Boris Johnson has batted away concerns about building safety, after being quizzed on it at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

Questioned by Paul Blomfield around whether he would meet his constituent regarding the cladding scandal, the Prime Minister said: “I have every sympathy, but what I think is unfair is that people such as her are placed in a position of unnecessary anxiety about their homes when they should be reassured.

“I sympathise deeply with people who have to pay for waking watches and other such things. I think it is absurd.

“But what people should be doing is making sure that we do not unnecessarily undermine the confidence of the market and of people in these homes, because they are not unsafe. Many millions of homes are not unsafe.”

It drew angry reactions from leaseholders and campaigners online, and even Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, Lucy Powell, took to Twitter afterwards to express her outrage.

She said: “It is not a case of letting the market get on with it as his reply suggested. Yes, the approach to risk has got all out of proportion. Mainly because of new government advice notes! But leaseholder paying price.”