We all remember seeing the horrific scenes of the burning tower at Grenfell Tower over four years ago.

When we quietly marched with others who wanted action to stop another Grenfell, it was crucial in raising awareness of this issue.

Those events were a lightning rod for the wider public and put a sharp focus on the quality of housing that many people live in – particularly in more densely populated urban areas. In Chiswick and Acton so many buildings have been or will be built in the next few years. Many have little confidence in the safety of their home if they live in a tall building.

However due to Tory government inaction, millions of leaseholders now find themselves stuck in limbo and facing huge bills, often in the high tens of thousands of pounds, to remove this dangerous cladding. rather than the building owners and developers who cut corners in the first place.

Many of these leaseholders are unable to move or sell their property due to the cladding, leaving millions trapped as mortgage prisoners. Despite strong community action, and attempts to rally leaseholders together, the situation continues. One estimate is that some leaseholders might have to pay up to £75,000. This is so high and the government should have ensured they were protected.

The Liberal Democrats have been clear that the Mayor of London should also boycott developers who have failed to take action on their buildings at risk of fire.

The success was that the London Assembly backed the Liberal Democrat motion which was supported by the Conservative and Green Party AMs, but was not supported by Labour, who abstained.

The Government needs to do much more to comprehensively deal with the building safety crisis, and many of us will keep pushing for this.

We need to look at the levers and powers the Mayor has to ensure far more is done to support those affected by this shameful scandal in London.

Nationally, the Conservative Party strategy for dealing with this is to bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine. They can announce big schemes all they want, but unless they listen to the concerns of leaseholders and shift the financial burden onto building owners – millions of men, women, and children will continue to suffer.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are working locally and nationally to ensure that the voices of tenants and leaseholders are heard.

The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight to end the cladding scandal. If you have any concerns about cladding in your area please contact me at [email protected]