Deferred Motion About Grenfell Tower Disaster Finally Debated At Labour Party Conference

Last Monday, the second day of Labour's Conference this week in Liverpool was to prove to be an umitegated disaster, as delegates responded with anger at the removal of two motions from the day's agenda of motions chosen from within the Topics chosen for debate.

With the removal of the Winter Fuels Allowance motion from the CWU and Unison, the FBU were the next in the firing line of censorship by the Conference Arrangements Committee; as they sort to remove any subject matter that could cause public emabarrasment to the Labour Leadership.

In the end, public embararssment and the anger of the FBU and conference delegates, forced the CAC to admit the motion to Monday's agenda. Hopefull, no doubt, that the motion would be timed out by the crowded agenda. But that wasn't the outcome - it was carried.

The reality is this says the FBU:

Seven years after the Grenfell Tower fire, half of the 4,600 known buildings of 11 metres or more with unsafe cladding have not started remediation. 

Measures outlined in the motion include investing in local government and fire and rescue services, including fire inspectors; ending the privatisation of building control, fire testing and research; and establishing a statutory advisory body, including the FBU, to oversee fire safety policy, research, training and guidance.  

Wrack also noted the resolution of the motion to create a statutory advisory body to set national standards in the fire and rescue service, and welcomed the engagement from the government on the subject.

He said:

"Behind all of this, we have had government failures for decades. The mantra was to cut red tape. That meant cutting safety, and that has to end. The regulatory system failed, and that paved the way for the disaster of Grenfell Tower.The privatisation of BRE has been an utter disaster, and has introduced commercial interests that should not have existed.

We will not resolve the continuing cladding scandal, which continues to affect millions of people, unless we invest. We will not address the causes of the Grenfell Tower fire unless we can repair our public services."

Here is the terms of the FBU/Unison motion:

here is the debate on the FBU's motion, as part of the Topic of The Future Of Local Government:

Source: Labour Party Conference