THE Government’s performance over the Grenfell Tower fire and the subsequent finding that the fire was caused by a faulty fridge/freezer, that the cladding on the tower was not fire-resistant and that many other tower blocks, schools and even hospitals are clad in the same material is shameful.

Following the deaths of six people in a fire at Lakanal House in London in 2009 the all-party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Committee called for a major review of building regulations.

Since then the committee have regularly repeated their request, in a recent letter they did ask if the Government were waiting for a major disaster before they did something.

Rather than having the Government bringing together competent specialists to draw up and update regulations individual councils are left to do it themselves.

The Met police now say that they are considering bringing in criminal charges. I believe that means they are considering private manufacturers but I want Government ministers and even the Prime Minister charged it was they that did nothing - but that could never happen or could it?

The recent cost of the refurbishment on Grenfell Tower was in the order of £10m and now with the fire we have to pay all the costs of the fire, police and ambulance service, the cost of rehousing the survivors, the cost of compensating the survivors and burying the dead.

The tower will have to be searched and cleared, the building will have to be demolished and a new block designed and built, the cost of recladding other tower blocks and rehousing the residents while the work is being done could be in the order of £1 billion.

If the Government had got off its backside and given guidance to councils this money could have been spent on a good cause - for example the NHS.

This complaint is not just aimed at the present Government but all political parties they simply want to sit on the fence and do nothing and make excuses.

With this kind of leadership how can we trust the government with Brexit.

Brian Tyldesley, Middleham