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British Bangladeshi MP Rushanara Ali has withdrawn from her role in the housing department and duties overseeing building safety and the UK government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire in the face of complaints by survivors, the BBC reports.
Survivors of the tragedy – in which 72 people died in a blaze at a London high-rise – had called for her to stand down after The Sunday Times highlighted her attendance at a conference co-chaired by an executive in a company heavily criticised by the inquiry into the disaster.
The MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney did not resign as minister on Sunday, but stated she was relinquishing her building safety brief because ‘perception matters’, the BBC says.
Ali, the first British Bangladeshi MP elected to parliament, had attended the Franco-British Colloque conference alongside senior politicians, civil servants, and business leaders. She was among half a dozen MPs who attended.
Pierre-André de Chalendar, the chairman of Saint-Gobain – the parent company of Celotex, was the co-chair of the conference for many years.
The last meeting of the Colloque was held in January, ahead of the election. De Chalendar no longer serves as the co-chair of the conference, BBC says.
De Chalendar was in charge of Saint Gobain at the time of the Grenfell fire. Celotex was one of the firms that manufactured the insulation inside the cladding on Grenfell Tower that proved to be combustible.
The Grenfell Inquiry says Celotex launched a “dishonest scheme to mislead its customers” over the suitability of the insulation for high-rises.
“Trusted relationships between ministers and the Grenfell community are essential for this Department,” Ali said in her statement on Sunday.
“Before I became a minister, I called for the French delegation of the Franco-British Colloque to cut ties with Saint Gobain. But I understand that perception matters and I have therefore concluded that the building safety portfolio would be best transferred to another minister.
“Our goals of making buildings safe and preventing another tragedy continue to be very important issues for me, and the deputy prime minister and the rest of the ministerial team have my full support in delivering on this work.”
Ali was re-elected to her London seat in the July election. The Labour MP was initially elected to represent Bethnal Green and Bow in 2010 and continued representing it until 2024 when the constituency was abolished. She won the new Bethnal Green and Stepney seat in July.
Ali was born in 1975 in Bangladesh’s Sylhet. Her family immigrated to the UK when she was seven.