The killers of Alexander Litvinenko (who lived in my constituency) have not been brought to justice – and pursuit of that end continues. Meanwhile – back at the homestead – the house in which he lived remains empty with the protective plastic sheeting around the entrance and the neighbours wondering what is happening. Are they in any danger? When will the house be put right? This hit the press locally again last week as neighbours of the polluted house are concerned – and rightly so.

Well – as far as I can gather the situation is thus. The keys were literally handed over to Environmental Health at Haringey Council back on January 3rd. I contacted them to ask what would happen and was informed that they would be meeting with the house owner (not Mr Litvinenko but a company) on February 19th. And then – nothing happened.

Going back to the case and pursuing further ‘enquiries’, my understanding is that the sticking point is the cost of the clean up. Technically I am told that it is the householder’s responsibility – but this is hardly a normal case and special agencies will have to be brought in. I am pursuing this currently with Mrs Litvinenko’s solicitor who is very helpful.

However, Haringey Council have done pretty much nothing whilst the Government have washed their hands off of it – and won’t entertain any funding towards cleaning. And in the circumstances – normal rules shouldn’t apply as having a case of radiation poisoning isn’t exactly a normal circumstance.