Away and we should have that understanding and that sympathy of oui understanding and that sympathy of our responsibility to ensure eve ryo ne our responsibility to ensure everyone is able to live in safety, where ever they are in this country. 72 people lost their lives on that night injune 72 people lost their lives on that night in june 2017. 72 people lost their lives on that night injune 2017. If that situation rocked the community and shocks the whole country. And it brought together help from lots and lots of people, local churches, mosques, synagogues, people from Different Community organisations, and people rushed to grenfell and as the fire was still blazing, with gifts of food and toys and support and so on. That understanding, that simple Human Understanding of so many people are something that i think we have to cherish and begin to understand. Because there is a natural human instinct to help people and thats what was demonstrated and i cannot forget going there straight after the fire and just talking to dazed people who did not really understand what had happened and talking to exhausted firefighters, Police Officers and many, firefighters, Police Officers and any firefighters, Police Officers and many, many others who were trying to comprehend the enormity of the situation. And it was truly horrific and ip absolute tribute to all those volu nteers and ip absolute tribute to all those volunteers and so many others that turned out that day to help, local government officers from all across london who volunteered to try and help because the royal borough of Kensington And Chelsea seemed to have difficulty in responding to the enormity of the situation and i will say no more than that at the moment. It was a tragedy mr speaker but it was an avoidable tragedy. A tragedy is when there is an earthquake, when there is a tidal wave, a volcano which you cannot understand or predict that this was an avoidable tragedy. All the survivors, all of them, deserve a new home and safety and security in this country, as my friend the shadow home secretary demanded at the time. All those responsible for this avoidable tragedy must understand thatjustice must prevail and every necessary measure must be put in place to prevent a fire like grenfell ever happening again. Ive participated yes, of course. Would my honourable friend agree with me that this is a National Fire response issue, its notjust about london . Would he also comments on my request to the Prime Minister that extra funding be made available so these recommendations be put in place because i havent actually heard a response to that that was a positive one to say yes, we will pay for that. I thank my friend for that intervention. Yes, it is a tragedy that grenfell, in that part of london, it is a potential tragedy everywhere, where there is danger cladding on blocks of flats anywhere and my friend, a shadow foreign minister from and my friend, a shadow foreign ministerfrom our party did specifically ask that question about funding which may be the Prime Minister or whoever is responding for the government will care to a nswer for the government will care to answer that point when we come to it. Ive been on a number of the walks for grenfell, over my life ive been on many marches and many demonstrations. But ive never been on anything thats so poignant and so powerful as thousands and thousands and thousands of people, just silently walking. Through North Kensington and walking past the carcass which is Grenfell Tower and the power of that, the power of silence, is palpable. But whats also palpable is the way in which the community, as a whole, supports those people. And when the silent march passes the fire station, there is genuine love and affection for all those firefighters who risked their lives that night and so, i know nobody is trying to do this today, lets not blame firefighters or their work, they did everything they could and more and well beyond that. And the service that was held in st pauls i thought was absolutely the right thing to do because it was a way again of bringing people together to try to come to terms with the horror of their loss and also events ive been to in the mosque which also brought people together, trying to comprehend the horror of their loss. Of course, im sorry. Im grateful to the honourable gentleman forgivingly. I was privileged enough to be the minister for Civil Society at the time the honourable gentleman for Croydon North and i met with Many Charities supporting the effort there, will he join me in thanking them for all the work that they have done both immediately in the aftermath but also since then as well, in terms of supporting victims and their families well, in terms of supporting victims and theirfamilies and well, in terms of supporting victims and their families and the Wider Community as a consequence of this tragedy . I absolutely do, absolutely andi tragedy . I absolutely do, absolutely and i thank the memberfor tragedy . I absolutely do, absolutely and i thank the member for that intervention, ive neverforgotten meeting so many different groups and charities that day that were already doing their best to meet in the church, there was the community organisation, citizens advice bureau, North Kensington law centre and so many others doing their very, very best as well as the collections in the community that went on to try and ensure people at what they needed. So, mr speaker, we welcome the report on the first phase of the inquiry, one second. Which obviously, as the Prime Minister pointed out, not everybody has yet had the chance to study in detail, its only just had the chance to study in detail, its onlyjust come out but we do welcome it and we expect the government and other agencies will respond in full and while its very unlikely that further debate be held in this parliament, its for the next parliament, i hope, to start with an urgent debate and of course i will give way. I wonder if he would like to reflect on the two occasions i think the speaker organised in a speakers hands, where survivors came and i thought it was a very useful occasion for members to be able to speak informally to people who had had this dreadful experience. And it was remarkable how stoical they were and how grateful is you were saying, they we re grateful is you were saying, they were to the fire service and all those who help them. Yes, indeed. Those were memorable occasions. And the courage and determination was of support for the families and those who were bereaved, but it was also a very strong determination to make sure that grenfell never happens again anywhere else and i think the g re nfell again anywhere else and i think the grenfell survivors are the heroes of all of this. Because, when you go through a tragedy, there is a natural human instinct to try and put it behind you, move away, go off and do Something Else if you have that opportunity and choice, they havent done that, they have stayed there, stayed in the community, kept there, stayed in the community, kept the Community Together in order that the Community Together in order that the rest of us might learn the lessons of the pain they went through. The limited scope of the inquiry was agreed by the government, the fact that phase one only looked at what happened on the night of the 14th ofjune is important because many questions inevitably remain unanswered. And the recommendations do not cover the range of issues that need urgent action from ministers. So the Prime Minister talked, one second, the Prime Minister talked about the whole truth but sadly, the whole truth is not yet with us, of course i will give way. I thank my right honourable friend for giving way. 0ne honourable friend for giving way. One of the Unanswered Questions from phase two of the report relates to the types of flammable cladding which are out there, on buildings right now. The government response to date has focused solely on acm type cladding and there has been a failure both to acknowledge fully that there are other types of flammable cladding which may be just as flammable and just as much of a risk and also to commission an adequate range of tests so that building owners and residents can know what is on their buildings and note the response required. Will he join me in calling on the government urgently and ahead of the seconds phase report to address that issue comprehensively about the range of flammable cladding still putting residents at risk . I thank my friend for that intervention. I am going to come unto some more details later in my speech but she is absolutely right and as somebody, who like her, represents constituents who live in high rise blocks, we know the stress and pain they go through and she is absolutely right and everything she has said in that intervention. Will my honourable friend give way . Of course. I thank him forgivingly and i welcome the Prime Ministers tone in terms of his presentation. Does he agree with me is the honourable lady has alluded to, that there is a much Bigger Picture than phase one . Phase one is focusing on the fire brigade response mostly and many in the media have targeted the fire brigade for criticism, some of which isnt unfair but is only targeting them as opposed to waiting for the Bigger Picture . The inquiry was always going to take a long time, it is incomplete and there are others including ourselves here in this parliament, who have some responsibility for the conditions that led to the grenfell tragedy taking place . That led to the grenfell tragedy taking place . I thank my friend for that intervention and he knows as a formerfirefighter, the that intervention and he knows as a former firefighter, the stress and strain firefighters go through but also the way in which we now live in an age of such instant media that people have read a bit of half a report or a bit of the report and decide that is the conclusion of all things. This is the first of two macromedia reports and i think we should be cautious in throwing blame around much too quickly and too soon on this because these are serious and very, very tragic matters. On this because these are serious and very, very tragic matterslj on this because these are serious and very, very tragic matters. I am very grateful to my right honourable friend and on that point, does he also agree that many of the families are indeed waiting for those criminal prosecutions and the enquiries that are being made by the metropolitan police . Enquiries that are being made by the metropolitan police . A number of people have been interviewed under caution, there are many who believe that what happened in grenfell amounts effectively to corporate manslaughter. And that we should also wait to find out who is going to be prosecuted for what happened . I thank my friend for that and he lost a dearly loved friend in that fire and he has done great work in supporting the Grenfell Community andi supporting the Grenfell Community and i thank him for that. But i also asked the government to listen very carefully to remarks he just made. Remembering people who lost their lives in a wholly preventable fire has to be met with a political response, which is what we are trying to do, it has to be met with a procedural response which is about the fire service and fire training, which i will come to in a moment. And of course building regulations. But it also has to be justice because of those people who knowingly perhaps or perhaps not, but thats what a court must find out, clad buildings with materials that they themselves knew to be dangerous and thats where the corporate manslaughter issues do arise. And i hope that the government and nobody else will put obstructions in the way the justice, the Prime Minister talks about the whole truth and that clearly isnt with us yet, in the light of the particular focus on actions of london fire brigade in phase one of the report, we urge the recommendations be made of the london fire brigade are given the full response they require. But at the same time, i want to pay tribute to the heroic actions of firefighters in our country, every single day. Including on the night of the Grenfell Tower fire. They stand a lot of time in fire stations waiting for something to happen and then they have to go and deal with it, they do not know what they are going to deal with before they get there. Our natural instinct never we see a thing of danger is to put ourselves in a place of safety, to run away, to avoid or whatever, firefighters do not do that, they cannot do that, they have to run into a burning building while the residents are trying to escape from that burning building. Its something they know is in theirjob, they know its their responsibility. And they do it day after day and i just think we should understand the bravery of those that are sacrificed so much that night and despite being told, when they came out of the fire, exhausted, dehydrated, that they must not go back in, it was against fire service regulations, they said no, we might manage to save a life so they went back into that fire. That is what they do. And the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union is a man who has been a firefighter himself and his union is obviously composed of firefighters. He is a strong, strong man who fights for his members. When he spoke that summer at the durham miners event, i have never known 200,000 people in absolute silence as he described what his members, his firefighters, had done in g re nfell his firefighters, had done in grenfell so i think we should pay tribute to all of the firefighters and of course the work done by the Fire Brigades Union which helps to make us all safe. Yes, of course. I thank my honourable friend forgivingly. And i thank him also the great tribute he has paid to the fire brigade service. But would he agree with me that between 2010 and 2016 the Government Cut central funding by 20 in real terms, leading to 11,000 fewer firefighters . And the mayor of london, the present Prime Minister, was at the forefront of cuts to the fire service . Cutting 27 fire appliances, 55 firefighters, 324 support workers and the closure of ten fire stations, does he agree with me that the Prime Minister should apologise for removing aerial appliances from the london fire brigade fire engines when he was mayor of london . I thank my friend for that intervention and she, like other colleagues, represents a constituency in which many residents live in tower blocks and i dont suppose too many members of Parliament Live in High Rise Council owned tower blocks but they should understand, we should all understand the stress and strain that people go through with worry about what would happen ina through with worry about what would happen in a fire and i have to say this, mr speaker. The government response to grenfell i think has been much too slow and not Strong Enough on every front from rehousing survivors to dealing with grenfell style acm cladding on hundreds of blogs across this country. And, just for the last time, yes, of course. Blogs across this country. And, just for the last time, yes, of courselj am grateful to the honourable member for giving way, on this issue of government response, there are one in ten of Council Blocks in england are in birmingham, 213, 10,000 households, in the aftermath of the fire, the West Midlands fire Service Recommended retrofitting of sprinklers in all of those blocks, costing £31 million. At the time of the dreadful time that we lived through at grenfell, there was pledges made that local authorities would be helped and supported in making tenants safe. Birmingham has not received one single penny, that cannot be right. I thank my friend for that intervention and hes absolutely right, this is a gap in government response, gap, the retrofitting of sprinklers will help to control, possibly stop the spread ofafire, to control, possibly stop the spread of a fire, it wont stop every fire but it will save lives and thats why i think its so important that that issue be addressed properly. So the Prime Minister must act now, urgently, on the government for yea rs urgently, on the government for years following grenfell. The failure to learn the lessons from previous high rise fires, with no proper response to the coroners recommendations of the 2013 fire, and the shirley towers fires in southampton, these were terrible tragedies, lives were lost, in the case of shirley towers, firefighters and lack moorhouse, residents that we re and lack moorhouse, residents that were there. And we have to learn lessons, we cannot be, here we are, going on to 2020, still talking about the coroners response to the 2013 fire. The failure to rehouse survivors, some families and this is shocking, still living in hotels and in temporary accommodation, more than two years on. And the failure to reach clad blocks identified with dangerous grenfell style cladding as my friend pointed out, disgracefully, eight in ten residential blocks still yet have to have their acm cladding replaced. There are almost 60,000 people still living in blocks that have this cladding, 18,000 in the social sector, residential, 41,000 in the private sector. There are hundreds, nay thousands of blocks of flats across the country that need to be dealt with urgently now. And i say that, i will come to that in a secon