Mesothelioma Lawyer Directory

On 12 May 2021, the Prime Minister announced in a House of Commons statement that there is to be an inquiry relating to the Coronavirus Pandemic - Hansard 12 May 2021.After referring to the tragic loss of life due to coronavrius (including over 127,000 deaths in the UK), the PM said - "... , the state has an obligation to examine its actions as rigorously and as candidly as possible and to learn every lesson for the future, which is why I have always said that, when the time is right, there should be a full and independent inquiry. I can confirm today that the Government will establish an independent public inquiry on a statutory basis, with full powers under the Inquiries Act 2005, including the ability to compel the production of all relevant materials and take oral evidence in public under oath."In response to Sir Keir Starmer (Leader of the Opposition), the PM confirmed that the inquiry would be set up this year and would be ready to commence hearing evidence in th...

HM The Queen has delivered the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of the new Parliamentary Session.The text of the speech is HERE and Background Briefing Notes issued by the government.BBC News 11 May 2021 The Guardian 11 May 2021 

The Scottish Parliamentary election was held on 6 May. The Parliament comprises 73 constituency seats and 56 regional list seats – (previous post 29 March). The Scottish National Party (SNP) won 64 of those seats and is therefore just one seat short of an overall majority. The Conservative Party won 31 seats, Labour 22, Greens 8 and Liberal Democrats 4.  The new Alba Party under the leadership of former First Minister Alex Salmond failed to secure a seat.One way of reading the result is that there is at least a majority of Members of the Scottish Parliament who favour holding a further referendum on Scottish independence, The SNP and the Green Party campaigned on pro-independence manifestos - SNP manifesto - Green manifesto. Therefore, the  likelihood is that political pressure will now increase for a further independence referendum. It is a pressure which may prove difficult for the UK government to resist. Analysis of the Scottish election may be seen at Financial Times 8 May 2021, B...

The Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry issued its Phase 1 report in October 2019 and confirmed what was perhaps obvious - "The principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up, down and around the building was the presence of the aluminium composite material (ACM) rainscreen panels with polyethylene cores, which acted as a source of fuel." - (see Executive Summary of Phase 1 report at para 2.13).Further, at para 33.6, the Executive summary noted that - "It is clear that the use of combustible materials in the external wall of Grenfell Tower, principallyin the form of the ACM rainscreen cladding, but also in the form of combustible insulation, was the reason why the fire spread so quickly to the whole of the building. Surveys undertaken since the fire have established that external wall materials similar to those used on Grenfell Tower have been used on over 400 other high-rise residential buildings around the country ...."The Grenfell Fire brought the extensively used ...