Housing Minister denies govt 'cover-up', avoids questions on legality of the cladding

Housing Minister Alok Sharma repeatedly dodged questions in a series of interviews as anger at the Government's response to the tragedy simmers.He also sought to point the finger of blame at councils for the slow pace of tests to discover if hundreds of other buildings also have flammable cladding similar to that linked to Grenfell's blaze.

Sharma who only took up his job as the minister responsible for housing the day before the fire tore through Grenfell Tower in Kensington, first appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain where he refused to be drawn on whether cladding on the building was illegal.

He was asked at least five times, but only told viewers, "from what we've seen it would suggest that the material used was combustible".

Asked if a builder putting up a tower block today would be allowed to use the cladding, Mr Sharma replied: "The building regulations are very clear. Any building above 18 metres, this would be non-compliant."

Presenter Susanna Reid asked whether that meant the cladding is "banned" to which he replied:"It means that you are not allowed to do it."

Pressed further on whether this meant it was "illegal", he would only say: "Well, you are not allowed to do it, it is non-compliant. The regulations are very clear on this point, and clearly the public inquiry has been set up to investigate precisely what happened and we will get to the bottom of this."

There was a further winding exchange on BBC Radio 4's Today programme as presenter Sarah Montague tried to get to the bottom of a "gap" in the figures, between the number of people thought to have been in the building, up to 600, and those so far been confirmed dead or re-housed.