Government will do 'whatever is required' following Grenfell Tower blaze

Sajid Javid said there would be immediate action following the early conclusions from an investigative report into the blaze which has left at least 17 people dead.

"We need to do whatever it takes to make people that live in those properties safe: that's either make the properties safe or find some other accommodation, it has to be done," Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The Government has been absolutely clear on this: we need to do whatever is required and that will happen.

"In this country, in this century, for this kind of thing to happen it is horrific and we cannot allow anything like this to ever happen again."

Mr Javid was pressed on what would happen to other buildings with the same cladding as Grenfell Tower.

He said: "What's going to be very important here is what do the fire investigators tell us from their preliminary work and obviously that work has already begun.

"If they tell us that the cladding is the problem or how cladding is put on, or there might be some other issue that no-one has thought of yet, that is what will lead that investigation.

"But whatever they tell us that is exactly what we need to deal with and we need to deal with it immediately and there will be no bars to that, we will deal with it but we have to be led by the expert opinion on it."

Asked whether dealing with the findings would include evacuating other buildings, Mr Javid said: "Whatever they tell us is necessary to make those people safe, there can be no shortcuts to this."

Mr Javid was asked why more had not been done following a report into the 2009 Lakanal House blaze.

He said: "There were a number of recommendations, all recommendations were actioned and my predecessor responded to that report publicly about how they would be actioned and they've been actioned."

The Communities Secretary also told the programme he was working with the local authority to ensure people who lived in Grenfell Tower were "rehoused properly, immediately in the local area".

"That's why I'll be visiting later today to see if there is anything more that we can do - we've already released emergency funds - I want to make sure we do everything we possibly can."

Sir Eric Pickles, then communities secretary, wrote to the Coroner of the Lakanal House inquest in response to her recommendations in 2013.

He said he had "considered carefully" the recommendations and wrote: "I am grateful for your recommendations and can assure you of my commitment to ensuring that the safety of residents in high rise buildings continues to be a priority."