The Guardian - 15.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:2 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 14/8/2019 20:59 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

• The Guardian Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019

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News and Sport

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NEWSPAPERS

SUPPORT

RECYCLING

The recycled paper content of UK newspapers

in 2017 was 64.6%^

t

Julian Borger

Washington

There is no chance of Congress approv-

ing a US-UK trade agreement if Brexit

undermines the Good Friday peace

agreement between Ireland and

Northern Ireland, the speaker of the

House of Representatives, Nancy

Pelosi, said yesterday.

Pelosi was restating the entrenched

position of congressional Democrats

and many Republicans in the wake of

by Donald Trump’s national security

adviser, John Bolton, during a visit to

London this week.

Bolton had said that Britain and

the US could sign interim, partial

free trade deals , one sector at a time,

which would go through a fast track

legislative process, to help the UK

cope economically if there is a no-deal

Brexit on 31 October.

In a statement , the House speaker,

who commands a Democratic major-

ity, warned the Trump administration

would not be able to sidestep congres-

sional approval.

“Whatever form it takes, Brexit

Aamna Mohdin

Grenfell Tower survivors are living in

a block of fl ats found to be at high risk

of fi re, according to a risk assessment

commissioned by a resident.

In July 2018, the Royal Borough of

Kensington and Chelsea acquired 31

fl ats on Hortensia Road, London, for

survivors of the tragedy. The new-

build property was bought from a

private contractor as part of the 300

homes for Grenfell survivors.

A fi re risk assessment completed

last month concluded that current pro-

visions were not satisfactory and that

the building was at “high” risk of fi re.

It said combustible materials were

not separated from ignition sources,

the smoke extraction system was not

working, and there were no adequate

procedures to evacuate disabled res-

idents. It also found no evidence that

the cladding had been inspected.

The report, commissioned by a resi-

dent, was obtained by Inside Housing.

Sarah Jones MP, the shadow hous-

ing minister, said: “This is yet another

example of how neither the Conserva-

tive government nor Kensington and

Chelsea council have learned the les-

sons from the Grenfell tragedy. No

one should be living in unsafe build-

ings, but of all people, putting Grenfell

survivors at risk of another fi re is a

complete disgrace.”

She added: “Two years after Gren-

fell, 60,000 people are still living in

tower blocks with deadly ACM [alu-

minium composite material] cladding,

95% of council blocks still don’t have

sprinklers, and countless more could

be at risk because the government

has failed to do safety checks on most

tower blocks.”

Morya Samuel, a spokesperson for

the campaign group Justice4Gren-

fell, said: “ It’s obvious to us that the

council is continuing its institutional

indiff erence and has gone back to a

business-as-usual approach.

“People have been saying the local

authority just does not have any

respect for the residents of North

Kensington. If you can do this to peo-

ple who have survived fi re, it shows

the lack of humanity and duty of care.”

The report criticised the “poor”

housekeeping in the block’s car park

and refuse area and note d there were

no fi re action notices at call points.

A council spokesperson said: “Our

fi rst priority is the safety of our res-

idents and we have been working

closely with them from the beginning,

keeping them regularly informed of

progress.”

The spokesperson criticised the fi re

risk assessment, stating it “contains a

number of errors and parts appear to

be cut and pasted from other assess-

ments. There are also references to

features which do not exist at Hort-

ensia Road.”

The council also said that the build-

ing has a sprinkler system, 30-minute

fi re resistant doors, a fi refi ghter lift for

use in emergencies, and weekly block

inspections take place to ensure com-

munal areas are kept clear.

“ Many of the issues have already

been addressed and we have recently

replaced insulation around windows

as recommended by the latest gov-

ernment advice,” the spokesperson

added.

cannot be allowed to imperil the Good

Friday a greement, including the seam-

less border between the Irish Republic

and Northern Ireland, especially now,

as the fi rst generation born into the

hope of Good Friday 21 years ago

comes into adulthood,” Pelosi said.

“We cannot go back.”

Bolton said the sectoral deals,

focusing on industries such as car

manufacturing, could be negotiated

quickly, and insisted they would

receive overwhelming bipartisan sup-

port in Congress.

“The ultimate end result is a com-

prehensive trade agreement covering

all trading goods and services,” he said

after meeting Boris Johnson and senior

British offi cials on Monday. “But to get

to that you could do it sector by sector,

and you can do it in a modular fashion.

“In other words, you can carve out

some areas where it might be possi-

ble to reach a bilateral agreement very

quickly, very straightforwardly.”

Political observers however said

it would be very hard to get piece-

meal deals through Congress, partly

because of the staunch opposition of

agricultural and other sectoral lob-

bies concerned that their interests are

being sidelined if they are not included

in a broader agreement.

For that reason, trade deals, if they

are passed at all, often take years to get

through Congress.

The existence of a powerful bipar-

tisan Irish American voting bloc,

adamant that it will not be complicit

in any arrangement that undermines

the 1998 Good Friday accord, is almost

certain to complicate US-UK trade

negotiations still further.

Brendan Boyle, the Democratic

co-chairman of the Friends of Ire-

land caucus, told the Guardian: “The

nonsensical utterings of John Bolton

should not be taken seriously. He has

no role in trade agreements. Zero.

“I strongly support Speaker Pelo-

si’s statement today making crystal

clear, once again, that protecting the

Good Friday a greement is paramount,”

Boyle said.

“As the speaker said: i f Brexit under-

mines the Good Friday accord, there

will be no chance of a US-UK trade

agreement passing the Congress. .”

Forty-fi ve Republican senators have

signed a letter indicating willingness

to back a trade deal with the UK in

case of a no-deal Brexit, but it had no

Democratic signatories, fell short of

a majority any deal would need, and

would not help any agreement over-

come more staunch opposition in the

Democrat-controlled House.

Fast track authority gives the pres-

ident the power to negotiate trade

deals which Congress cannot amend

or fi libuster (stall by extended debate).

However, the legislature still has the

authority to reject such deals outright.

Good Friday agreement

‘key’ to trade deal with US

‘High’ fi re risk

at fl ats housing

Grenfell Tower

survivors

▼ House speaker Nancy Pelosi said

that Brexit must not risk peace in

Northern Ireland PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW

CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

‘Brexit cannot

imperil the Good

Friday agreement ...

We cannot go back’

Nancy Pelosi

House speaker

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