Cladding scandal Westminster demo, February 25: three mayors, 27 MPs, 300 leaseholders, a swarm of media …

More than 300 leaseholders from sites caught up in the cladding scandal descended on Westminster yesterday.

The repeated appeal was: make these buildings safe and don’t dump the bill on the leaseholders.

This was the message from Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor, who organised the event with the Manchester Cladiators group, and strongly seconded by Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, where the bulk of these cladding sites are situated.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett, who is also an elected councillor with responsibility for all Manchester housing, also spoke.

Speeches were made by key figures in the debate, including MPs: Sir Peter Bottomley and Justin Madders, the co-chairs of the APPG on leasehold and commonhold reform and patrons of LKP; Hilary Benn; John Healey and Lucy Powell.

The most powerful speech of all came from Rituparna Saha, co-founder of the UK Cladding Action Group, whose site Northpoint, in Bromley, SE London, has been referenced many times on LKP and all media.

It can be heard here:

MPs and politicans who attended the demonstration:

After the demonstration there was an APPG meeting in Westminster itself attended by leaseholders and MPs and Lords.

Those who attended the demo were:

1. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
2. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
3. Tom Copley AM, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing
4. John Healey, Shadow Housing Secretary and MP for Wentworth and Dearne
5. Paul Dennett, Mayor of Salford and Chair of the Greater Manchester High-Rise Task Force
6. Hilary Benn MP, Leeds Central, Labour
7. Justin Madders MP, Ellesmere Port and Neston and APPG co-chair, Labour
8. Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Worthing West and APPG co-chair, Conservative
9. Tom Hunt MP, Ipswich, Conservative
10. Matthew Offord MP, Hendon, Conservative
11. Siobhan Benita, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London
12. Baroness Kramer, Liberal Democrat and former minister
13. Lucy Powell MP, Manchester Central, Labour
14. Jim McMahon MP, Oldham West and Royton, Labour
15. Matthew Pennycook MP, Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour
16. Apsana Begum MP, Poplar and Limehouse, Labour
17. Fleur Anderson MP, Putney, Labour
18. Shabana Mahmood MP, Birmingham Ladywood, Labour
19. Rupa Huq MP, Ealing Central and Acton, Labour
20. Graham Stringer MP, Blackley and Broughton, Labour
21. Marsha de Cordova MP, Battersea, Labour
22. Sam Tarry MP, Ilford South, Labour
23. Florence Eshalomi MP, Vauxhall, Labour
24. Abena Oppong-Asare MP, Erith and Thamesmead, Labour
25. Afzal Khan MP, Manchester Gorton, Labour
26. Mike Kane MP, Wythenshawe & Sale East, Labour
27. Navendu Mishra MP, Stockport, Labour

Here are the audio files of the speeches:

Media coverage

Combustible cladding: protesters call on Boris Johnson to end crisis

Owners of high-rise apartments wrapped in combustible cladding have demonstrated in Westminster to demand Boris Johnson release billions of pounds to end a national fire safety crisis that continues nearly 1,000 days after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Cladding protesters ‘trapped in worthless homes’

Residents “trapped in worthless homes” due to unsafe cladding have demanded help from the government. Ministers have pledged £600m to pay for the removal of aluminium composite material (ACM) similar to the type used in the Grenfell Tower. Leaseholders from London and Manchester gather at Westminster to demand that the scheme include other types of potentially dangerous materials.