :02:00. | :02:01. | |
that her critics are circling and ready to pounce, | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
though none, as yet, have come out publicly. | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
Her Chancellor, Philip Hammond, was asked about the Prime Minister's | :02:11. | :02:12. | |
position on the Andrew Marr Show earlier. | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
I think what the country needs now is a period of calm while we get on | :02:17. | :02:23. | |
with the job in hand. We've got some very serious issues to address, | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
including the Brexit negotiations are just starting. Theresa is | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
leading the Government and I think the Government needs to get on with | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
his job. The you know what? I think that is what most people in the | :02:37. | :02:39. | |
country will think - the Government needs to get on with the day job of | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
Government. Get on with the day job, Tom - is that what they are saying | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
in private? Some are. I was at lunch with a minister on Thursday who | :02:52. | :02:54. | |
said, we need to get this thing sorted now because if we go one like | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
this with the Prime Minister without any power at all, we will end up in | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
a John Major situation and it will only get worse. Talking to people | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
this week, I don't think that is the predominant view. That seems to be | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
that she has to stay for the time being, at least until conference, | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
and possibly as far as the end of the Brexit negotiations, because | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
there is no real alternative, no obvious person who can come in. The | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
last thing they want to do now is have an unbelievably divisive | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
leadership contest and rip up the very thin consensus that currently | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
still exist on Brexit and go back to square one. Journalist in London are | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
now searching for whom Tom had lunch with on Thursday. Julia, is that | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
sustainable in public? The Prime Minister's authority was already in | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
free fall and she has not handled this disaster well. After the 1922 | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
committee meeting, they said, she handled this well and can handle | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
this stuff. It was astoundingly poorly handled. Both practically and | :03:56. | :04:04. | |
in terms of PR. The question is, is she capable of changing and behaving | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
in a different way? Her selling point running for the leadership | :04:08. | :04:16. | |
was, I don't do emotion and I am steady as she goes. It has not been, | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
so if you don't have the touchy-feely Tony Blair David | :04:23. | :04:24. | |
Cameron stuff, and you don't have strong and stable, you are kind of | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
left with nothing. It's not that people don't want her, they just | :04:29. | :04:35. | |
don't want the alternative. Steve, you have studied and lived through | :04:36. | :04:43. | |
many of these situations that cannot go on, but often it does. For one | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
thing, there is a fear of an early election, where MPs will think, we | :04:50. | :04:52. | |
might lose our seats, so we must stop that from happening. Fear the | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
leadership contest by which some freakish sequence they elect another | :04:59. | :05:10. | |
dud. 74-79, Gordon Brown after the nonelection, and he survived several | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
coups. This is a hung parliament where she has lost an overall | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
majority, and I think there are questions about whether she herself | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
is ready for the mountainous, daunting assent to come. One of the | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
reasons that Gordon Brown succeeded and carried on, Steve, was that | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
other people concluded they might not be better at the big job in | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
hand, then the economic crisis. Is there a chance that now, for all the | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
criticism of her, people say, know what, she is the best handle Brexit? | :05:45. | :05:52. | |
They want her to carry the can for Brexit and everything. No one wants | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
the leadership, whether it is Boris Johnson, David Davis or anyone else, | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
unless they can ride up on their white steed and save the day. Also, | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
Brexit will not be the most beautiful experience. There will be | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
compromises and pain. A lot of people think, we will get her to | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
sign the ?50 billion cheque, someone else can come in on a white horse | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
and save the day. Bets from journalists are not a clever thing | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
to do, but are you all saying that you think she will survive for some | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
time? I think she will, but I'm not sure how long. Philip Hammond didn't | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
answer the question because he doesn't know either. I think she | :06:35. | :06:38. | |
will for some time. A week ago, I thought there would be an election | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
in the autumn. I didn't make a prediction of the election outcome, | :06:45. | :06:47. | |
so I didn't get it wrong, but I didn't get it right either. If she | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
doesn't screw up, she will probably last until the end of Brexit. For | :06:53. | :06:55. | |
the moment, thank you very much. Theresa May's failure to win | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
a majority after a disastrous election campaign has | :06:59. | :07:00. | |
left her critics returning to that famous phrase once used | :07:01. | :07:02. | |
by Norman Lamont to describe John Major - in office, | :07:03. | :07:04. | |
but not in power. Short of MPs and shorn | :07:05. | :07:06. | |
of her closest advisers, she now faces a disgruntled party, | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
an emboldened opposition, the start of Brexit negotiations and, | :07:10. | :07:12. | |
as we've been saying, claims that she has mishandled | :07:13. | :07:20. | |
a national crisis. When Theresa May finally visited | :07:21. | :07:22. | |
residents at the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire, | :07:23. | :07:24. | |
she was jeered by some residents, Many questions have been raised, | :07:25. | :07:26. | |
of course, about successive Governments' approach to fire | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
regulation, as well as the speed and scale of the official | :07:33. | :07:35. | |
response to the disaster. This crisis comes at a time | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
when the Prime Minister is still trying to construct | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
a Commons majority by securing the support of the ten MPs | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
of Northern Ireland's The DUP is demanding more funding | :07:47. | :07:48. | |
for Northern Ireland and is thought to want a series of Conservative | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
manifesto promises dropped. This means that Wednesday's Queen's | :07:54. | :08:04. | |
Speech, when the Government sets out its plans for the year, will - | :08:05. | :08:06. | |
in the words of one Controversial plans like reversing | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
the ban on opening new grammar schools, ending free lunches | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
at English primary schools, and the scheme designed to reform | :08:14. | :08:15. | |
social care funding are all likely to be scaled down or | :08:16. | :08:18. | |
dropped altogether. The Government has scrapped next | :08:19. | :08:20. | |
year's Queen's speech and is planning a rare | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
two-year Parliament to give more time for MPs to debate | :08:27. | :08:28. | |
Brexit, it says, but its critics say the Government | :08:29. | :08:31. | |
is running scared. Because, of course, what hangs over | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
everything the Government now does is the small matter | :08:35. | :08:37. | |
of negotiating our way out Well, to discuss all of this, | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
I'm joined by the newly appointed leader of the Commons, | :08:41. | :08:50. | |
Andrea Leadsom. Good morning, and thanks for coming | :08:51. | :08:58. | |
on the programme. The election seems a lifetime ago, but then, the | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
Conservative Party promised strong and stable leadership. It's not | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
unreasonable to say that you don't look strong or stable and there's | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
not a lot of leadership. The last couple of weeks have been extremely | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
devastating, and I think the real focus of the Government over the | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
last week since that awful tragedy at Grenfell Tower has been trying to | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
ensure that everything is being done for the victims. I know there has | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
been a big narrative about what could have been done better and so | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
on, but in truth, the Prime Minister has had a job to do, and she really | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
has focused on trying to make sure that the residents are taking care | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
of, and that's got to be the priority. Why did you go and meet | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
them to hear their anger and pain but she initially did not? I was | :09:47. | :09:52. | |
there as the new Leader of the House of Commons and had helped to arrange | :09:53. | :09:55. | |
an emergency briefing for MPs and peers the previous day, and it was | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
so apparent how desperately moved and sympathetic and distraught all | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
MPs were, right across the House. Which raises the question of why the | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
Prime Minister did not go. She had a job to do. Too busy? No, but she | :10:11. | :10:21. | |
needed to ensure that what the residents needed, sorting out bank | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
accounts, mobile phones, trauma counselling and accommodation, she | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
was trying to get a handle on all of that to make sure that those things | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
were taking care of. She issued a statement yesterday saying the | :10:34. | :10:35. | |
response was not good enough. The one nudges and winks from her | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
advisers that it was not done properly. Do you think the Prime | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
Minister did not get this right? I think we are all very conscious that | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
the support wasn't good enough in the first couple of days. Obviously, | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
all local councils are geared up to try and deal with the relief from | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
disasters such as this, but this is unprecedented, this is absolutely | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
harrowing, and I know that the council did everything they could | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
with massive support. People are furious, and with good reason. I | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
hear you say that you understand and you feel people's pain. The Prime | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
Minister was busy, the council did their bit, so who got it wrong? | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
Someone has to be held responsible. Absolutely right, and as I am trying | :11:27. | :11:30. | |
to explain, the council really... And I rang the chief executive to | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
try and give specific feedback from some of the residents. He was | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
absolutely trying to put the right people in place to deal with that. | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
We had a lot of feedback from community leaders. So the council | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
would be replaced? We are hearing talk of someone being drafted in to | :11:48. | :11:50. | |
replace them because they are not doing well enough. The Prime | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
Minister has decided to bring in very experienced civil servants to | :11:55. | :11:57. | |
improve and to add to the resources of the local council so that issues | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
can be addressed much more quickly and with greater experience and | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
precision, quite rightly. Part of the problem with what may have led | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
to the fire and what is happening now is that no one thinks anyone is | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
in charge. When you talk about who could is -- who keeps people save, | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
is it the council, the people who manage the block, is at the fire | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
brigade, the people who inspect the work, the Government? No one knows | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
who is in charge. In this specific case, the Prime Minister is now in | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
charge of the committee that is bringing together all necessary | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
resources, but I think you make a very good question, Nick - we do | :12:41. | :12:43. | |
need to understand better how we can ensure that this just cannot happen | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
again. By clear lines of responsibility. This is horrific. | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
Yes, all those lessons need to be learnt about if I may, there are two | :12:54. | :12:59. | |
aspects: Dealing with the very real, pressing, urgent needs of those | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
poor, absolutely horrified and traumatised victims, and then this | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
bigger question about who should be in charge and where the buck stops | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
and who should be in control. They are two separate issues. When you | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
hear the rage, and it is rage can I ask a personal question? Do you feel | :13:16. | :13:24. | |
shame as a politician? Of course. We all think, what could we have done | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
or should we have done? It's just unbearable. You know, this cannot | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
happen in the 21st century, and yet it has. If it weren't for this, this | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
would still be a huge week in politics, with the Queen 's speech | :13:40. | :13:42. | |
coming, a new parliament, and you have been appointed Leader of the | :13:43. | :13:45. | |
Commons, in charge of Government business. Why have you already, | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
almost your first act as Leader of the Commons, scrapped the next Queen | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
's speech, next year's, to make sure that the parliament last for two | :13:56. | :14:02. | |
years and not one, unusually? It happened in 2005 and 2010. It didn't | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
happen during the war or during other crises. It is the rate of | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
legislation rather than crises. There is a lot of legislation to go | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
through. And we're leaving the EU at the end of March 2019, so having a | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
two-year period in which to bring together parliament and Government | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
to really make progress with legislation that is essential to | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
making a real success of Brexit, there are some big advantages, it's | :14:29. | :14:32. | |
all a bit technical, but as you will know, select committees don't have | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
to ditch enquiries, bills don't have to be carried forward, and there | :14:37. | :14:39. | |
will be more Parliamentary time for scrutiny... The advantages, you | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
don't have to risk another Queen 's speech which you might lose. In | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
other words, having two years makes it just a little bit easier for the | :14:50. | :14:52. | |
Government to survive than it might otherwise be. | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
I want to be clear, that is not any reason for doing this. There are | :14:59. | :15:05. | |
plenty of opportunities if you want to speculate on problems for the | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
Government. The point about this two year Parliament is it enables us to | :15:11. | :15:18. | |
get the work of leaving the EU done, but the same time we have a | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
legislative programme to tackle the issues of inequality, lack of | :15:24. | :15:25. | |
opportunity, and we want to have a good run at that at this difficult | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
time. You have yet to unveil the deal with the DUP, I assume we will | :15:31. | :15:36. | |
see that tomorrow, we do, how many parts of the manifesto will have to | :15:37. | :15:42. | |
be ditched? There are lengthy conversations now with the DUP and | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
we share a number of interests in common, ensuring we make a success | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
of Brexit and there's no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and | :15:54. | :15:59. | |
Northern Ireland. They will brace against hard austerity, so some of | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
the tough things you're doing in your manifesto like scrapping all | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
meals in England for example, changing the social care system, | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
ending the winter fuel allowance for some people, they will go, won't | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
they? We don't ever talk about the Queen's speech in advance, the Queen | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
will make those announcements on Wednesday. I'm preparing people for | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
the fact that some of the things you said in the manifesto will have to | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
go? The issue is that we have an enormous job to do to make a success | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
of Brexit and we have huge ambitions for a social, domestic legislative | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
programme that will improve life opportunities and reduce | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
inequalities in this nation. Is that's a long winded way of saying | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
yes? We will prioritise those things. You went to the country and | :16:52. | :16:58. | |
Theresa May went to the country asking for a Brexit mandate and you | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
didn't get one, the country didn't give you a majority. As one of the | :17:03. | :17:11. | |
leading campaigners for Leave, does that make you conclude something has | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
to change? Overrated percent voted for parties who stood on manifestos | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
for leaving the EU so I don't recognise what you say that we don't | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
have a mandate for Brexit. We do. At the referendum last year and also | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
the results of the general election. As I say, over 80% of people voting | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
for parties that will respect the result of the referendum. Had on | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
television this morning Kier Starmer of the Labour Party saying he wanted | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
to stay in the customs union, in other words you may have a majority | :17:44. | :17:53. | |
for the headlines, but the detail there is no majority for, no | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
agreement on and what I'm really asking you is whether you will have | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
to reach out to find that sort of agreement. In my new job as Leader | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
of the House of Commons, it will be important to listen to all members | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
right across The House, but I think it is extremely clear that in | :18:11. | :18:14. | |
leaving the EU we will be taking back control of our laws, our | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
borders, our money, and that means leaving the single market, it means | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
giving up on free movement. It means taking back those laws, putting them | :18:27. | :18:29. | |
into UK law and being able to change them. If it takes time, in other | :18:30. | :18:38. | |
words if that is the agreed and objective but to take some time and | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
the Chancellor says, you know what, we need two or three years for | :18:43. | :18:46. | |
business to be clear, for there to be no so-called cliff edges, do you | :18:47. | :18:56. | |
say you have the time? The negotiation begins tomorrow. It is | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
going to be very, you know, strong on all sides, but certainly my | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
experience from talking to other EU politicians is that they absolutely | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
recognise the desire as we do for a strong partnership and for there to | :19:13. | :19:19. | |
be low tariff... I asked about time, and the reason is let's not use the | :19:20. | :19:23. | |
word speculation, the Chancellor on the television this morning said | :19:24. | :19:30. | |
time, no cliff edges, time. Where you have politicians across the EU | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
and the UK who share the desire for a successful outcome with lower | :19:35. | :19:41. | |
tariffs, zero nontariff barriers, free trade between ourselves, it | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
should be possible to meet the time frame. In other words no | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
transitional arrangements? I am extremely optimistic there is a lot | :19:51. | :19:55. | |
we can agree on. I am just saying to you, my expectation is there will be | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
a lot we can agree on and that will facilitate a smooth transition. It | :20:01. | :20:03. | |
is clear Theresa May will not be running as your leader at the next | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
general election, so when is the right time for the party to consider | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
who will be leading next? Before or after Brexit? That is absolutely a | :20:14. | :20:21. | |
statement I would reject. You cannot see into the future. We have seen a | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
lot of change in recent weeks and months. The Prime Minister has done | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
a fantastic job in bringing the country back to a good place since | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
she has been the leader and Prime Minister. She is determined to | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
continue... She might lead the party into another election. I don't look | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
into the future. Let's put it another way, do you think there is a | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
chance some of the Conservative will lead the Brexit negotiations? I | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
think the Prime Minister will lead the Brexit negotiations. She has led | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
preparations extremely well and determinedly on behalf of the whole | :21:03. | :21:09. | |
country. And in that two years for the negotiation, it may be in need | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
time to save can look ahead to who our next leader is. I think it is | :21:15. | :21:19. | |
unhelpful to speculate on the future in that way. We need a coming | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
together, a recognition that all people need to have their say, and | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
strong leadership that can take us forward. Theresa May with her | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
Cabinet are determined to provide that. Are you believed you didn't | :21:34. | :21:40. | |
get the job? I supported the Prime Minister. -- are you relieve you | :21:41. | :21:49. | |
didn't get the job? I am completely backing Theresa May as our Prime | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
Minister. Thank you for taking the time to join does. | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
Whilst Theresa May and the Government have been struggling | :21:59. | :22:00. | |
to deal with the disaster at Grenfell Tower, Jeremy Corbyn | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
was hailed by residents after his visit to the area on Thursday. | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
Is Labour properly reflecting and channelling the public's anger, | :22:07. | :22:08. | |
or are they exploiting it - playing political games, | :22:09. | :22:10. | |
I'm joined now by the Shadow Local Government Secretary and Labour's | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
Good morning. There is a lot of anger on the streets, much of it | :22:16. | :22:27. | |
understandable that other people will share, but as the main | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
opposition party, do you have a responsibility to calm it down | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
rather than turn it up? I don't think we are stirring it up, I would | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
hope that we have been fully responsible in reflecting the | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
concerns, the anxieties, the hurt and worry of those residents in | :22:48. | :22:54. | |
Kensington. I want to pay tribute to the community that pulls together in | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
the face of adversity. Can't even begin to think of the pain that | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
people are going through, the hurt that community is going through, and | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
yet they have pulled together to look after one another to do some of | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
the things that statutory authorities should be doing, and I | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
think it is right and proper that we get to the bottom of what has | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
happened in this dreadful tragedy, and make sure we put right | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
everything that needs putting right so we never, ever experienced | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
anything as horrific as this again. I want to talk about how that might | :23:31. | :23:37. | |
be done in a second. You safe Labour are coming down. Clive Lewis tweeted | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
Burn Neo Liberalism not People, do you think that is responsible at a | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
time like this? I think it is important we are measured in our | :23:50. | :23:57. | |
approach here. Is that measured? Clive will answer for what he has | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
tweeted. There is an issue here that we have had seven years of cuts to | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
our public services. Local authorities don't have the resources | :24:09. | :24:11. | |
that they need to be able to provide some of the most basic services. The | :24:12. | :24:18. | |
Fire Service is under resourced as well, and there are issues. This | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
probably isn't the time to go into them, but there are issues that need | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
to be resolved about how we make sure that health and safety | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
regulation isn't seen as a burden on business, isn't seen as unnecessary | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
red tape, it's about saving lives and protecting people. Your | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
implication, almost your statement, is austerity was the reason for the | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
fire. It may turn out to be true, and plenty of people believe it, but | :24:47. | :24:51. | |
what is your evidence for saying austerity caused this fire? I | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
haven't said that. I said there are number of issues here. Health and | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
safety regulation is one, building regulations are another. The role of | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
government is important in this, how local authorities are able to fund | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
under resourced civil contingencies emergency planning. But your leader | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
said if you cut local authority expenditure, the price is paid | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
somehow. The implication was clear that the cuts lead to the fire and | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
it could be that this was bad regulation, it could be that the | :25:29. | :25:32. | |
regulation was fine but not followed, it could be criminal | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
negligence, it may not turn out to be cuts at all. It could be all of | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
those things and the important thing is we get the inquiry. We have as | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
wide as possible terms of reference for the inquiry, we ensure the | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
residents, victims and local community have a full voice in that | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
inquiry and we make sure the actions which are required both that we | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
already know from previous incidents but also the recommendations that, | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
of this inquiry are acted upon. We cannot ever have situation again | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
where we have recommendations from previous reports that have not been | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
acted on by government or local government. There has been a focus | :26:18. | :26:25. | |
of criticism on Kensington Council but there are many Labour councils | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
with this kind of cladding on the residential tower blocks. Do you now | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
know how many it is? No, but we do know every local authority and | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
housing association in the country are now urgently investigating their | :26:39. | :26:43. | |
own housing stock and we very clearly have to know that. I have | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
got tower blocks in my own constituency that have recently been | :26:50. | :26:57. | |
re-clad and I have contacted my housing providers because I want | :26:58. | :27:00. | |
assurances on behalf of my constituents that they are living in | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
safe housing. We understand me that carried out the work in Grenfell | :27:07. | :27:14. | |
also carried out work in Labour run Camden so it's possible this sort of | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
fire, God help us that it doesn't, it might happen in another borough | :27:19. | :27:27. | |
and in an area where the parties opposed to austerity. Absolutely and | :27:28. | :27:30. | |
we have got to make sure we identify precisely which housing stock does | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
not meet modern requirements, does not meet the safety minimum | :27:36. | :27:40. | |
standards, and that we urgently put that right. We cannot ever have a | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
catastrophe like this again, and I have been in this job as shadow | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
community Secretary for four days now. It pains me to see what has | :27:51. | :27:56. | |
happened in Kensington. This is awful, these are human lives and we | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
have got to start treating people and communities with the respect and | :28:01. | :28:05. | |
with the humanity that they deserve. You were careful at the top to say | :28:06. | :28:08. | |
it's important to be responsible, what do you think the fourth of the | :28:09. | :28:16. | |
call for a day of rage, not by the Labour Party, the day of rage on | :28:17. | :28:25. | |
Wednesday and quote, the Tories have blood on their hands? I don't | :28:26. | :28:31. | |
associate myself with those kind of comments. I think if we are going to | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
do something on Wednesday it is a vigil for those people who have lost | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
their lives because this is a tragedy and we cannot ever have that | :28:40. | :28:45. | |
happen again. The reason I ask is John McDonnell, the Shadow | :28:46. | :28:48. | |
Chancellor, said, and I quote, I don't think this Government is a | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
legitimate government. Do you think it is? | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
In the sense that Theresa May went to the country asking for a bigger | :29:00. | :29:06. | |
Parliamentary majority and a mandate from the people, and she came out on | :29:07. | :29:09. | |
the 8th of June with no Parliamentary majority at all, so it | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
does raise questions about the legitimacy of this Government's | :29:15. | :29:16. | |
ability to put forward a programme that they stood for election on. | :29:17. | :29:22. | |
That is a different point. I asked a simple question: Is this a | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
legitimate Government? Did they win more votes and seats under the rules | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
and therefore is your message to anyone taking to the streets to | :29:32. | :29:39. | |
claim that they are not legitimate? We are a democracy, we have | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
elections, and the Conservatives won 42% of the vote in the election. The | :29:45. | :29:51. | |
Tories lost seats, and the Labour Party gain seats. We are in a | :29:52. | :29:57. | |
Parliamentary democracy and we will hold the Government to account for | :29:58. | :30:03. | |
as long as little as it survives. Why did Mr McDonnell not say what | :30:04. | :30:10. | |
you have said, that you will beat them in the House of Commons? He | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
went on to say, we need as many as 1 million people on the streets of | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
London. He wasn't talking about this fire, to be fair, but about a | :30:20. | :30:21. | |
protest planned for the start of July. He said we need a million | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
people on the streets of London to force the Tories out. Is that | :30:26. | :30:32. | |
democracy? Clearly, peaceful demonstration is part of our | :30:33. | :30:34. | |
democratic rights, and people feel very strongly that this Government | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
has lost a mandate because Theresa May went to the country asking for a | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
bigger majority, and the country said no. They took that majority | :30:44. | :30:47. | |
that she had away from her. I want to make sure we hold this Government | :30:48. | :30:53. | |
to account, and at the earliest opportunity defeat this Government | :30:54. | :30:58. | |
so that we can put into practice our positive agenda for a fairer, | :30:59. | :31:02. | |
better, more recall Britain that works for the many, not the few. | :31:03. | :31:04. | |
Thank you for joining us. Will the Government's Brexit | :31:05. | :31:06. | |
plans have to change following the election | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
after they failed to get the mandate Theresa May demanded, | :31:10. | :31:11. | |
leaving them with no Lots of attention has focused | :31:12. | :31:13. | |
on whether Britain's future does lie That makes it easy for firms | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
to trade within the EU, but prevents Britain | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
striking its own free trade deals Let's have a listen | :31:24. | :31:25. | |
to Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary, Keir Starmer, and the Chancellor, | :31:26. | :31:32. | |
Philip Hammond, speaking earlier. Well, I think that should | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
be left on the table. So, we could stay | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
inside the customs union? We are leaving the EU, | :31:41. | :31:42. | |
and because we are leaving the EU we will be leaving the single | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
market, and by the way we will be The question is not whether we are | :31:47. | :31:49. | |
leaving the customs union, the question is what we put | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
in its place in order to deliver the objectives | :31:54. | :31:56. | |
the Prime Minister set out. Well, to see what two | :31:57. | :32:01. | |
people from the world of business make of this, | :32:02. | :32:04. | |
I'm joined by the former director general of the CBI and one-time | :32:05. | :32:06. | |
trade minister Digby Jones, and by the fund manager | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
Nicola Horlick. Good morning to you both. Digby, | :32:11. | :32:22. | |
before we get bogged down in what people should or shouldn't do in the | :32:23. | :32:27. | |
Government, from a business perspective, the customs union - | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
what exactly is it can provide does it matter to businesses? -- what | :32:33. | :32:38. | |
exactly is it and why does it matter to businesses? People are saying we | :32:39. | :32:42. | |
need to stay in the single market, but why then they say the other | :32:43. | :32:51. | |
words - Britain's judges don't have control over the law? The customs | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
union is something where you can be within a trading relationship, not | :32:58. | :33:03. | |
as integrated as the single market, but the big problem we will have | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
coming out of the single market is not tariffs, I don't think, because | :33:08. | :33:15. | |
that will hurt Europe, the problem is the bureaucracy, the regulatory | :33:16. | :33:21. | |
burden of getting goods and services across borders. Crudely, businesses | :33:22. | :33:28. | |
are worried about being delayed on the border by paperwork, deliberate | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
paperwork, perhaps, making it harder for our businesses to do business. | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
That is what the issue is. That is the biggest part. The other part is | :33:38. | :33:48. | |
that you get this sense of being in something, so that investors from | :33:49. | :33:51. | |
Japan, America and China who come to Britain for good reasons get the | :33:52. | :33:55. | |
advantage of being within this trading relationship. There are two | :33:56. | :33:59. | |
big downsides to it. One is that you have to pay money for it. It doesn't | :34:00. | :34:03. | |
come free. There is a check to write. And the second one, the big | :34:04. | :34:11. | |
one, in all my years at the CBI and as a Trade Minister, you find that | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
we are well known for trading openly around the world with good-quality | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
traders will stop we don't do the protectionism of America and France, | :34:19. | :34:22. | |
we are actually good at this. This forbid you from going around the | :34:23. | :34:27. | |
world and dealing with Singapore, America or China, or whoever. You | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
have two at brussels do it and you are forbidden from being part of the | :34:33. | :34:35. | |
global economy. I think that will be the big thing that stops things. | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
Thank you for the moment. Nicola, in the end, if you could get the | :34:40. | :34:44. | |
advantages of a border that was simple to do business across, | :34:45. | :34:47. | |
wouldn't it make sense, as Digby Jones says, to get out of the | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
customs union and be able to trade around the world freely, without | :34:53. | :34:54. | |
waiting for Brussels to do some deal that would take many years? The | :34:55. | :35:00. | |
problem is, striking trade deals takes many years, as we've seen. | :35:01. | :35:04. | |
There are many examples likely where the EU has been trying to negotiate | :35:05. | :35:10. | |
something, or the US has, and it takes years and then sometimes | :35:11. | :35:12. | |
stumbles at the last hurdle. The idea that we can suddenly strike our | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
own trade deals is nonsense, in my view. It will take years. We will be | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
cutting off our nose to spite our face if we shun the EU. There are | :35:23. | :35:30. | |
500 million people in the EU, including Britain, so it goes down a | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
bit if we come out. The point is, we can trade freely with that block | :35:34. | :35:37. | |
currently with no constraints. You are cheering on Labour's Kia Starmer | :35:38. | :35:43. | |
when he says, we are getting out of the EU, but we might be able to stay | :35:44. | :35:49. | |
in the customs union? As Digby said, if you stay in the customs union, | :35:50. | :35:52. | |
you cannot do your own trade deals. We heard from the Chancellor this | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
morning that there was a middle position, where we get out of the | :35:58. | :36:01. | |
customs union but over a period of years, to stop businesses having the | :36:02. | :36:04. | |
worry is that you set out, there would be some sort of transition. | :36:05. | :36:09. | |
Are you up for that? What business needs is certainty, boring | :36:10. | :36:15. | |
predictability. And the next couple of years are going to deliver | :36:16. | :36:18. | |
precisely the opposite. Anyone who thinks otherwise is for the birds. | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
If it were set out as a timetable and everyone knew that by this date, | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
this date and this date, things will happen, then I am up for that. We | :36:28. | :36:34. | |
have to make sure that people understand, and this is so | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
important, that the European union is big trading bloc, Nicola is | :36:41. | :36:44. | |
right, but it is only one. This is Asia's century, not America's or | :36:45. | :36:54. | |
Europe's. You have Brussels marching valiantly towards 1970. We need to | :36:55. | :37:00. | |
hit our wagon to the world. A civil servant used a phrase many years ago | :37:01. | :37:04. | |
- we don't want to chain ourselves to a corpse. He said that about | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
Europe. The future is elsewhere, Nicola? The fact is, it is not only | :37:10. | :37:16. | |
a huge area with 500 million people, but it is also very prosperous. You | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
would have to do an awful lot of trade deals across many territories | :37:20. | :37:23. | |
to actually replicate what we currently have, which is free access | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
to a huge trade block with no constraints, and that has been | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
beneficial to our economy. I want to be clear that you didn't want to | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
leave, and you would love to reverse it now if you could, I suspect, but | :37:37. | :37:39. | |
do you think it is possible to get out as the people voted for, but | :37:40. | :37:44. | |
still have the advantages of the customs union? I think that is very. | :37:45. | :37:51. | |
In or out? Yes. If you look at what happened during the election, there | :37:52. | :37:56. | |
has been a huge thing about 80% of people voting for parties that want | :37:57. | :37:59. | |
a Brexit. I don't think that's true. If you look at what happened, a lot | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
of younger people voted who were expected to vote, and they are | :38:05. | :38:07. | |
certainly not in favour of leaving the EU, the single market, the | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
customs union or any of it. Would be, when you describe the advantages | :38:14. | :38:16. | |
of the customs union, many people watching with thing, and therefore | :38:17. | :38:21. | |
the end of your sentence would be, and that is why we should stay in, | :38:22. | :38:25. | |
but you want to come out - why would you take such a risk? I think the | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
negotiations over the next two years should be unique. We are the fifth | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
or sixth biggest economy on earth. We ought to have a quality | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
relationship with Europe for all the reasons that Nicola has said, and | :38:42. | :38:45. | |
she's right, and at the same time reach out to the world. If it is | :38:46. | :38:51. | |
achievable along with Philip Hammond's idea of feathering over | :38:52. | :38:55. | |
the years, it is in Europe's interests. We need humility and less | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
arrogance, but we have got to get there. Briefly, what is the | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
nightmare, the fear, if we are not in the customs union? I believe it | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
will be very detrimental to our economy, and also one thing: The | :39:13. | :39:15. | |
fact of the matter is that Germany is in the EU. Germany does seven | :39:16. | :39:22. | |
times as much trade with China as we do. The idea that the EU stops as | :39:23. | :39:26. | |
trading with other countries is nonsense. A brief last sentence, | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
Digby. The German example is rubbish. They dominate the EU and | :39:31. | :39:37. | |
they use that as a way of enhancing their competitiveness in China. What | :39:38. | :39:46. | |
is true, and you are right, that is coming out of the customs union done | :39:47. | :39:49. | |
badly willed deny us the access we have spoken of, but done well, it | :39:50. | :39:54. | |
will have the best of both worlds. Thank you both very much indeed. | :39:55. | :39:59. | |
We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland, who leave us now | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
Coming up here in 20 minutes, The Week Ahead. | :40:05. | :40:07. | |
First, though, the Sunday Politics where you are. | :40:08. | :40:21. | |
Hello and welcome to the London part of the show. | :40:22. | :40:23. | |
There is only one story we are looking at today | :40:24. | :40:26. | |
and of course that is the terrible fire at | :40:27. | :40:29. | |
Grenfell Tower in Kensington, West London, that has claimed | :40:30. | :40:31. | |
the lives of scores of victims and shaken the capital to its core. | :40:32. | :40:35. | |
Who is to blame and what needs to be done to help rebuild this shattered | :40:36. | :40:41. | |
community and ensure that this never happens again? | :40:42. | :40:43. | |
Joining me to help answer some of those questions - | :40:44. | :40:45. | |
Emma Dent Coad who only ten days ago won her seat to become | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
the new Labour Member of Parliament for Kensington; | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
Conservative MP for Bromley and Chislehurst Bob Neill who served | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
as a Minister for Fire from 2010 to 2012 in the Cameron-led | :40:58. | :41:00. | |
Coalition government, and Jim Fitzpatrick, | :41:01. | :41:01. | |
Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, himself a former fireman for 20 | :41:02. | :41:04. | |
years and who has also served as Minister for London. | :41:05. | :41:07. | |
Firstly, Emma, can I get your reaction, as the local MP, | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
to the terrible events of early Wednesday morning | :41:11. | :41:12. | |
Absolutely terrifying, and the worst thing for most of us is that this | :41:13. | :41:22. | |
was clearly predicted and there have been concerns flagged up for many | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
years by residents. As far as we can see, it was preventable, and that | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
adds a whole new layer of horror to the event. Jim, you were a fireman, | :41:33. | :41:39. | |
and you could go through endless training schedules and programmes | :41:40. | :41:41. | |
but nothing could prepare you for this type of event? Know, and the | :41:42. | :41:48. | |
best comment on that was from Danny Cotton, acting interim Commissioner | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
of the Fire Service, who said that in her experience, she has never | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
seen anything like it. It must have been absolutely shocking for the | :41:59. | :42:01. | |
firefighters turning up, and I can't imagine what it was like for the | :42:02. | :42:04. | |
victims. What is your reaction to the news? Above all, this is an | :42:05. | :42:10. | |
appalling human tragedy and we have to reach out to the people who have | :42:11. | :42:14. | |
suffered, who have lost family, possessions will stop Jim is also | :42:15. | :42:18. | |
right to say, thank heavens for the professionalism of the Fire Service | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
and the brave way in which Danny Cotton and her team responded to an | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
extraordinary set of events. There are huge questions about whether or | :42:30. | :42:32. | |
not this was preventable and what was done in the years gone by to try | :42:33. | :42:36. | |
and stop this kind of thing happening. Jim, you were the fire | :42:37. | :42:46. | |
minister from 2005 - 2006 - why didn't you ban plastic cladding? I | :42:47. | :42:50. | |
don't know the answer to that question. That will be asked by the | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
enquiry that has been set up. Everybody who has had any role at | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
any level in local Government or central Government, be it an elected | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
politician or a professional civil servant, we will be scrutinised, and | :43:04. | :43:07. | |
these questions will be asked, and answers will have to be given. In | :43:08. | :43:11. | |
2000, the House of Commons wrote a report saying that this particular | :43:12. | :43:17. | |
type of cladding should be banned. There had been warnings. Do you | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
recall from your time concerns being raised about this type of cladding, | :43:23. | :43:26. | |
which seems to have been absolutely central to the spreading of this | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
fire? I don't recall. It is over ten years ago, but there will be records | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
and details of all the decisions that I took, and that will be open | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
to complete scrutiny. What people want our answers to these questions | :43:41. | :43:47. | |
-- people want answers to these questions and then there will be | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
able to draw conclusions as to responsibility and culpability. We | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
have seen some horrific pictures, charred black on the outside, and | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
there is wide acceptance that the cladding filled with plastic is one | :44:02. | :44:04. | |
of the reasons the fire spread so fast. There was a review in 2012 | :44:05. | :44:15. | |
after another tower block fire where people died in 2009 - what changed | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
as a result of that fire under your watch? | :44:21. | :44:27. | |
I made sure my chief fire adviser gave evidence to the inquest, the | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
inquest reported after I left government but I do know my | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
successor wrote to all housing providers and local authorities, | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
drawing attention to the inquest findings, and also guidance was | :44:42. | :44:48. | |
issued in 2014 on fighting fires in high-rise buildings. Plastic | :44:49. | :44:51. | |
cladding was banned in Germany in the 1980s, do you remember from your | :44:52. | :44:56. | |
time there that this is an appalling hazard and something should be done | :44:57. | :45:02. | |
about it? There is always discussion about changing technology, but types | :45:03. | :45:06. | |
of cladding change rapidly sometimes so you do need to be getting | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
technical guidance to update the recommendations. It is one thing the | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
public inquiry will have to look at, whether the recommendations were | :45:17. | :45:19. | |
adequate, but also whether the work was done in accordance with existing | :45:20. | :45:26. | |
recommendations. Philip Hammond kept mentioning the public inquiry on the | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
Andrew Marr Show, but it will take some time to find the evidence of | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
what happened here and we want answers before then. In 2009 after | :45:34. | :45:47. | |
the Lakanal House fire, "It is recommended high-rise buildings | :45:48. | :45:50. | |
consider the retrofitting of sprinkler systems", do you remember | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
anyone ever coming to you saying that tower blocks should be retrofit | :45:56. | :46:01. | |
with sprinkler systems? The recommendations from the coroner | :46:02. | :46:04. | |
came after I left office but my successor did write drawing that | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
recommendation to the attention of local authorities. The thing about | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
the inquiry is this, the Government have made it clear we want an | :46:16. | :46:17. | |
interim report quickly because people do need answers, so we need a | :46:18. | :46:23. | |
detailed inquiry but we should be able to get an interim report | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
answering some of those immediate questions as soon as possible. Emma, | :46:28. | :46:34. | |
does that satisfy you? Not entirely. I wrote a letter to Amber bride | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
which is widely available and we have made a number of points which | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
we need to be addressed. They are all here in my letter, certain | :46:44. | :46:49. | |
issues about dealing with the survivors now, and how they are to | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
be housed and looked after and help must be available 24/ seven. We are | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
still hearing stories of people not being allocated properly. There is | :47:00. | :47:03. | |
one woman and her child who have been moved three times since | :47:04. | :47:06. | |
Wednesday into different accommodation which is appalling. It | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
will come onto the political response and whether it was adequate | :47:12. | :47:14. | |
later but let's talk about safety and what could have been done before | :47:15. | :47:19. | |
this happened. You were on the Housing scrutiny committee at | :47:20. | :47:24. | |
Kensington and Chelsea, a long-term Council there, did anyone ever raise | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
with you the issue of sprinkler safety? I have never heard it being | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
discussed in relation... There is a claim it was offered to the | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
residents of Grenfell Tower and they had refused it, and I've spoken to | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
them and they say it was never refused. The issue of Grenfell Tower | :47:43. | :47:48. | |
when it was on the board which I left in 2012 was that it was in a | :47:49. | :47:54. | |
bad condition, the heating and hot water was constantly failing, people | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
were concerned about the electrics and Windows were leaking. The | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
refurbishment was welcomed to a certain extent but how it was done | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
was decided after me. The committee system on the council, it is a | :48:08. | :48:13. | |
scrutiny system, we don't make the decisions, and as a minority party | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
councillor you can ask all the questions you like, if there is a | :48:18. | :48:22. | |
vote which there is very rarely, it isn't in our hands. The Cabinet | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
member signs it off, he has to be content. Jim, is it acceptable that | :48:29. | :48:34. | |
only 1% of tower blocks have sprinklers fitted? When we know from | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
the Fire Brigades Union no one has ever died in Britain in a tower | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
blocks that was properly fitted with a sprinkler system. Sprinklers are | :48:43. | :48:49. | |
very effective way of controlling fires and mostly extinguishing | :48:50. | :48:52. | |
fires, certainly preventing them from spreading and allowing the fire | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
brigade time to turn up which is why sprinklers are an attractive option, | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
but of course the media has concentrated a lot on sprinklers and | :49:03. | :49:04. | |
the firefighter response and praising that, that is the tip of | :49:05. | :49:11. | |
the iceberg. This goes back to the building regulations and the | :49:12. | :49:14. | |
appropriate specification of materials, the quality of work | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
undertaken, the inspection of the work once it is completed to make | :49:19. | :49:21. | |
sure it passes muster, the maintenance of the building, and has | :49:22. | :49:28. | |
been raising that, and if that is done properly we don't get to a | :49:29. | :49:34. | |
fire. If we don't get the fire, we don't need sprinklers and | :49:35. | :49:39. | |
firefighters can go around educating people about fire, fitting smoke | :49:40. | :49:43. | |
detectors and making sure people are aware of the dangers. So sprinklers | :49:44. | :49:47. | |
are important, they do save lives and we should have more deployment | :49:48. | :49:51. | |
of sprinklers, and I am positive it will be one of the major | :49:52. | :49:57. | |
recommendations of this committee. People want answers as to why the | :49:58. | :50:01. | |
sprinklers weren't there in the first place. Your successor Brandon | :50:02. | :50:06. | |
Lewis said in 2014 we believe it is the responsibility of the fire | :50:07. | :50:09. | |
industry rather than the Government to market fire sprinkler systems. | :50:10. | :50:18. | |
The cost of fitting a sprinkler system may affect house building | :50:19. | :50:23. | |
which we want to encourage. Does that strike you as an appalling | :50:24. | :50:35. | |
abdication of responsibility? To say it is a responsibility of the fire | :50:36. | :50:39. | |
industry rather than the Government to market sprinkler systems | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
properly, coming after a tragedy in 2009 which was followed by a coroner | :50:44. | :50:47. | |
's report that concluded sprinkler systems should be retrofitted | :50:48. | :50:50. | |
everywhere. That is the responsibility of the Government to | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
set safety standards, the products are produced by the private sector | :50:57. | :50:58. | |
and that is the point Brandon was making but we do need to make sure | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
those products are available. It is a complex matter, sprinklers have a | :51:04. | :51:07. | |
great role to play but they don't necessarily answer every problem and | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
that is why in this inquiry we need to find out what happened back to | :51:12. | :51:16. | |
the root cause. But we don't need it to report before we get a sense and | :51:17. | :51:21. | |
an answer from you over whether it is the Government's responsibility | :51:22. | :51:25. | |
to make sure sprinklers are retrofitted. Brandon Lewis' quote is | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
saying it is responsibility of the fire industry rather than the | :51:31. | :51:35. | |
Government. Actually what the Government did was to draw the | :51:36. | :51:38. | |
attention of the coroner 's recommendation specifically to every | :51:39. | :51:44. | |
provider of social housing across the country and they have the | :51:45. | :51:47. | |
responsibility to fit those if they wish to do so. We need to consider | :51:48. | :51:51. | |
whether we should revisit the strength of that guidance. I want to | :51:52. | :51:56. | |
get another take on this. On Friday, our reporter | :51:57. | :52:05. | |
Tanjil Rashid asked David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, | :52:06. | :52:07. | |
about the loss of a close Kadija and her family | :52:08. | :52:09. | |
remind me of my family in the '70s - poor, working-class, to | :52:10. | :52:16. | |
some extent vulnerable You've heard that the residents | :52:17. | :52:18. | |
were complaining to the TMO, and their complaints | :52:19. | :52:21. | |
were falling on deaf ears. We have got to reassess | :52:22. | :52:24. | |
the truth of what it needs We have got to reassess | :52:25. | :52:32. | |
the truth of what it means to be living in social housing, how | :52:33. | :52:34. | |
hard it is to get any remedy when things go wrong, the conditions | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
in which you live. Do you think we need to end social | :52:39. | :52:40. | |
housing in tower blocks? Is that something | :52:41. | :52:43. | |
that needs to change? Of course, there are tower blocks | :52:44. | :52:46. | |
in London for the very wealthy. They have external fire escapes | :52:47. | :52:48. | |
as well as internal ones, they have sprinkler systems, many | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
lifts, there are many Unless you are prepared to bring | :52:53. | :52:54. | |
public housing up to those standards, then it seems to me | :52:55. | :52:59. | |
that we need to move away from those '70s tower blocks, | :53:00. | :53:02. | |
we need to demolish them, to house people in different | :53:03. | :53:05. | |
circumstances in the city. After almost a decade | :53:06. | :53:09. | |
of austerity in this country, we need to | :53:10. | :53:15. | |
bring the state back. I'm not sure that we want | :53:16. | :53:18. | |
arm's-length organisations that don't take responsibility | :53:19. | :53:21. | |
for the people who live in their buildings, who don't | :53:22. | :53:24. | |
take their concerns seriously, who don't understand | :53:25. | :53:27. | |
what it means if the lift breaks down that you've got to get 22 | :53:28. | :53:31. | |
floors up to the top, who don't understand | :53:32. | :53:34. | |
what it's like living in the to the top, who don't understand | :53:35. | :53:39. | |
what it's like living if the stairwells are occupied by drug | :53:40. | :53:43. | |
addicts during the evening and during the course of the day, | :53:44. | :53:45. | |
where there are no fire hoses, no alarms, no sprinklers, | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
where apparently fire doors are taken out | :53:49. | :53:50. | |
but not put back in. Why does it take a fire | :53:51. | :53:52. | |
to wake us up to the reality of what's | :53:53. | :53:56. | |
happening in the city? David Lambie MP speaking to our | :53:57. | :54:11. | |
reporter there. Emma Dent Coad, why are there different safety standards | :54:12. | :54:15. | |
for the rich? There shouldn't be, and we are hearing the difference | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
between guidance and regulation. Regulations have been pulled back, | :54:20. | :54:23. | |
and this idea we have got to get rid of the red tape. The standards | :54:24. | :54:29. | |
should be the same. Maintenance of Council and housing association | :54:30. | :54:33. | |
homes over the years has been deteriorating. I have seen that. We | :54:34. | :54:37. | |
are back to appalling conditions some people are living in and they | :54:38. | :54:42. | |
are not safe, and it is down to maintenance and funding for the | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
maintenance. Do you agree with David Lambie that all tower blocks without | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
sprinkler systems fitted should be abolished and residents should be | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
rehoused? I don't actually and most of my career I have spent as an | :54:56. | :55:01. | |
architecture historian and critic and a lot of my friends have been | :55:02. | :55:06. | |
writing about similar tower blocks in the past. If they are properly | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
maintained, and they are built to maintain fire in each unit. We have | :55:13. | :55:19. | |
that a few years ago, there was smoke damage but you could see it | :55:20. | :55:23. | |
was completely maintained. That is how it should be. If there are fire | :55:24. | :55:28. | |
doors, concrete frame buildings are incredibly safe but they must be | :55:29. | :55:31. | |
maintained properly and they didn't refurbishment is they have to | :55:32. | :55:36. | |
restore firebreaks. They are safe if they are maintained properly so why | :55:37. | :55:40. | |
aren't we maintaining our social housing to the same level as private | :55:41. | :55:46. | |
housing? Perhaps the issue is who is in charge. Jim, you spent many years | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
as a government minister in Labour years, 20 years as a fireman before | :55:51. | :55:54. | |
that. We seem to have a situation with ministers in charge of | :55:55. | :55:58. | |
regulations, councils funding an arms length management company, and | :55:59. | :56:03. | |
a management company paying the cheapest bidder for a refurbishment. | :56:04. | :56:10. | |
As of the system designed to make it easy for people to pass the buck. | :56:11. | :56:16. | |
That's one way of looking at it, but if the law is enforced, people don't | :56:17. | :56:25. | |
get chance to pass the buck. As Bob said, we see new methods of | :56:26. | :56:28. | |
construction being developed up all the time, new materials being used, | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
other countries banning particular materials. We have to keep up with | :56:34. | :56:38. | |
this, if we don't we fall behind at our peril. Who should take | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
responsibility? Because a lot of people who are very angry about this | :56:43. | :56:46. | |
tragedy, who are protesting on the streets, who called the Prime | :56:47. | :56:50. | |
Minister a coward when she tried to visit the site, they are saying no | :56:51. | :56:55. | |
one is taking responsibility. Who should take responsibility for the | :56:56. | :57:02. | |
safety of tower blocks like Grenfell of which we know there are many | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
others around the country? Ultimately we as parliamentarians | :57:07. | :57:09. | |
do, the Government does, it is their job to lay regulations that have to | :57:10. | :57:18. | |
be forced so the buck stops with government. People who die in fires | :57:19. | :57:23. | |
have historically always been the poor, the sick, the disabled, people | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
with addiction difficulties. The accommodation provided for them, if | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
it is up to the appropriate standard, they are safe. We can | :57:32. | :57:36. | |
improve safety all the time but we need to make sure the basics are | :57:37. | :57:40. | |
there to protect people in their own homes. It failed in Grenfell Tower, | :57:41. | :57:46. | |
the inquiry will demonstrate how the fire started. There was a scandal in | :57:47. | :57:52. | |
London recently with white goods exploding, manufacturers have a | :57:53. | :57:55. | |
responsibility to recall goods which are not fit for purpose as well. | :57:56. | :57:59. | |
There are whole host of issues which have to be looked at. Hopefully the | :58:00. | :58:05. | |
inquiry will point to that stuff. Let's turn to the political | :58:06. | :58:11. | |
responsibility. Bob Neill, has Theresa May's response been good | :58:12. | :58:18. | |
enough? I think Theresa May has accepted that overall the | :58:19. | :58:21. | |
Government's response has not been good enough. Theresa May was widely | :58:22. | :58:27. | |
criticised for not speaking to more of the victims and their families, | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
only to servicemen, she has subsequently seen them in Downing | :58:32. | :58:37. | |
Street. She then went on Newsnight, and spoke to Emily Maitlis where she | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
was empathetic toward the suffering of people and has been roundly | :58:42. | :58:46. | |
condemned in today's papers including Tory supporting papers, so | :58:47. | :58:50. | |
has her response been good enough? She is not one of those people | :58:51. | :58:55. | |
perhaps it shows emotion as openly as some of us do. Don't you think if | :58:56. | :59:00. | |
you are Prime Minister you need to show an understanding? Watch did do, | :59:01. | :59:06. | |
is she went there and have particular security advice as to | :59:07. | :59:10. | |
whether it was helpful for a prime ministerial visit to the scene | :59:11. | :59:13. | |
immediately but she sat down with people, and I saw her do that, in | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
difficult situations one-to-one, and she is a woman who cares. The key | :59:19. | :59:23. | |
thing now is to get this package of help is delivered for people. There | :59:24. | :59:29. | |
were questions about the Prime Minister's authority, she ordered a | :59:30. | :59:33. | |
stamp collection which resulted in a hung parliament. You are soft Brexit | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
man, a Remainer, do you think her response to Grenfell Tower has | :59:39. | :59:45. | |
further damaged her authority? I don't think it need do so. Some | :59:46. | :59:49. | |
people are making political capital out of it, I want to get on with the | :59:50. | :59:53. | |
job of government. The people who suffered in Grenfell Tower need | :59:54. | :59:57. | |
that, they don't need speculation in newspapers. We need the Government | :59:58. | :00:01. | |
getting on with this job on the key issues that confront the Government | :00:02. | :00:08. | |
as a whole. Visit Bob Neill right to say we should be focusing on people | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
who need most help and not politicising this issue? | :00:13. | :00:19. | |
People want justice, not waffle. They want straight talking. They are | :00:20. | :00:26. | |
not children and they want to be talked to as responsible human | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
being. They have been talked down to four years and their concerns have | :00:30. | :00:33. | |
been ignored. The very chain of events that happened was predicted. | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
That's horrendous, and they were ignored, infantilised and not | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
listened to. I won't have people talking down to the people who | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
elected me. Let's hear what the Communities Secretary had to say | :00:46. | :00:47. | |
about this this week. We will do whatever it takes, | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
we will take the expert advice, do whatever it takes to make those | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
buildings safe or make those people We have to be led by the experts, | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
but there can be no short Jim Fitzpatrick, are you seriously | :00:58. | :01:08. | |
asserting that Tory austerity is somehow to blame for this awful | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
human tragedy, as some on the left that said? I haven't said that, but | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
what is clearly worth examining, and I'm sure the enquiry will look at | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
it, is whether or not, going back to our fundamental point about the | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
maintenance of these buildings, the appropriate skills being deployed by | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
the workers who have been doing the construction, the right materials | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
being purchased that are at the right specification, all of these | :01:35. | :01:36. | |
things will have to be looked at. There is a rapport I think in the | :01:37. | :01:41. | |
Sunday Mirror this morning that the number of inspections in tower | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
blocks carried out by the Fire Service is down 25% between 2010 and | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
2017, so why has that been happening when the risk is as great if not | :01:50. | :01:52. | |
greater because there are more people in the country? There are | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
questions that will have to be answered. Whether or not it has a | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
direct effect will be for the enquiry to determine. Emma, briefly. | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
This issue has very little to do with austerity. The council has huge | :02:06. | :02:14. | |
reserves and I have criticised them for not spending it. We have | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
austerity across the country, and some in Kensington and Chelsea. The | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
council has been squirrelling money away are not using it where it would | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
be best used. After the financial crash, we spent aliens bailing out | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
bankers, some is in the crucial lesson this week that we don't care | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
when it is poor people? I don't think that is the case. We need to | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
learn that it is not just enough to put in place laws and regulations, | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
we must have an enforced properly, and that has to be done, regardless | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
of where people live and regardless of their circumstances. That is an | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
important point we need to get from this enquiry. I am glad to see that | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
the Government has said it will pay for legal representation for the | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
victims potter-mac families so that they can have their say, and that | :03:01. | :03:08. | |
they will have a say in the scoping -- for the victims' family so that | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
they can have their say. Thanks to all of you. | :03:13. | :03:21. | |
Even if the inferno in London had never happened, this would have been | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
The Brexit negotiations finally begin in Brussels tomorrow - | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
will ministers change their position? | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
The Queen's Speech, which had to be delayed, | :03:34. | :03:35. | |
but can the Government get its legislative agenda | :03:36. | :03:38. | |
Still with me, Steve, Julia and Tom. Steve, Brexit, as if it is just a | :03:39. | :03:59. | |
small thing this week. We have heard from the Chancellor this morning and | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
from Andrea Leadsom - do you detect a shift in Government debate or | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
still alive -- in Government approach or still a lively debate? | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
Philip Hammond now is in a stronger position than he could ever have | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
dreams who would be in -- he would be an before the election result, so | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
tonally, we have him now confidently saying that the focus must be on the | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
economy, on having some kind of deal whereby there are not bureaucrats | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
blocking the movement of goods and so on, but beyond that, it's not | :04:34. | :04:41. | |
entirely clear how he plans to use this new political muscularity. I | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
think that will become clearer as the talks begin, but at this point, | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
it all still seems fairly vague. Labour's position and the | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
Government's as these talks begin tomorrow. Don't you smell a rat? Do | :04:55. | :05:04. | |
you think, I know what they are rock to, they wanted ter at the | :05:05. | :05:07. | |
referendum? It is almost irrelevant what the Government says and what | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
they are thinking of doing. What matters is what is on the table, | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
hence the nonsense about soft Brexit and hard Brexit. Soc Brexit is not | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
Brexit and hard Brexit is not an option. Guy the Hofstadter did the | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
work of Nigel Farage last week when he said that we could remain but | :05:27. | :05:34. | |
lose the rebate. Even a slow Brexit... No, no, at the end of | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
March in 2019 we will be out of the EU. That is what happens. There is a | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
question of transition deals, which is fine. But we do not know which | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
Government will be in power at the time, but will they obey the will of | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
the people as expressed in the EU referendum, which is out of the free | :05:56. | :06:02. | |
market, no free movement? This argument is irrelevant, I think. | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
Tom, has a lot changed? Remit yes. The first compromise the Government | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
made on Friday, which was almost unreported on Friday because we had | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
so much more to talk about, Grenfell Tower being the major one, but the | :06:17. | :06:19. | |
Government agreed to go by the EU timetable, which is to sort out the | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
divorce and then move the trade deal. The other thing that changed | :06:25. | :06:33. | |
is the composition of the House of Commons. There is no majority for | :06:34. | :06:40. | |
Theresa May's version of Brexit. I think the area where there will be | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
room for manoeuvre is immigration. It won't be the customs union. There | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
will be an argument about the relationship, but it will be to | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
soften up this call from Theresa May for immigration controls. Jobs first | :06:55. | :07:03. | |
is a change in the Government position, isn't it? Tom is right | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
about immigration. I was told that the decision to include student | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
numbers in the immigration total was her view and hers alone. I think | :07:14. | :07:16. | |
that will be dropped now, because the Cabinet feels strong enough to | :07:17. | :07:24. | |
assert their different view. Every single member of that cabinet I am | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
told apart from her did not want that. There is an example of | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
refocusing. At the moment, it is not clear where that will lead. The | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
talks will begin, I think, in an messy way. -- in a messy way. I have | :07:38. | :07:46. | |
spoken to Tory MPs on the Remain site who wonder if we won't still be | :07:47. | :07:54. | |
in in 2019. It is not possible. The legal process has begun. We are out | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
of the EU at the end of that period. Transition could mean it feels very | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
like we are still in. All this talk about compromise and so on, it is | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
between members of the Cabinet and UK political parties. What matters | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
is what is on the table and how the British people react. During these | :08:17. | :08:22. | |
talks, the Government will have to compromise if they don't get to have | :08:23. | :08:32. | |
their cake and eat it. Brexit will be soft. Do you think there is | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
arithmetic that will bring a dramatic change? Bhui report this as | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
internal machinations in the Tory Party in the Cabinet. It is what you | :08:43. | :08:49. | |
can get through. We report this. She framed this election as a mandate | :08:50. | :08:59. | |
for her version of Brexit. When she didn't get that mandate, I know it | :09:00. | :09:09. | |
has become a cliche could, -- it has become a cliche, but she did not get | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
the mandate cheese. Let's move on to the Queen's speech. That would be a | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
huge story if it were not for fire and Brexit. This is a Government | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
without a majority vote of Andrea Leadsom said, we are just elating | :09:22. | :09:31. | |
next year's Queen's speech. Do you buy that? There will not be won | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
because they do not know whether they will have the numbers to | :09:37. | :09:47. | |
support it. Also, one Queen's speech and the Parliament business will be | :09:48. | :09:50. | |
taken up by the Great Repeal Bill. There will be no legislative time | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
left for the remnants left Theresa May's manifesto. She feels this | :09:56. | :10:06. | |
desperate need to try. There will be a housing will, no doubt and one or | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
two other things. Other things are dead in the water, grammar schools, | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
for example. Some of the more interventionist policies are forever | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
gone. Some people might well come an end to the ongoing new legislation | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
about every topic which does not make anyone's life better. We don't | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
know the details of the deal with the DUP, but we know it will be | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
focused some of it on Northern Ireland itself. There is a chance | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
that they see themselves as fighting austerity in the UK. You can't just | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
have a set of policies for Northern Ireland to keep the DUP on board | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
which will not apply if they seem rather rosy and benevolent to the | :10:52. | :11:01. | |
rest of the UK. The Barnett Formula requires more spending in Wales and | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
Scotland if you increase it for Northern Ireland. It is that | :11:06. | :11:08. | |
whatever is spent in England, there are ramifications for the other | :11:09. | :11:19. | |
nations of the UK. They are close to impotence, and the only question | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
that will be asked is, can we get this through? Therefore, they will | :11:23. | :11:25. | |
get it through because they won't put anything in that could be | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
defeated. A last thought about the fire, then. However much we say | :11:30. | :11:36. | |
these events are bigger, I have a feeling that the fire will dominate | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
when MPs gather. Have ministers done enough, and have Labour done enough | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
to do themselves from some of the protests, to avoid some of the | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
political risks involved? In the short term, Downing Street is | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
beginning to do enough. The Prime Minister is meeting relatives every | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
day now, which is beginning to abate the political crisis. The great mess | :12:01. | :12:02. | |
that will continue is that Labour have managed to turn this into an | :12:03. | :12:10. | |
anti-austerity issue, and that will live on. The organisation has been | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
appalling. This is about poor people's lives, at the end of the | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
day. The way it has been politicised they think is completely wrong. It | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
also raises questions about who is responsible for what. The instinct | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
is to blame Theresa May for the whole lot, something that wouldn't | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
have happened two months ago. What about the role of the local | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
authority? What about the invisibility of the local authority | :12:38. | :12:43. | |
afterwards? Which bit of our Government is responsible for what | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
is? That is the cause of many crises in this country. It is ruled by | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
committee and the bug doesn't stop with anyone. I thought, in many | :12:53. | :13:01. | |
ways, for those of us in our line of work, as it were, the most painful | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
question beyond the horrible human tragedy was to hear people say, we | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
don't know who to ask. That was a failure by the local council. And | :13:12. | :13:19. | |
you put it to Andrea Leadsom. I don't think making it the Prime | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
Minister will reassure people. Thank you all very much indeed. | :13:24. | :13:25. | |
The Daily Politics will be back on BBC Two at noon tomorrow, | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
and Andrew will be back here at the same time next week. | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
Remember - if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics. | :13:33. | :13:35. |