Starmer calls on Reform to sack Simon Dudley after ‘everyone dies’ Grenfell comments
Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to sack Reform’s new housing spokesperson after he described the Grenfell Tower fire as a “tragedy” but added that “everyone dies in the end”,Simon Dudley, a former head of Homes England, announced in February that he was joining Reform, as Nigel Farage said he was planning to bring more “experts” onboard to advise the party,However, the new Reform housing spokesperson was embroiled in controversy overnight after he gave an interview to Inside Housing magazine in which he described building safety regulations introduced after the 2017 Grenfell tragedy as “regulation which is not working”,“That was a tragedy,It was a failure,” Dudley was quoted as saying, when asked if the fire was a warning.
“Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end.It’s just how you go, right?” he added.“Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually people dying in house fires is rare.Many, many more people die on the roads driving cars – but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses being built?”The prime minister joined in condemnation of Dudley, describing his comments as shameful, as Grenfell families also criticised them.“Nigel Farage should do the decent thing and sack him,” Starmer said on X.
Grenfell United, a bereaved families and survivors group, described Dudley’s comments as insensitive and deeply dehumanising.“Our loved ones did not simply ‘die’.They were failed.They were trapped in their homes, in a building that should have been safe, in a fire that should never have happened.Reducing their deaths to an inevitability strips away the truth: this was preventable,” the group said in a statement.
“To speak about Grenfell in this way is to erase responsibility.It suggests this was just fate, just “how it goes”, rather than the result of years of ignored warnings, poor decisions, and a failure to value the lives of residents, and is deeply offensive and ill informed.Grenfell Next of Kin, another group, said: “The death of our parents, partners, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren in the most horrific circumstances was gross negligent manslaughter, NOT fate.”Dudley responded to the outcry on Thursday morning, using a post on X to say: “Grenfell was an utter tragedy and quite rightly prompted a wholesale review and tightening of fire regulations.”“I said it was a tragedy in my interview with Inside Housing and in no shape or form am I belittling that disaster or the huge loss of life.
It must never happen again.I reiterate that, and am sorry if it was not sufficiently clear.”Dudley went on to refer to an announcement by Berkley Group, London’s biggest housebuilder, that it will stop buying up land for development because of what it described as “unprecedented” increases in costs and regulation.“My concern is the introduction of numerous measures that do nothing to protect life and are throttling housebuilding,” he added.His remarks were also criticised by the Fire Brigades Union, whose general secretary, Steve Wright, described them as disgusting and shocking.
“Yet again, Reform has shown just how unfit it is for power with this insult to the families of those who lost their lives at Grenfell,” he said.A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Simon’s comments on Grenfell reflected his broader point that the regulatory pendulum has swung too far in response to the tragedy.As he explained, there is a fine balance between overregulation – which can slow the delivery of new homes – and ensuring that more homes are built safely without too much red tape.”Dudley, a former Conservative supporter who has experience in international banking and held roles at HSBC and other companies, was chair of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation until July last year, tasked with overseeing the creation of a new town.He had been brought into the Tory party’s treasurers department as recently as October by the party chair, Kevin Hollinrake.
After joining Reform, he said: “For too long, the two main parties have failed to deliver housing for Brits.They’ve pursued a disastrous combination of extreme levels of immigration with a severe lack of new good quality homes.”
Calling us Auntie or Uncle is no insult | Letters
Re Lola Okolosie’s article (Is calling a woman ‘auntie’ ageist harassment – or a mark of respect? It’s a trickier question than you think, 31 March), I was interested to read uncle/auntie described as honorifics. Growing up (I’m 60-plus years old, Scottish), I think it operated as a familiar term. I was taught to call close friends of my parents Aunt Jane or Uncle John. Otherwise Mister/Miss.Clearly, there is an honorific element – if I am (as a child) calling you Aunt, you are close to my parents, but it was not related to age – I would never have dreamed of calling anyone Aunt/Uncle on an age basis
Young people ‘more likely to leave for health reasons when in low-paid, insecure jobs’
Young people in the UK are more likely to leave their job for health reasons and become economically inactive when they work in insecure, low-paid sectors, a study has found.Research carried out for the Trades Union Congress by the consultancy Timewise charts a connection between the jobs young people are most likely to do – in hospitality, retail and care, for example – and the proportion of people leaving because of ill health.“The occupations that young people are concentrated in are associated with high numbers of people moving into long-term sickness and worklessness,” the analysis said.The authors said that these sectors were also among those most likely to offer precarious or low-paid jobs.More than 40% of staff in accommodation and food services are in insecure working arrangements, for example
NHS rehabilitation care staff shortage fails stroke patients, say health leaders
The NHS is failing stroke patients and limiting their chances of recovery because of a shortage of rehabilitation care staff, health leaders have said.More people are surviving strokes than ever before in the UK. But their hopes of getting better are being dashed because of a lack of physiotherapists and other specialist staff, according to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology.National guidelines say people who have had a stroke should receive therapy-based rehabilitation for three hours a day, five days a week. But data suggests that, on average, people only receive rehab three to four days a week in hospital, and one to two days once they are discharged, the CSP and Acpin said
CPS considering 13 suspected cases of assisted dying in England and Wales
Thirteen cases of suspected assisted dying are being considered by prosecutors in England and Wales, according to the latest data.Encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person is against the law in England and Wales, under the Suicide Act 1961.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said its latest data showed 209 cases that have been recorded as assisted dying have been referred to it by the police between 1 April 2009 and 31 March this year.This was up from 199 cases that had been referred by the end of March last year.Of the 209 cases, 131 were not taken forward by prosecutors and 42 were withdrawn by police, the CPS said
UK drug exports to US spared tariffs under deal critics say will cost NHS billions
British drug exports to the US will escape tariffs imposed by Donald Trump as part of a controversial UK-US medicines deal that critics fear will mean less money for the NHS.The deal will also give patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending drugs because the rules have been relaxed to allow the NHS to pay more for particular treatments.In an announcement on Thursday, the UK government highlighted the recent approval of two cancer medicines as representing good value for money and proof that its agreement with the US administration will benefit the very unwell, not just pharmaceutical firms.They are now available because the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) from this week has increased the amount of money the NHS can spend on a treatment in the hope of giving patients a longer and higher quality of life from £30,000 to £35,000 a year.Ministers, drug industry bosses and patient groups hailed the deal as good news
Streeting hits out at BMA ‘delusion’ as talks to avert resident doctors’ strike fail
The NHS in England is bracing for the longest strike yet by resident doctors after last-ditch talks failed, prompting Wes Streeting to accuse the medics of suffering from “delusion”.Many thousands of resident – formerly junior – doctors will stage a six-day stoppage over pay and jobs starting at 7am on Tuesday, just after the Easter weekend. A deadline for agreement ended on Thursday.It will be the 16th walkout the doctors have staged since their first strike in March 2023, and there are growing fears that the dispute could drag on for another year.Streeting confirmed in a letter to the British Medical Association that he had withdrawn his offer to create 1,000 extra places in specialist medical training this year, as that was conditional on the BMA accepting the government’s most recent offer, which it rejected last week
Labour challenges Farage over cost of private jet trip to Maldives
Starmer must call energy summit akin to 2008 crisis response, Labour MP says
Drip-feed of Reform UK controversies puts party’s policy drive in shade
UK politics Q&A, as it happened: Andrew Sparrow answers your questions on Starmer, Reform and more
Reform donor Nick Candy sells Chelsea mansion for reported £275m
Reform housing spokesperson sacked after Grenfell ‘everyone dies’ remarks