The government says it has appointed Baroness Blake of Leeds as fire minister. More than 1,000 wildfires have been recorded across the country this year…
Samantha Dixon was previously Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy until she lost her job on 22 July this year on Burnham’s ascent to No10. Despite the ridiculous name the ministerial role had wide responsibility:
Building safety, regulations, Building Safety Regulator and remediation
Net Zero and energy efficiency
Grenfell Inquiry response
Grenfell Community, Tower and Memorial
Fire policy and operations
Resilience, recovery, and emergencies
Elections policy
Planning casework
Since then it appears that the Burnham government failed to fill the fire brief at all until this afternoon. That is a major f***-up…
A dedicated fire minister signs off planning, contingency policy and funding rapidly. It’s not a job for the Home Secretary or Housing Secretary…
That’s another misstep from ‘political master’ Burnham who is banning BBQs after about five heatwaves have already happened. And now smoke and mirrors with the month-late ‘appointment’ of a minister…
UPDATE: Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood said:
“It is staggering that Burnham seemingly left the fire brief empty while firefighters battled wildfires and the country endured record temperatures. This is extremely negligent and Burnham should explain how it was allowed to happen.”