The Grenfell Fire

Here is a nice summary of events leading up to the tragedy, which I’ve taken from a post a friend of mine made somewhere else:

2009 - Lakanal House tower block catches fire killing 6 people. The local authority is prosecuted for lapses in fire safety. A review is promised by the Labour government after pressure from the Fire Protection Association (FPA).

2010 - Building Regulations Act is published, including provisions for fire safety. Conservatives win election, a review is promised by the new government after more pressure from the FPA and warnings that the BR act does not go far enough.

2013 - Boris Johnson overrules the ruling body of the London Fire Brigade and uses legal action to inflict £29m in cuts. Closing 10 fire stations, cutting firefighters by 552, losing 14 fire engines and cutting minimum staffing levels from 5 to 4. By the time he steps down as Mayor of London he inflicts a further £100m in cuts to £130m total and the loss of 7000 firefighters. Fire prevention measures carried out by the service drop by over 25%. When challenged by a committee on fire safety on how cutting the fire service would not increase deaths, Boris replies “get stuffed”.

2013 - All Party Parliamentary Group on Fire Safety and Rescue produces a report strongly recommending installation of fire suppression systems and sprinklers in 4000 tower blocks throughout Britain. The Grenfell residents action group publishes a report warning that their landlord is putting their safety at risk by restricting the access ways to their car park. They are ignored by their landlord.

2013 - 2016 Conservative housing ministers sit on All Party report without action, promising they are “looking at it”, including housing minister Gavin Barwell.

2016 - Conservatives vote against a Labour motion to make sure all landlords and housing associations ensure residences are fit for human occupation, including provisions for fire safety. The motion is denied by 312 votes to 219. 72 of the MP’s voting against are landlords. The Grenfell residents action group publish a report warning people will die in a fire before the landlord takes notice of their poor fire safety provisions. They are ignored by their landlord.

2017 - Ex housing minister Gavin Barwell becomes Prime Minister Theresa May’s chief of staff. He never actions the All Party Parliamentary report recommendations. Grenfell Tower is reduced to rubble with the deaths of at least 70 residents as a fire spreads through the building in 4 minutes. It has no fire suppression system or sprinklers. The stairwell is not adequate for a full building evacuation. The emergency lighting is missing from half of the floors. The fire service struggle to reach the building due to previous car park modifications causing access issues as warned by the resident action group in 2013.

Agenda

It is quite shameful that vacant properties are unused when only yesterday victims were sleeping on the grass outside the burnt out shell of the building.

I also read of one victim who was housed in a hotel but against his will the council forced him to move temporarily into an old people’s home.

That [quote=“Dr_Strangepass, post:3, topic:1566”]
It is quite shameful that vacant properties are unused
[/quote]

The type I used to squat in :slight_smile:

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If this whole tragedy hasn’t highlighted the widening gap in social inequality I don’t know what will.

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This image just made me think of Mark in Peep Show

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From the other side of the general view on here…

Weak as fuck right wing deflection tactics that will be shared uncritically

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Just had a look at June Slater’s FB page, and she strikes me as a total nutter lol, but lets take her up on her points.

Grenfell Tower was built in the 60’s in order to provide social housing. Not sure what point she is making there, lots of tower blocks were built in the 60’s - not particularly relevant.

Sadiq Khan was housing minister in 2008. Well when I looked into the Grenfell Action Group, who have been campaigning for the implementation of safety measures, I can see that they didn’t even exist until 2010. Were Grenfell residents requesting change in 2008? Also I’m pretty sure Sadiq Khan was never a housing minister lol. I also can’t find any evidence of Sadiq’s report regarding fire services, but even if he did say they don’t need further funding, that’s totally different than actively cutting funds, closing stations and sacking firefighters, which is what the Tories have done.

As for Emma Coad being on the tenant management board (indeed she was on the scrutiny committee too) I’m not sure it necessarily says anything. I personally know some brilliant councillors on scrutiny committees and on boards that get outvoted all the time. She may well have opposed all of this, which strikes me as most likely considering her excellent victory in the election.

As for Ed Milliband choosing the cladding, I have no idea. In what capacity did he make that choice? This June Slater provides no links, no proof, nothing to back it up.

Basically she’s talking bollocks.

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Agenda lol

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@Dr_Strangepass your post above is exactly I didn’t bother deconstructing the post, I knew you’d be here soon enough to make a couple of the points I wanted to (but better) plus others I wouldn’t have been able to make. Good work.

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In fairness, under Blair’s Labour, it wouldn’t surprise me if they would have behaved in the same way.

It’s going to take a long time to wash out the stink of Tony Blair.

Exactly so. Here in Haringey our Blairite Labour council have just voted in favour of a massive selling off of land to regenerate (kick out the poor) with a property developer of a very unscrupulous nature, and they voted in favour of it just days after Grenfell. Our excellent left wing councillors have fought it tooth and nail.

The thing that gets me is the Tory boys have less of a problem with this type of situation than the meer suggestion that the homes left empty by billionaires could be temporarily sequestered to house the people made homeless by this disaster,

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OK so I’ve just read through all blogposts pertaining to Grenfell Tower fire concerns on Grenfell Action Groups webpage and I haven’t come across any criticism of Emma Coad. The only councillor mentioned who comes out of this sorry mess with any credit is a councillor Blakeman who is the leader of the OPPOSITION Labour group, and Emma Coad is her deputy, so it’s reasonable to assume that she was essentially powerless in terms making the changes the Action Group were calling for, hence being in the opposition.

Edit. It’s a Tory Council, obviously, not Blairite as stated a moment ago.

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Btw im not taking sides as they are all culpable in one way or another… #TheTruthIsOutThere

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/878258235857403904
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/878327518029201408
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/878336074686312449

Will they all be allowed back or is mass gentrification happening - can’t trust the Govt ??

Why evacuate one in camden? They covered all the blocks on adelaide road in the same shit at the same time didn’t they?

edit: just looked it up and it’s all of them

edit: just noticed the last tweet :grin:

They’ve handled this whole situation really poorly from the beginning. From the initial May response of not going to meet the victims straightaway to the absolute circus of this evacuation. So many of the residents said they found out that they were being kicked from their homes on Sky bloody news!

If they needed to be evacuated then they should’ve alerted each residence accordingly. A phone call or employing a few people to stick a notice through each letterbox.


This has been doing the rounds on social media since the disaster. It’s based on a real life fire at a tower block in Newham in the 60s.

Can you imagine the response if Theresa May went on telly and gave such a speech? Fucking lol.

(It’s from the original British House of Cards from the early nineties)