Labour ramps up its cladding campaign

The Fire Safety Bill comes back to the Commons this afternoon for MPs to consider the changes made by peers — and there’s an amendment in there that Labour hopes is going to cause a bit of a fuss. It’s the reiteration of what’s become known as the ‘McPartland-Smith amendment’ after the two Conservative MPs — Stephen McPartland and Royston Smith — who originally made the demand. The amendment bans leaseholders from being made liable for the costs of remediation work, such as removing flammable cladding from their homes.

This amendment was tabled by the Bishop of St Albans and has already been rejected once by the Commons. If MPs vote it down again today, which they are likely to, then the Lords cannot send it back again. Backbenchers who’ve raised concerns have been told to wait for the much bigger Building Safety Bill later in the year.