Former minister says he told the Tories not to scrap fire safety regulations

Lib Dem Former Energy Secretary told the Commons he had been asked by Conservatives to scrap certain fire safety regulations

Former Energy Secretary Ed Davey revealed he had said "no" to Conservative requests to scrap fire safety regulations (PA)

Former coalition Cabinet minister Ed Davey has revealed that while Energy Secretary he had to prevent the Conservatives from relaxing regulations on fire safety, as he called on the Prime Minister to “change the culture” on regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Speaking in a House of Commons debate on Grenfell, Sir Ed said: "When I was a junior business minister, I was asked by people from Number 10, the Cabinet Office, whether we should get rid of the fire safety regulations with respect to girls and ladies' nightdresses, whether we should get rid of fire regulations related to furniture.

"I said no, we didn't get rid of them, nor should we."

Shadow Housing Minister John Healey said: "If the Prime Minister and First Secretary are serious about change, then they should start by confirming that this approach [to regulation] has ended with the Cameron-Osborne era of Conservative government."

Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has admitted he has not yet met Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired Court of Appeal judge appointed to lead the Grenfell Tower public inquiry.

Asked about whether Sir Martin Moore-Bick could command the confidence of the public, Mr Javid said: "Well I haven't met the judge yet but I know he has been spending his time meeting residents."

Clive Betts, the former chairman of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee said that social housing had been viewed as "poor housing for poor people and therefore anything will do", for too long.

Mr Betts, who is seeking re-election as committee chairman, said: "We've simply got to start viewing social housing differently.

"There is a tendency, in the last few years, to see social housing as poor housing for poor people and therefore anything will do for the people who live there."

First Secretary Damian Green also said during the debate that central government would only pay for fire safety improvements where local authorities could demonstrate they were unable to meet the costs themselves.

Labour’s Jack Dromey asked Mr Green: "Birmingham has 231 tower blocks. The city council has rightly decided it will retrofit sprinklers in all of those blocks. That will cost £31m in a council that has suffered £700m of cuts to their budget. Will the government unequivocally commit to funding all necessary safety measures, pending the outcome of the inquiry?"

Mr Green told him: “If the fire service recommends something needs to be done for safety reasons, obviously they will go to the local authority and the local authority would be the first port of call to pay for that. I’m sure all local authorities will want to follow the fire service’s recommendations on this.

If the local authority can show it can’t afford it, then obviously central government will step in. But that’s a matter for local authorities and the fire service.”