Since the fire, a few things have come to light regarding legislation that could have prevented something like this from happening. Last year, Labour pushed for legislation that would require landlords to comply with stricter health and safety regulations in properties. Over 300 Conservative MPs voted against the legislation. 72 of those MPs are landlords.
One of those MPs was the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, I shit you not. On the topic of making sprinklers a legal requirement for landlords to install, he said this:
“We believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation.”
“The cost of fitting a fire sprinkler system may affect house building – something we want to encourage – so we must wait to see what impact that regulation has.”
"We know that sprinklers are effective. Also, sprinklers will make the environment more survivable by containing the fire and containing the smoke.
"But they are not a total solution. We also have to make sure that passive protection measures - things like the structure of the building and the fire resistance of the building - are all properly in place as well."
How the fuck is this not a conflict of interest? The Fire Minister, who is a landlord, did not want to be legally required to install things that would stop fires because it would "discourage house building".
Fucking unbelievable.
there's a local councilman who is a landlord and sits on the committee that sets the rules for landlords. big surprise, his properties are notoriously bad and constantly skirting the law.