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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

Taxpayer may have to contribute more to fix building safety crisis, Gove tells MPs

Tower block stripped of some cladding
A tower block from which cladding has been removed for testing. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Michael Gove has told MPs the taxpayer may have to pay more to make thousands of buildings safe after saying it was proving hard to get companies who made combustible materials to pay to fix the building safety crisis.

In comments that struck a less bullish tone about his previously stated ambition to make the construction industry and developers pay, he conceded that the “government has to share some of that responsibility as well” and that the “taxpayer is the backstop”.

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