‘Wennington fire report makes it clear that the damage suffered would have been minimalised if the LFB hadn’t suffered years of cuts under the Tories’-Margaret Mullane.

Today, Labour Prospective Candidate for Dagenham and Rainham Margaret Mullane writes her monthly column for the Havering Daily.

The first anniversary passed on 19 July of the devastating fires that destroyed 17 houses in Wennington Village and the homes in Stratford Close and Farm Close on the Rookery Farm estate in Dagenham.

The trauma that the families suffered on losing their homes, their possessions including irreplaceable, cherished belongings is hard to imagine. The memories of that dreadful, scorching hot day will have been brought back to mind on seeing the terrible wildfires that have engulfed so many parts of southern Europe.

These incidents are not unrelated – but instead of trying to change the world – I want to focus on protecting our communities against the worst effects of climate change by building resilience. After the devastating fires I called for fire breaks and additional resources to support the local London Fire Brigade. The latest reports make clear that the damage would have been minimalised if the LFB hadn’t suffered years of cuts under the Tories. Labour would properly fund our public services, making sure that they are there when we need them. In the coming weeks I will also be chasing up both local authorities to establish where we are with natural defences one year on.

Whilst the incident a year ago was incomparable to the Grenfell Tower tragedy it did, in the case of Rookery Farm, return building quality and fire safety regulations to the fore. 68% of London’s emissions are from buildings, and I believe that if we invest now in the things that contribute to cutting carbon dioxide emissions such as insulating our homes, we help ourselves by improving fire safety and cutting our energy bills.

Addressing climate change doesn’t have to be an attack on working class people, with the right government it could provide a once in a generation opportunity to rebuild Britain from the ground up, bringing back skilled trades and jobs you can raise a family on. By becoming energy independent and retrofitting the 19 million homes that need it, Labour will end our dependence on the likes of Russia and the Middle East for gas and oil. Great British Energy, Labour’s mission, will create 500,000 new jobs, and will save families on average £1400 a year. As Labour’s PPC I will ensure that Dagenham & Rainham is at the front of the queue for this investment.

I believe we all want a good future for our children and grandchildren. Climate change is too important an issue to be treated as a political football. Sustained action by government now will help mitigate the risk of further devastating fires such as we witnessed on 19 July 2022 in our own area.

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