Tory Lord told to quit over Grenfell Inquiry criticism | LBC

'Every minister should be held to account for up to six years after they've left office', Observer columnist Will Hutton tells Matthew Wright, as Lord Pickles - who said 'no one spoke to him about cladding' - is urged to quit over the Grenfell Inquiry.

Matthew Wright was also joined by Dr John Stanton - Expert in Constitutional Law and Senior Lecturer at City Law School.

Lord Pickles, who was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015, was said to have "enthusiastically supported" a government drive for deregulation, which the inquiry said “dominated the department’s thinking" so much that life saving measures were "ignored, delayed or disregarded”.

The final report into the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed the lives of 72 people in 2017, found concerns following a similar blaze in 2009 were “repeatedly met with a defensive and dismissive attitude by officials and some ministers”.

Lord Pickles was written to following the deaths of six people at Lakanal House in Camberwell, south London, which explained the building's cladding panels had contributed to the spread of the fire.

In response to criticism from a representative from the families of the victims of the Lakanal House blaze, Lord Pickles told LBC: "During my entire time as Secretary of State (2010-15), no one spoke to me about cladding, and I am told there was not a single parliamentary question on cladding.

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