Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Stourbridge today to see the devastation caused by a major fire that destroyed 19 homes and forced mass evacuations. He told BirminghamLive he felt compelled to change his plans after seeing 'alarming' footage of the blaze, which he described as 'unprecedented' in Britain.
"I don't think we have ever seen that in Britain before, on that scale," Burnham said during his visit to the scene near Stourbridge Golf Course. Around ten people were injured in the fire, which spread quickly to nearby homes and is one of several large fires that have hit communities across the West Midlands during the intense heatwave.
Emergency Meeting and Funding Pledge
Burnham chaired an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee and promised immediate action. He pledged emergency funds for West Midlands Fire Service to help battle the unprecedented wave of blazes linked to extreme heat. Speaking close to the affected area off Norton Road, he told BirminghamLive's Jane Haynes he had met with families who had lost everything.
"Obviously I wanted to thank the firefighters, police and ambulance services of the West Midlands but we are also committed to emergency funding for them," he said. He revealed that military support had been offered but deemed not necessary at this stage. He praised Dudley Council, saying: "They need a shout out because they have stood up an amazing operation in the middle of Stourbridge."
Community Support and Insurance Assurance
Burnham, accompanied by West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, met with families directly affected and later spoke to residents at a cordon near the scene. He said he decided to be in the region after seeing the horrific impact. "When you see the images of it, and people have mentioned California, but it had the look of that - when you see the fire as it was ripping through, that's why I wanted to come down."
He said he was coming 'not just with empty words' and praised the local community's response: "What I want to say as well is that all of the donations pouring in show people are good, aren't they? If you live online, you can think 'what's happened to the world, why is everyone so awful to each other', but they are not in the real world, people are great." He added: "I know your part of the world and it has a great heart, and you are here for each other."
Burnham, who took over as Prime Minister from Keir Starmer last month, said he had asked his Treasury minister to ring the insurance industry and ensure there were no delays in settling claims. "There can't be any messing about here, when you are in the position some of the families I have met are in...there can't be any obstacles. And to be fair they have come back and said there won't be."
Climate Change and Future Preparedness
The incidents in the West Midlands were a stark reminder that more must be done to prepare the country for climate-related emergencies and to move globally towards clean energy. Responding to a question about what his government would do to tackle the wider issues triggered by climate change, Burnham said: "Are we set up as a country enough for these challenges? To be blunt, is the fire and rescue service here and across the country set up adequately? I can't answer that question positively yet."
He noted that other countries have put in place steps that the UK has not yet done, such as planes and aerial support. "If you have a changing climate you have to build a different resilience." He had earlier said: "There are thousands of firefighters out there today doing back-breaking work, in full kit, in the most difficult conditions. I think it's incumbent on me to come away from this and give them all the extra resource they need to make this more bearable."
He added: "But then more broadly I have never resiled from saying we need to move to a clean energy future, we need to bring that forward as quickly as we can," including more electric buses and other transport measures. "The climate is changing and nobody can deny that - well, some people may try but I'm not going to be one of them."
