We met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Manchester on Thursday, 10 March 2022 at the home of affected leaseholders; a flat in the Green Quarter, Manchester. The Archbishop was joined by Bishop David Walker who has been a supporter of Manchester Cladiators and our campaign since we formed.
The Archbishop spoke with a group of 6 residents from a range of unsafe buildings across the North West and took time to understand the issues faced by each person - the building issues, the bills they were facing and the impact this crisis has had on their mental health.
As Members of the House of Lords, the Archbishop and his colleagues can help to support amendments to the Building Safety Bill which is currently passing through the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
This was organised to coincide with the start of the Conservative Party Conference. The location was St. Peter's Square a short distance from the Manchester Central Convention Complex where the Conservatives were meeting.
Giles Grover gave evidence on the Building Safety Bill at the Public Bill Committee.
Click the link below - Giles is on from 15:31 onwards.
Thank you William Wragg and Mary Robinson for meeting us. We gave an overview of our campaign and the national @EOCS_Official position after the recent announcement by Robert Jenrick with a focus on what we still need to bring a fair and final end to the #BuildingSafetyCrisis
Manchester and Liverpool Cladiators jointly held a "Cladding Question Time" featuring: Andy Burnham; Ellen Louden; Steve Rotheram; Jenni Seex; George Clarke and Lord Stephen Greenhalgh. This is definitely worth a watch. We would like to warn you that there is some strong language.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans (McPartland Smith) Amendment went back to the House of Commons on 22nd March. It was defeated by 322 votes to 253 but some of our northern-based Conservative MPs did support the amendment. A big thank you to Chris Green, Esther McVey, Mary Robinson and William Wragg. We have great support from many Labour Party MPs but of course this should never be a party political issue.
This is the full list of those who supported our cause.
Thanks to @AndyBurnhamGM for meeting with us to discuss the campaign and what more is needed from Government and developers to solve this issue for residents. We deserve to live in safe homes & should not have to pay to fix them.
Giles Grover giving an interview to Heart, talking about the fire safety issues at City Gate, Manchester
Further information, including a press release, can be found here.
