The Labour Party has pledged to treat the safety of cladding on high-rise residential buildings as a “national emergency” if it forms a government after next month’s general election.

Speaking after the weekend’s blaze at student accommodation in Bolton, shadow housing secretary John Healey said a Labour government would implement a range of measures to boost building safety starting from day one.

Included would be giving local authorities the power to take over privately owned blocks whose owners have so far failed to replace aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding of the type that spread 2017’s fatal fire at Grenfell Tower.

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