Death of Awaab Ishak from mould exposure should be ‘catalyst for change’ in housing standards

Published

3 years ago

November 17, 2022

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The death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak should be a “catalyst for change in housing standards” and a “wakeup call to the government”, politicians have said.

MPs are demanding action after an inquest found the little boy died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould in his family’s flat.

Speaking in the Commons, shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy said the tragedy should mark a “real step change” in improving social housing stock.

“It should also be a defining moment for us and a wake-up call that every single person in this house who has – in whatever limited form and to whatever extent – the power and the platform to make sure that this never, ever happens again,” she said.

“It should not take the death of a two-year-old boy in completely avoidable circumstances to get us to get together and act.”

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Awaab died shortly after his second birthday in December 2020.

At an inquest on Tuesday, coroner Joanne Kearsley found that he “died as a result of a severe respiratory condition caused due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home environment” and “action to treat and prevent the mould was not taken”.

Awaab’s father repeatedly raised the issue with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), who owned the property in Greater Manchester.

The family, originally from Sudan, have accused the housing association of racism, saying they have “no doubt at all” they were “treated in this way because we are not from this country”.

Ms Nandy warned the issues Awaab’s family faced are wide-spread, telling MPs: “Our in-boxes and constituency surgeries are absolutely overflowing in every part of the country with people who are in this position who’ve sounded the alarm over and over and over again, and just simply been rendered invisible by decision-makers who do not respond.”

She asked Michael Gove, the housing secretary, what steps his department is going to take, adding: “There is a systemic issue of housing unfit for human habitation in both the social and private rented sector.

“Too many families in overcrowded, damp, mouldy, squalid conditions and disproportionately likely to be BAME families in poverty.”

‘Wake-up call for the government’

Earlier on Wednesday, the Labour frontbencher wrote to Mr Gove urging him to immediately introduce a new decent homes standard, saying that the government’s failure to set a timetable for doing this was “now beyond unacceptable”.

She said Awaab’s death should be “a wake-up call for the government” and also called for an investigation into the treatment of refugees in the housing system, as well as the role that racism may have played in the treatment of Awaab and his family.

In the Commons, Mr Gove admitted there are at least 2.3 million social homes that fail the decent homes standard “and that there are more homes proportionately in the private rented sector than the social rented sector that fail”.

The decent homes standard has been setting the standards that social homes are required to meet since the early 2000s and is currently under review.

Mr Gove said he hoped that new regulations in response to the consultation could be brought forward “as early as possible… in the beginning of the new year”.

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He also said his department would “name and shame” landlords who had breached consumer standards.

“At the moment… the system has been too reliant on people fighting their own corner and we are determined to change that. So, the reforms that we’re making will help to relieve the burden on tenants with an emboldened and more powerful regulator,” he said.

While Mr Gove has acknowledged the “funding challenges” faced by local authorities who provide social housing, he has said this is “no excuse” for Awaab’s death.

On Tuesday, the housing secretary said it “beggars belief” the chief executive of RBH, Gareth Swarbrick, is still in his “£150,000-plus” a year job – and has summoned him to his department for a meeting.

Mr Gove said he has spoken briefly to the chief executive earlier this afternoon and “in the course of that conversation it became even more clear to me that there are systemic problems in the governance and leadership of that organisation”.

‘Dramatic increase in damp and mould cases’

Mr Swarbick, the chief executive of RBH, said he is “truly devastated about Awaab’s death and the things we got wrong”.

At the inquest, the corner asked: “How in the UK in 2020 does a two-year-old child die as a result of exposure to mould?”

But according to the Housing Ombudsman, Awaab’s death comes amid a “dramatic increase” in cases of damp and mould.

Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “This is an appalling, heart-breaking case but, sadly, the kind of failures that we saw here, whilst they may not have as tragic a consequence, they often happen and they often cause deep distress, profound distress to residents.”

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said Awaab’s death “must become a powerful catalyst for change in housing standards in all sectors”.

Mr Burnham said he “has been calling for some time for new powers to improve housing standards” across the city region and that he has put forward proposals to tackle poor quality housing as part of the Trailblazer devolution discussions with the government.

Awaab’s constituency MP, Labour’s Sir Tony Lloyd, said the little boy’s death was “preventable and unforgivable” and asked about “classifying mould as a category one hazard because that would be an important step in protection”.

Conservative MP Chris Clarkson called for a “root and branch” investigation into RBH, while Conservative MP Bob Blackman said there must be a “sea change” in how tenants’ complaints about mould are dealt with.

World

‘Horrific incident’ at sheriff training facility in LA – at least three people dead

Published

6 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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'Horrific incident' at sheriff training facility in LA - at least three people dead

At least three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility, officials have said.

A spokesperson for the department said there was an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA.

The incident was reported at around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).

Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.

Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X: “I just spoke to @USAttyEssayli about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more.”

California congressman Jimmy Sanchez said the explosion had “claimed the lives of at least three deputies”.

“My condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss,” he said.

The attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said the LAPD bomb squad has also responded to the scene.

“The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, his press office said in a post on X.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.

The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

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Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

Published

6 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

Dozens of Russian spies have been sanctioned by the government – including those responsible for targeting Yulia Skripal five years before her attempted murder in Salisbury.

The Foreign Office has announced that three units of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) have been hit with sanctions, alongside 18 military intelligence officers.

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GRU officers attempted to murder Yulia Skipal and her father Sergei using the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.

The 18 military intelligence officers have been targeted because of a sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity over many years, including in the UK, the Foreign Office said.

The government also accused the GRU of using cyber and information operations to “sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world”.

One of the groups sanctioned, Unit 26165, conducted online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against Mariupol, including the bombing of Mariupol Theatre where hundreds of civilians, including children, were murdered.

Other military officers who have been sanctioned previously targeted Yulia Skripal’s mobile phone with malicious malware known as X-Agent.

The Skripals had moved to the UK after Sergei Skripal became a double agent, secretly working for the UK. He was tried for high treason and imprisoned in Russia – and later exchanged in a spy swap.

But five years after Yulia’s phone was targeted, the pair were poisoned with the nerve agent, Novichok, in Salisbury. Russia has always denied being involved in the chemical attack.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

“The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it.”

He said the UK was taking “decisive action” with the sanctions against Russian spies.

“Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve. The UK and our allies’ support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.”

Those sanctioned today include:

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk

Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich Serbriakov

Anatoliy Sergeyvich Kovalev

Artem Valeryvich Ochichenko

The 161st Specialist Training Centre (TsPS) (Unit 29155) of the GRU

Vladislav Yevgenyevich Borovkov

Nikolay Aleksandrovich Korchagin

Yuriy Federovich Denisov

Vitaly Aleksandrovich Shevchenko

Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov

Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev

Sergey Sergeyevich Vasyuk

Andrey Eduardovich Baranov

Aleksey Sergeyevich Morenets

Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev

Artem Adreyevich Malyshev

Yuriy Leonidovich Shikolenko

Victor Borisovich Netyksho

Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Mikhaylov

African Initiative

Artyom Sergeevich Kureyev

Anna Sergeevna Zamaraeva

Victor Aleksandrovich Lukovenko

World

Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

Published

6 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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Antarctica's oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

Antarctica’s oldest ice has arrived in the UK for analysis which scientists hope will reveal more about Earth’s climate shifts.

The ice was retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres at Little Dome C in East Antarctica as part of an international effort to “unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice”.

The ice cores – cylindrical tubes of ancient ice – will be analysed at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, with the ultimate goal of reconstructing up to 1.5 million years of Earth’s climate history, significantly extending the current ice core record of 800,000 years.

The research is also expected to offer valuable context for predicting future climate change, Dr Liz Thomas, head of the ice cores team at the British Antarctic Survey, said.

Over the next few years, the samples will be analysed by different labs across Europe to gain understanding of Earth’s climate evolution and greenhouse gas concentrations.

Dr Thomas said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this international effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice.

“The project is driven by a central scientific question: why did the planet’s climate cycle shift roughly one million years ago from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles?

“By extending the ice core record beyond this turning point, researchers hope to improve predictions of how Earth’s climate may respond to future greenhouse gas increases.”

The ice was extracted as part of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, which is funded by the European Commission and brings together researchers from 10 European countries and 12 institutions.

“Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators-including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity-spanning the past 1.5 million years,” Dr Thomas said.

“This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth’s history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.”