Category Archives: Grenfell Tower fire

Grenfell residents gather for last anniversary before tower is taken down

Posted on by

People came to ‘say goodbye to their homes’ before the two-year process of dismantling the building begins

Grenfell residents gathered in London to “say goodbye to their homes” on what is likely to be the last anniversary of the tragedy before the tower is dismantled.

The 72 people who died in the tower block fire in west London in June 2017 were commemorated with a silent walk through the streets of north Kensington on Saturday evening – just months before the two-year process of dismantling what remains of the building is expected to begin.

Continue reading...

Grenfell fire fridge maker accused of safety test failings in council lawsuit

Posted on by

Kensington and Chelsea sues Hotpoint maker Beko Europe as part of wider action against firms it blames over blaze

The company that made the fridge-freezer blamed for starting the Grenfell Tower fire has been accused in a lawsuit lodged by the local council of failing to run adequate safety tests on that model of appliance.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has brought a lawsuit against the Hotpoint maker, Beko Europe, previously Whirlpool, as part of wider legal action against companies it believes were culpable for the fire eight years ago that killed more than 70 people.

Continue reading...

Grenfell Tower: seven organisations face debarment from government contracts

Posted on by

Possible action comes as ministers announce plans to improve building safety and strengthen accountability

Seven organisations involved in the Grenfell Tower disaster face possible debarment from government contracts as ministers set out plans to improve building safety and strengthen accountability.

The government has accepted the findings of the final Grenfell Tower inquiry report and pledged to take action on all the recommendations.

Consulting on a new college of fire and rescue later in 2025 to improve training and professionalism of firefighters.

Stopping unqualified individuals from making critical fire safety decisions, by legally requiring fire risk assessors to have their competence certified.

Continuing implementation of a new residential personal emergency evacuation plan policy to improve the fire safety and evacuation of disabled and vulnerable residents in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings, engaging with relevant stakeholders on the implementation.

Continue reading...

Grenfell Tower demolition would risk fire being forgotten, some survivors say

Posted on by

Grenfell United says voices of bereaved have been ignored and they fear disaster could be ‘put out of mind’

The demolition of Grenfell Tower could mean that the injustice of the fatal fire is “put out of sight and out of mind” and forgotten, some survivors have said.

The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, told a meeting on Wednesday that the 24-storey block in which 72 people were killed in June 2017 would be dismantled to ground level. The decision has prompted anger and claims that the government has failed to listen to the views of the bereaved and survivors.

Continue reading...

Grenfell Tower, where 72 people died, ‘to be demolished’, families are told

Posted on by

Angela Rayner meets bereaved to tell them west London block will ‘be carefully deconstructed’

Bereaved families of the Grenfell fire are understood to have been told the tower block will be demolished.

The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who is also housing secretary, met with relatives and survivors on Wednesday evening.

Continue reading...

Government must look at effects of toxic smoke on Grenfell firefighters, minister says

Posted on by

Union calls for regular health checks for 600 Grenfell firefighters after many developed long-term conditions

The government “needs to seriously look” at the effects of toxic smoke inhalation on firefighters who served at the Grenfell Tower fire, a minister has said.

The comments from Andrew Gwynne, the health minister, came after the Guardian disclosed that more than a quarter of firefighters who battled against the fire eight years ago have long-term health disorders.

Continue reading...

Grenfell firefighters exposed to toxic smoke developed health disorders, study finds

Posted on by

Exclusive: Data from 524 firefighters who risked their lives showed 136 reported life-changing conditions

More than a quarter of firefighters exposed to toxic smoke during the Grenfell Tower fire have had long-term health disorders, a study shows.

Ministers are facing demands for an urgent review after data from 524 firefighters who risked their lives at the 2017 disaster showed that over the first three years, 136 reported life-changing conditions. These included 11 cases of cancer, 64 respiratory diseases, 22 neurological disorders and 66 digestive illnesses.

Continue reading...

Too many buildings remain unsafe after Grenfell disaster, housing minister warns

Posted on by

Wajid Khan tells House of Lords remediation work is yet to start on half of properties with unsafe cladding

Far too many high and medium-rise buildings are still unsafe after the Grenfell disaster, with dangerous cladding remaining on at least 2,400 blocks, a housing minister has warned.

Wajid Khan, a Labour peer and housing minister, said on Friday that remediation work had not started at approximately 50% of properties being monitored for their unsafe cladding.

Continue reading...

Councillor who oversaw Grenfell works donated to Badenoch’s Tory leadership bid

Posted on by

Survivor of blaze which killed 72 ‘disgusted’ Quentin Marshall gave £5,000 to candidate promoting deregulation

One of Kemi Badenoch’s Tory leadership campaign funders is a councillor who had oversight of Grenfell Tower and dismissed some residents’ complaints about the pre-fire refurbishment as “grossly exaggerated”.

One survivor of the blaze that killed 72 people said he was “disgusted” that Quentin Marshall, a senior politician at the Conservative-controlled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) which owned the block, has given £5,000 to the current shadow housing secretary to help her become the leader of the opposition.

Continue reading...

Grenfell survivors urge golfer Leona Maguire to axe Kingspan sponsorship

Posted on by

Irish building materials firm was identified by Grenfell inquiry as behaving with ‘persistent dishonesty’

A second professional golfer, Leona Maguire, is under pressure to end her sponsorship deal with the Irish company Kingspan after the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster found it behaved with “persistent dishonesty” in selling combustible foam insulation.

Grenfell United (GU), the bereaved and survivors group, is calling on the 29-year-old to drop the firm and stop wearing its logo on her golf shirts after the Ryder Cup player Shane Lowry announced he was doing so earlier this week.

Continue reading...

Tony Blair told to ‘take responsibility’ after Grenfell criticism

Posted on by

Campaigners call for apology after inquiry report makes several criticisms of decisions made during Blair’s tenure

Grenfell campaigners have called on Tony Blair to apologise and take responsibility for decisions made by his government that contributed to the fire that killed 72 people.

The former prime minister said on Thursday that tragedies such as the west London fire, which came after years of missed opportunities to regulate combustible cladding, were a result of unavoidable mistakes.

Continue reading...

Do public inquiries work? What comes after Grenfell and other UK disasters

Posted on by

People involved in some of the UK’s highest-profile recent inquiries discuss what they achieved and what was left undone

After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: “We did not ask for this inquiry … It’s delayed the justice my family deserves.”

Although he thanked the inquiry for its findings, Choucair was devastated that the police had put the criminal investigation on the back burner until it had concluded. A decision on prosecutions is now not expected to happen until the end of 2026 at the earliest.

Continue reading...

Justice for Grenfell deaths may not come this decade, warns former chief prosecutor

Posted on by

Lord Macdonald warns of likely delays in criminal justice system as survivors denounce ‘arrogant’ building firms

Justice for those responsible for the 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire may not come until the end of this decade, a former chief prosecutor has warned, as survivors voiced growing fury over building firms’ “arrogant” refusal to admit wrongdoing.

The public inquiry findings of “systematic dishonesty” by multimillion-dollar building companies involved in the tower’s disastrous refurbishment prompted a clamour for accelerated criminal charges this week, seven years on from the blaze.

Continue reading...

The final Grenfell inquiry report and what it means for families – Politics Weekly UK

Posted on by

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London was the result of ‘decades of failure’ by central government, the public inquiry into the catastrophe has found. The Guardian’s John Harris looks at the findings of the report with the social affairs leader writer Susanna Rustin. And, as Labour continues to warn ‘things will get worse before they get better’, we are joined by the economists James Meadway and Ann Pettifor to discuss whether a painful period of austerity-lite is the only way through the storm

Continue reading...

‘Everyone failed them’: what the papers say on report into deadly Grenfell Tower fire

Posted on by

British papers hone in on push for criminal charges after inquiry blames 2017 disaster on government failures and dishonesty of companies

UK papers on Thursday focused on the seven-year public inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which concluded that the deaths of 72 people were avoidable and blamed “decades of failure” by central government to stop the spread of combustible cladding combined with the “systematic dishonesty” of the multimillion-dollar companies producing it.

The Guardian headlined its story “Grenfell: a disaster caused by ‘dishonesty and greed’”. It reported that police are now “under pressure to accelerate the criminal investigation” into the blaze, although it could be another 12 to 18 months before police can send files to prosecutors to consider charges.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer offers apology ‘on behalf of British state’ to victims of Grenfell Tower fire – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister says country failed its most fundamental duty to protect those affected by fire as he apologises to families affected. This live blog is closed

Sir Martin Moore-Bick will be giving a statement as the final inquiry report is published at 11am. You can watch the inquiry’s chair give the address here …

We will bring you the key lines that emerge.

Continue reading...

Seven years after Grenfell disaster, thousands live in fear of cladding fire

Posted on by

As the final report on the fatal London blaze looms, many developers have not begun safety work

• Rowan Moore: The Grenfell inquiry is exposing a culture of contempt that has run deep in Britain

Grenfell was an avoidable tragedy, the inquiry’s counsel said on the final day of hearings. Yet with the report into the blaze that claimed 72 lives due this week, residents of other tower blocks fear that not enough has been done to prevent another catastrophe.

One of them is Gemma Lindfield. The 45-year-old barrister is still waiting for flammable cladding to be removed from her eight-storey apartment block in east London. It took three years before anyone even realised there was a problem. The following four years have been mired in indecision and wrangling about exactly who will pay to fix it.

Continue reading...

Removal of unsafe cladding from buildings ‘too slow’, says Angela Rayner

Posted on by

Deputy PM visited Dagenham, east London, after fire tore through block of flats undergoing remedial works

Angela Rayner has called efforts to remove unsafe cladding from thousands of at-risk buildings “too slow” and said it was her job to ensure remaining works finished as quickly as possible.

The deputy prime minister made the comments during a visit to Dagenham, east London, on Tuesday afternoon, the day after a dramatic fire tore through a block of flats that was undergoing remedial works to remove “non-compliant” cladding.

Continue reading...

‘Really upsetting’: Grenfell Tower edited out of TV advert

Posted on by

Exclusive: Man whose uncle died in 2017 disaster describes ad for pain relief gel Voltarol as ‘insulting’

Grenfell Tower has been edited out of a TV advert in a move described as “insulting” by a family bereaved by the June 2017 disaster.

Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman was among 72 people who died as a result of the fire, noticed the edit while watching the Channel 4 streaming service on Monday when an advert for the pain relief gel Voltarol showed people playing football on the Westway football pitches close to the council block.

Continue reading...

Final death toll from Spanish tower block blaze is nine, say police

Posted on by

Authorities lower count of victims in Valencia fire, with one more person considered missing

Spanish police have said the final death toll from a devastating fire that tore through a 14-storey block of flats in the eastern city of Valencia is nine, with one person thought to have died now considered missing and all others accounted for.

El País cited national police as saying that after forensic analysis of the bodies found in the charred building, they had lowered the number of victims from the 10 previously reported by the Spanish government’s representative in the region.

Continue reading...