Fleur Anderson MP Labour MP for Putney, Roehampton & Southfields
Firstly, thank you to those who joined us for our meeting with Mike Amesbury and Dr Dean Buckner last month. I was so pleased by how well attended it was and we hope we were able to answer most of your questions.
I wanted to provide a brief update on the Fire Safety Bill, which once again was debated in the House of Commons on Wednesday
Again, the Bishop of St Albans tabled an amendment in the House of Lords that would put into law a guarantee that building owners cannot pass on the costs of any remedial work to leaseholders in the time before the Government brings forward its promised legislation.
I voted for the amendment but – yet again – the Government whipped the Conservative MPs to vote against it and only 31 Conservative MPs rebelled. This is shameful. But our campaign will go on.
Labour have continually, throughout the passage of the Bill, campaigned on this issue and we welcomed the latest amendment from the Bishop of St Albans.
The Government have promised at least 17 times in the House of Commons that leaseholders would not be forced to pay to fix fire safety problems that were not their fault. However, the Government’s proposed solution would leave many leaseholders burdened with costs for years to come.
Do be sure to view the cladding campaign section on my website for more information.
I will keep you updated with more news as I have it.