The housing minister has lost her building safety portfolio after Grenfell survivors complained about her attendance at a conference sponsored by a firm criticized by an inquiry investigating the catastrophic fire. Rushanara Ali stated that "perception matters" and that "trusting relationships" between the government and the Grenfell community are "essential". According to The Sunday Times, it occurred after Grenfell United, a group representing survivors and bereaved families, purportedly sought her dismissal. According to the publication, she was a regular attendee of the Franco-British Colloque, an annual policy meeting co-chaired by former Saint-Gobain chairman Pierre-Andre de Chalendar from 2012 to 2024.The French manufacturing firm was until recently the majority owner of Celotex, the company which made most of the flammable insulation used behind the panels on the building.Celotex was one of the companies the Grenfell Inquiry report said cynically, deliberately, and dishonestly sold what they knew to be flammable construction materials as "fire-safe.". The fire, which broke out on 14 June 2017 in the 24-story tower block in Kensington, west London, killed 72 people.

Ms. Ali said in a statement: "Trusted relationships between ministers and the Grenfell community are essential for this department." Before I became a minister, I called for the French delegation of the Franco-British Colloque to cut ties with Saint Gobain. "But I understand that perception matters, and I have therefore concluded that the building safety portfolio would be best transferred to another minister. "Our goals of making buildings safe and preventing another tragedy continue to be very important issues for me, and the deputy prime minister and the rest of the ministerial team have my full support in delivering on this work." She will remain a minister in the housing department, keeping her responsibilities for homelessness and rough sleeping.

Rushanara Ali is the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney and has been an MP continually since 6 May 2010. She is the first MP from the British Bangladeshi community. 

Rushnara Ali has been a Labor Party-nominated MP for Bethnal Green and Bow seats since 2010. She was born in Bhurki village of Bishwanath Upazila of Sylhet.