Remembered. The Grenfell Tower Memorial Wall in West London on the day the phase two report of the Inquiry was published © Vuk Valcic / Alamy Stock Photo
The Government announced that the UK will suspend some of its arms sales to Israel following a review. 30 out of the 350 licences have been suspended, after it was concluded that some of the weapons could be used in Gaza in violation with International Humanitarian Law. An announcement was made by Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday in the Commons, which was criticised for being the same day as the funerals of the recently murdered Israeli hostages, however the Labour Party have insisted that the decision was a purely based on legality. Defence Secretary John Healey MP and Prime Minister Keir Starmer MP have both this week publicly defended the UK’s commitment to being a “staunch ally” of Israel despite the move, but Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu labelled it as “shameful” suggesting it will “only embolden Hamas”. The move comes alongside growing protests in Israel from civilians calling for the Israeli Government to secure a ceasefire to ensure the safe return of hostages.
With this week’s news dominated by the publication of the Grenfell Tower report – a staggering seven years after the fire – we’ve taken a look back at some of the key events that have taken place that set the scene for the report, as the Government and relevant authorities take time to consider its findings.
Alok Sharma was appointed Housing Minister just nine hours prior to the fire at Grenfell breaking out, which would result in the tragic death of 72 people. He did not last long in the role before being reshuffled, and the following year three Conservative MPs would rotate through the post. Since the tragedy, there have been eleven Housing Ministers and seven Housing Secretaries (eight if you count Michael Gove’s return separately). Despite the last seven years in MHCLG (then DLUHC) seeming turbulent, the Government brought forward a public inquiry to investigate the fire; established an independent review into building regulations; announced a £1bn Building Safety Fund to remove dangerous cladding; created a Building Safety Regulator; and passed the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022. It also banned the use of combustible cladding. Despite this, only 33 of the 46 recommendations from the 2019 phase 1 report have been implemented, while the London Fire Brigade has completed every recommendation.
The phase 2 report was published on Wednesday containing 58 recommendations. It found multiple failings in the construction industry, the council, regulators, and central government. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a statement in which he confirmed that the Government would not support public contracts being obtained by companies found to be involved in the “horrific failings”. Both Starmer and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner have called for those responsible to be prosecuted, but it is expected that any potential criminal charges will not be brought forward until 2026, partially due to the web of corporate sub-contracting that led to what the inquiry called a ‘merry-go-round of buck-passing'. Rayner also called for unsafe cladding to be removed faster, as government figures show that work on half of the 4,630 buildings over 11 metres that require remediation has not yet started. The Government have said they will respond to the report within the next six months.
4 – times Keir Starmer called Rishi Sunak “Prime Minister” at PMQs this week.
92 – seats reserved for hereditary peers in the House of Lords, all of which are set to be swept away under Labour’s proposed House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.
15 – times the “£22 billion black hole” was mentioned during Treasury Questions on Tuesday, as the Chancellor sought to ram home her message.
£500m – cuts announced to the Scottish Government’s budget, with the Finance Secretary citing “severe financial challenges”.
0 – Conservative MPs drawn in the Private Members' Bill ballot (15 Labour MPs, four Lib Dems and the TUV’s Jim Allister were selected).
15 – properties owned by Jas Athwal, the biggest landlord in the House of Commons.
32 million – school days lost by pupils in 2022-23 due to unauthorised absences and exclusions, 72% higher than in 2018-19.
59.7% – proportion of Conservative MPs who served as ministers between 2010-24 (compared to 43.4% of Labour MPs between 1997–2010).
39 – Team GB’s gold medal haul at the Paralympics (so far).
Priti Patel was knocked out of the Conservative Party leadership contest in the first round of voting, after receiving just 14 votes from the 121 Conservative MPs. Robert Jenrick came top with 28 votes, followed by Kemi Badenoch on 22, James Cleverly on 21, Tom Tugendhat on 17 and Mel Stride MP on 16. Another vote will be held on Tuesday next week to whittle the field down to four candidates.
Ofsted inspections will no longer produce single word ratings, after the Education Secretary announced on Monday they will be replaced by a report card system with immediate effect. Bridget Phillipson announced the new system will provide parents with greater, more nuanced information on a school’s performance in order to make a decision on where to send their children.
Defence Secretary John Healey met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, to discuss the 'urgent work to accelerate the delivery of the UK’s military support for Ukraine'. In a meeting with military chiefs in London, Healey confirmed a £300m contract has now been signed to deliver 120,000 shells to Ukraine over the next 18 months, and reiterated the Government will provide £3bn of UK aid for Ukraine per year ‘for as long as it takes’.
Accusations of cronyism have continued to plague the new Labour Government, after Ian Corfield, a finance industry executive and recent Labour donor, was appointed a Director in HM Treasury, in a temporary, unpaid role to help organise the International Investment Summit. Mr Corfield donated £5,000 to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves last year and had been a business adviser to the party since January.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney unveiled his Programme for Government, listing ‘eradicating child poverty, building prosperity, improving public services and protecting the planet’ as his priorities for the next year. A further 14 bills are set to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament and the ministerial code will be strengthened with independent advisers given a role in scrutinising declarations of interests from Ministers. The announcements were rather overshadowed by Finance Secretary Shona Robinson’s pre-Budget statement to Parliament on Tuesday unveiling £500m of cuts to public services.
The Prime Minister’s pledge to ‘smash the gangs’ was back in the spotlight this week after the news 12 people had tragically died trying to reach the UK from France in a large dinghy. The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reiterated the ‘moral imperative’ to stop gangs smuggling people across the Channel in boats at a National Crime Agency meeting on Friday morning, in which the NCA announced cooperation with Bulgarian authorities over the summer had intercepted 40 small boats and engines destined to be used in smuggling operations.
After backlash to the winter fuel payment cut from its own benches, MPs will be given a vote on the Government’s plans to remove the annual £300 winter fuel allowance from all pensioners not in receipt of pension credit. Pressure has been mounting on Rachel Reeves after the announcement, made just three weeks into her role, including from Labour MPs such as Rachael Maskell, and influential figures such as MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis.
Michel Barnier has been appointed France’s prime minister, following the inconclusive elections in July. The EU's former chief Brexit negotiator now faces the unenviable task of breaking France’s parliamentary deadlock while also facing significant opposition, with the Socialists already planning to table a vote of confidence against him.
Germany’s far-right AfD won its first national victory in parliamentary elections in the state of Thuringia. While it marks a significant moment, the AfD did not garner enough votes to form a government and it is unlikely any other party will join it in power. It also came a close second in neighbouring Saxony.
Parliament returned this week after the summer recess (don’t worry, only a week until the next recess) and jumped straight into business. Both the Budget Responsibility Bill and the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership Bill) have been zipping through the stages this week, completing their respective journeys in the House Commons and undergoing first readings in the Lords; the Great British Energy Bill also passed its second reading in the Commons. PMQs provided an opportunity for the lesser spotted Leader of the Opposition to resurface and criticise Labour’s decision to restrict Winter Fuel Payments. Sunak also responded to the Prime Minister’s important statement on the Grenfell Report, praising the “tenacity and strength” of the bereaved families and survivors for bringing the truth to light, before heading back into hiding… where he may find an even lesser spotted David Cameron who, despite facing heavy criticism for his deregulatory agenda contributing to “avoidable” deaths at Grenfell, still has yet to comment on the report.
The Private Members’ Bill ballot was drawn yesterday, offering 20 backbench MPs the opportunity to introduce a Bill of their choice to the House of Commons on 16 October, with the top 7 MPs pretty much guaranteed a full day’s debate. Kim Leadbeater garnered the coveted top spot, followed by Max Wilkinson, Dr Roz Savage, Clive Lewis, Josh MacAlister, Dr Scott Arthur and Jim Allister, who happens to be Traditional Unionist Voice Party’s only MP. With some of the most influential laws in modern times having been introduced via PMB – such as ending the death penalty and legalising abortion – it will be interesting to see what gets brought to the table this time.
Committee Chair nominations got underway this week too, with some expected nominations – such as Chi Onwurah for Science, innovation and Technology and Meg Hillier for Treasury – alongside some not so expected – Tan Dhesi for Defence. All will be revealed next Wednesday at the ballot.
And the Independent Alliance bloc was formed by five independent MPs, as Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Iqbal Mohamed, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain chose to join forces in an attempt to boost their opportunities to ask questions of the Government and apply pressure on issues of importance to them, including scrapping the two-child benefit limit and halting all arms sales to Israel. However, given Labour’s huge majority, as well as the fact they have not formed an actual Party, it remains to be seen how effective this bloc turns out to be.
Voters are more likely to see the Conservatives and Reform UK as similar than any other two political parties, a YouGov poll found this week. 40% of people also thought Labour and the Lib Dems were similar, while 39% put the Lib Dems and the Greens in the same zone. While those results are perhaps not surprising, the poll did also show that 4% of those asked thought Reform and the Green Party were similar, which you can imagine Nigel Farage and Carla Denyer will both be delighted about…
Employment reforms need to be carefully implemented to be successful, the Resolution Foundation concluded in the 14th annual Low Pay Britain report. Looking at proposals on unfair dismissal, sick pay, insecure working hours and the minimum wage in particular, the report highlights that the UK Government will be walking a tightrope, as the needs of workers need to be balanced with the potential impacts of the reforms on both employers and the wider economy.
A whole raft of changes are needed to fix ‘broken Britain’ according to a report from the Centre for Social Justice. Highlighting the UK’s ‘economic inactivity crisis’, recommendations include: devolving employment support and adult education to the region; increasing the supply of all types of homes; introducing Family Credit to increase flexibility of childcare options; and increasing the number of neighbourhood police officers to 2017 levels.
Kemi Badenoch’s decision to lean into her recent argument with David Tennant in her first leadership campaign video certainly raised some eyebrows, as she delivered a straight-faced assertion that “you need someone like me who’s not afraid of Doctor Who”, and that this particular quality was what made her the best fit to lead the party and/or the country. The Dalek jokes, unsurprisingly, wrote themselves. We should also remember that for most of the Doctor Who franchise, the Daleks had been pushed to the edge of extinction following a great conflict…sound familiar?
We also learnt this week that Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office Larry the Cat will be getting company, after the Prime Minister revealed that his family welcomed a Siberian kitten to No. 10 this week. Starmer joked that the installation of a cat flap had been an issue, due to the doors of the family's Downing Street flat being bomb-proof. Sadly, we have no pictures yet, although the media have confirmed it is ‘small, cute and white’.
