Summary
That concludes our coverage of day three of the inquiry. Here is a summary of the day’s main Grenfell-related developments:
- Theresa May has said the government is “minded” to ban flammable cladding on high-rise buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. It comes after controversy over the government commissioned review’s decision not to recommend a ban.
- The manufacturer of the combustible insulation on Grenfell Tower has announced it is urgently investigating whether samples used for safety tests had added fire retardant in them. BBC’s Panorama alleged that Celotex used a different formula of the product, with more fire retardant in it that that which was used on Grenfell, when they ran tests on it to generate a safety certificate.
- Survivors, mourners and their supporters have expressed their disquiet at plans to transplant the inquiry from the conference centre in south Kensington to offices in Holborn once tributes to the victims are completed. Professor Chris Imafidon said the needs of the survivors should come first rather than convenience for lawyers.
- In a video tribute to Rania Ibrahim, 31, and her children Fethia, 5, and Hania, 3, the inquiry heard she would be remembered for her “smile and selflessness”. The video ended with highly emotional footage of Fethia saying: “I want to hug and kiss you.”
- Tony Disson, 65, was described by his family as someone who would do anything for his sons, coaching them at different sports. One son Charlie, said: “He weren’t [sic] one of the richest people in the world but he was rich with love.”
-
Zainab Deen, 32, was remembered by her family as “beautiful, smart, warm, caring”. She died with her two-year-old son Jeremiah, who was described as “loving, full of life”.
- Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, was described as a family man and his widow said he was the “love of my life”. He loved animals and his widow and daughter fondly remembered when he persisted in catching a pigeon so he could free it from string tangled around its legs.
- Gary Maunders, 57, one of the few victims who did not live in the tower was described as an “old fashioned soul” by his nieces. The mother of two of his children, said Maunders, who was visiting a friend when the blaze broke out, “was always the life and soul of everything we did and everywhere we went”.
- Marjorie Vital, 68, was a seamstress and good cook, who was very proud of her flat in Grenfell, the inquiry heard. Her sister Paula Bellot said: “Mama and Papa used to tease her, calling it ‘Marjorie’s Tower’”.
- Marjorie’s son Ernie, 50, was described by his brother as a “very good dancer”, growing up at a tough time for people of Caribbean origin. He told the inquiry Ernie’s body was fused with that of their mother in the fire, symbolising to him “he level of closeness they had”.
We knew little of Ernie and Marjorie Vital’s life before today: when we tried to contact the family via a friend, we were told they were keen to keep details under wraps until the inquiry.
So it was touching to hear of Marjorie’s early life in Dominica, her sewing talents, the way she helped raise some of her siblings after her parents had left for London in the 1950s. Indeed, there were certain parallels with the big Ibrahim family of whom we heard so much earlier in the day.
So many of these commemorations have revolved around family members giving up their own ambitions for the sake of their children, and this sounds very much like Marjorie’s life.
When it comes to Ernie, we knew even less. His brother filled in a few of the blanks - “we constantly watched TV because we didn’t really go out” - but even after the testimony his life remains something of a mystery, particularly given the oblique references to the suffering he endured.
Now it is on to a video, containing the potentially triggering content, from Marjorie Vital’s surviving son, who is not at the inquiry and whose name is not given.
In the video’s narration, he says:
Every day I was on top of the world ...We had moments of sadness but we had moments of happiness ...It was a safe haven, Caribbean people had a very difficult time.
The video includes some of his drawings.
Footage of Earth, Wind and Fire is played, which he says reminds him of his brother Ernie, who was a “very good dancer”.
Now comes the content, which people were warned about, as he ruminates on his mother and brother’s attempt to escape. We are told they went to the top floor, found an empty flat, went into the bathroom and filled a bath.
We now have the evidence that their bodies were fused together in the intensity of the fire ...It symbolised to me the level of closeness they had.
He likens it to his brother still being connected to his mother through an umbilical cord.
The video concludes with him relaying how he took the ashes of his mother and brother to scatter in Domenica.
I’ve never seen the water this blue ...As I start to release the ashes ...I was breathing in the ashes, it was a magical moment. In a weird kind of way I became closer to them.
Moore-Bick’s head is bowed at the conclusion of the video and applause breaks out.
That concludes the inquiry for today.
Firstly Paula Bellot, Marjorie’s sister speaks.
She says Marjorie was a good cook and seamstress, who sewed her school uniform for her. She says Marjorie had home economic lessons and would return home and cook what she had learnt including an omelette.
She loved living in the tower and was very proud of her home which was always clean and tidy ..Mama and Papa used to tease her, calling it ‘Marjorie’s Tower’
Bellot says that she lost touch with Marjorie despite efforts to contact her. She believed her sister might be ill, on one occasion she went to the flat but Marjorie did not answer the door.
I am so saddened by Marjorie’s death and I miss her. I always thought we would have time again to become close in the future and to spend more time together.
Updated
The final commemorations are for Marjorie Vital, 68, and her son Ernie, 50, who were in flat 162 on the 16th floor. The second part will involve images of Grenfell Tower which have been deemed to be of a potentially “triggering” nature and so people who wish to will be given the opportunity to leave beforehand
Another commemoration, another sorely missed family man: when I spoke to his nieces in December, they described Gary Maunders as a witty, sociable practical joker, always the life and soul of the party.
It is clear he played a big part in their upbringing, a father figure certainly, as they were raised in their grandmother’s house, which Gary didn’t leave until he was in his early 40s.
The family are particularly reticent to speak about why he was in the tower that night; it is believed he was in a relationship with the person he was with, who also died in the tragedy.
The video continues with Gary Maunders’ daughters remembering him making roast potatoes at Christmas dinner and taking his children on holiday every year, including a holiday in Spain, which Chanel and Kenita went to.
The pain of losing him is indescribable ....Our uncle had a lot to offer as he had values, not financial but of character.
He was proud of being able to do press-ups on one hand when in his 50s.
Speaking of his death:
It’s haunting, it’s tormenting, we miss him terribly every day. We hope he is at peace in heaven ...being happy and resting well. There’s never a day that passes that we do not think of our uncle ...the love will never die. Our uncle was a legend, he touched so many people by his good nature.
One of the still images on the video reads:
It’s hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember. Rest in peace uncle.
That was a beautiful video, which is enthusiastically applauded.
The second part of the commemoration to Gary Maunders is by Chanel and Kenita Spence, his nieces. It is a video with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? playing in the background.
Chanel says:
He was not just our uncle, the bond we had was more of an older brother or father figure ...He taught us life lessons.
She refers to his love of football and how he was himself a talented football in his youth.
Kenita describes him as “a very wise man, comical and witty”. She describes him as an “old fashioned soul”. She says Maunders loved Marvin Gaye and also Sade.
He was a religious man with “a heart of gold”. He wanted to visit children in poor countries to help them.
Updated
The inquiry resumes after the lunch break with a tribute to Gary Maunders, 57, who was in flat 161 on the 23rd floor. He was one of the few victims who did not live in the tower but was visiting a friend.
The tribute is being read by Michael Mansfield QC on behalf of Ana Pumar, mother of two of his children, Aaron, 15, and Saskia, 10.
Pumar says he was part of her life for 27 years although they were separated for the last nine.
The early years were spent together were filled with love, affection and laughter ...Gary was always the life and soul of everything we did and everywhere we went.
She says his mother was heartbroken by his death and his children devastated.
Sadly for us, future milestones will be reached without having their father present and future memories will not involve their father which is heartbreaking for us. We all hope Gary is at peace but he will live on in our hearts and minds and will never be forgotten.
Applause follows.
Updated
Criticism of plans to move inquiry
Survivors, mourners and their supporters at the Grenfell inquiry have expressed their disquiet at plans to transplant proceedings from the conference centre in south Kensington to offices in Holborn once tributes to the victims are completed.
Attendees at the hearing on Wednesday said that the first phase of the inquiry, in which tributes to all the victims are being given, were troubling for survivors and mourners, who had to repeat the trauma of the fire last June.
It was judged a necessary step to impress on members of the inquiry panel and its chair, Martin Moore-Bick, the human disaster of Grenfell “but we have already lived through it,” said one.
After the first phase of the inquiry, at the Millennium Gloucester hotel, is complete, the proceedings will move to offices in Holborn, which is judged to be a more convenient location for the lawyers and experts who are to dominate the second half.
As the inquiry paused for a lunch break, attendees huddled in groups around the hotel conference centre discussing the proceedings and what was to come next. Professor Chris Imafidon, who said he had tutored children who lost parents in the fire, said:
They say they are doing us a favour by coming here. We have to make the survivors who came out of that hellhole the core consideration in everything we do. If we don’t we are less than humans. I know these people - I have written references for them.
They say this is just for this period because it’s better in Holborn for all the lawyers and all the judges that are there; they said they can’t find a convenient place here. Everything that’s perceived to be the needs of the survivors, the first thing they say no. That insensitivity, that arrogance! That they know everything and we know nothing because we’re poor.
Yvette Williams, who was also among those visiting on Wednesday, said she was concerned about who would be chosen as “additional panel members” to the inquiry board, additions that the community had fought for. In a recent blog on the Justice4Grenfell website, she wrote:
It has not been made clear if the two additional members will have equal decision-making powers to Judge Moore-Bick; how they will be selected; if there will be any community consultation or if they will be forced upon us, based on the civil servant’s perception of what they ‘think’ we want.
Let me be clear here, we need panel members who understand our lived experience and can challenge key factors that adversely impact communities like North Kensington. This means panel members will have to probe and challenge the Judge in a wider context and not accept government legislation and public policy as ‘normal’, as part of the accepted status quo.
For the record it does not solely mean that both panel members have to ‘look like us’. Yes, it would give more community confidence in the Inquiry, but it is not intrinsic to having the expertise we need. To put this in plain English - it is vital that the PM and inquiry team does not select panel members who look like us but ‘act’ like them.
Updated
The government is “minded” to ban flammable cladding on high-rise buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, Theresa May has said.
The prime minister told MPs she intended to go further than the government-commissioned review authored by Dame Judith Hackitt, which did not recommend a ban.
Summary
Here is a summary of developments so far on day three of the inquiry:
-
The manufacturer of the combustible insulation on Grenfell Tower has announced it is urgently investigating whether samples used for safety tests had added fire retardant in them. BBC’s Panorama alleged that Celotex used a different formula of the product, with more fire retardant in it that that which was used on Grenfell, when they ran tests on it to generate a safety certificate.
- Inquiry staff have handed out a “trigger sheet” warning about some content within video tributes for Grenfell tower victims due to be played today. It comes after some 20 survivors walked out yesterday and one woman collapsed in distress after viewing footage of the tower on fire.
- In a video tribute to Rania Ibrahim, 31, and her children Fethia, 5, and Hania, 3, the inquiry heard she would be remembered for her “smile and selflessness”. The video ended with highly emotional footage of Fethia saying: “I want to hug and kiss you.”
- Tony Disson, 65, was described by his family as someone who would do anything for his sons, coaching them at different sports. One son Charlie, said: “He weren’t [sic] one of the richest people in the world but he was rich with love.”
-
Zainab Deen, 32, was remembered by her family as “beautiful, smart, warm, caring”. She died with her two-year-old son Jeremiah, who was described as “loving, full of life”.
- Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, was described as a family man and his widow said he was the “love of my life”. He loved animals and his widow and daughter fondly remembered when he persisted in catching a pigeon so he could free it from string tangled around its legs.
One thing that is striking about the Grenfell victims is how many had come to Britain either seeking opportunity or safety: more than half of the adult victims fall into this category.
With Zainab Deen, we are not sure: her childhood was spent in war-torn Freetown in Sierra Leone, but we don’t know why her father brought her to the UK in the early 2000s: the worst excesses of the conflict were over by that point. And yet as her father Zainu Deen said, she always wanted to travel.
Ali Yawar Jafari meanwhile was one of two men who escaped Afghanistan in the 1990s only to die in Grenfell tower two decades later. We heard from the family of Mohamed ‘Saber’ Neda on Monday, and again here again we get the impression of a family patriarch, much loved, much missed, setting the tone and values for his children to live by.
We know he was originally a jeweller in Afghanistan, but struggled to learn English after moving here in 1999 at the age of 61. Instead, when he wasn’t helping out at his friend’s Afghan shop in Portobello market, he took to life as a grandfather, happy to get up early in the morning to play cars with his grandson.
Ali Yawar Jafari’s daughter Maria says in the video says that her father was knocking on neighbours’ doors trying to rouse them on the night of the fire.
His son Hamid says:
He was most happy when he used to see his whole family coming together... The happiest moment he had was when my son was born ...I can still smell my dad on my son.
There is applause after the conclusion of the film and then Hamid says some more words. As with so many of the tributes we have already heard, it is heartbreaking.
Hamid says he never previously dreamt of going to heaven before but now he prays every day that he can join his father there.
I request my friends to pray that I die soon to join my father.
Addressing his late father, he says:
I am really sorry that I can’t bring any smile back to my mother’s face or my two sisters’.
The inquiry chair, Martin Moore-Bick, tells Hamid that his father would have been proud of him.
He adjourns proceedings for lunch until 2pm.
Now are tributes to Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, who lived in flat 86. A video is introduced by his daughter Maria, who says: “We miss our father very much.” She says they cannot show any photographs because they were all destroyed in the fire.
In the video, his widow tells how they came from Afghanistan, describing him as “The love of my life.”
She says her husband loved animals and travelling, they went to Iran and Germany.
She tells a lovely story about how he insisted on catching a pigeon so he could untie string that its legs had become tangled in. He explained to his wife that the pigeon was a “prisoner” and he wanted to set it free.
Updated
Now is the tribute to Zainab’s two-year-old son Jeremiah Deen:
He was loved by all and was very overprotected by his mother who loved him very much...He was loving, full of life, liked playing football ...exploring and adventuring.
Most of all we are happy that you are with your mother Zainab who loved ...and adored you ...She will keep you safe now as she protected you in life ...Even death can’t separate you both. Our hearts break, we love and miss you Jeremiah. Sleep grandson, take your rest, love grandson.
Mansfield reads:
We never thought we would be thinking of Zainab Deen as a memory like we are today...
Zainab had it all. She was beautiful, smart, warm, caring and a confident and outgoing young woman. She had a lively personality and her great sense of humour was enjoyed by all who came across her ...Her untimely death has left us heartbroken.
We are so proud to be able to call you our daughter. We are grateful for the brief time we were able to spend with you and believe that the angels are rejoicing because one of their loved ones has rejoined them.
The inquiry has resumed after a break and there will now commence tributes to Zainab Deen, 32 originally from Sierra Leone, and her two-year-old son Jeremiah, who were in flat 115.
The tribute is from Zainab’s father and Jeremiah’s grandfather Zainu Deen but is being read on his behalf by Michael Mansfield QC.
Zainu Deen is on the stage along with other members of the family
Meanwhile, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, has thanked the police for their handling of the Grenfell fire. In his keynote speech to the Police Federation conference in Birmingham, Javid said:
From physically taking on violent criminals, to breaking bad news to bereaved families.
You are there. From handling tragedies like Grenfell, to providing security and peace of mind at celebrations like the Royal Wedding. You are there.
“From physically taking on violent criminals, to breaking bad news to bereaved families.
— Police Federation (@PFEW_HQ) May 23, 2018
You are there.
From handling tragedies like Grenfell, to providing security and peace of mind at celebrations like the Royal Wedding.
You are there”, @sajidjavid tells #polfed18 delegates
Tony Disson’s eulogy from his son Lee reads like a chapter from a bygone era: father and son outings to the football, camping trips, holidays at the chalet on the Isle of Sheppey.
His children from his second marriage reinforce the impression: this was a man who lived for his boys, loved watching them box, took great pride in their achievements, an old-style family man.
This is something we have heard repeatedly about the fathers of Grenfell tower. Hard working manual workers most of them, who did what they did to get their children everything they needed. As Tony’s son Charlie said, he wasn’t a rich man but he was generous with his love.
Safety tests called into question
The manufacturer of the combustible insulation on Grenfell Tower has announced it is urgently investigating whether samples which were used for safety tests had added fire retardant in them.
Celotex, which made the synthetic foam insulation fitted in the 2016 refurbishment, said it was “investigating this allegation via all avenues as a matter of urgency”.
Combustibility tests in laboratories are relied on by architects and builders to ensure buildings meet fire safety regulations. But on Monday night, BBC’s Panorama alleged that the company used a different formula of the product, with more fire retardant in it that that which was used on Grenfell, when they ran tests on it to generate a safety certificate.
Celotex declined to comment immediately after the programme was broadcast, but responded on Wednesday morning saying that “Prior to Panorama raising this, we were unaware of this allegation and had not identified anything which would support it.”
It has not denied the allegation and said that in tests since the Grenfell disaster which claimed 72 lives last June, it had not used any special formulation.
It said:
Celotex has not used any special formulation for the recent successful BS-8414 system test in May 2018 or Class 0 fire testing. It is very hard to understand the Panorama allegation alongside those tests.
BS8414 is a test in which the product is integrated into a full system with rainscreen panels and fixings and set alight. The Class 0 rating relates to a smaller scale test to assess the propensity of fire to spread across the product.
Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, described the claim that a different formular was tested as “beyond shocking” and called for the police to investigate. He said:
We must look at how a lax regulatory system created an environment where the Grenfell Tower disaster was allowed to happen. As this investigation proves the current regime of regulation and testing of materials used in the construction industry has been shown to be a complete and utter failure.
Celotex said:
The current management of Celotex are absolutely determined to do the right thing. That means cooperating fully with the inquiry and other official investigations, and sharing with them all relevant material. We will continue to provide updates as appropriate. As the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire approaches, we continue to express our deepest sympathies to the families of all those who lost their lives in the fire and to everyone who was and remains affected by it.
Celotex said it is co-operating with the police investigation into the fire and the Grenfell Tower public inquiry which is likely to begin examining how materials were selected for the building no earlier than November.
A video tribute is shown featuring Cordelia Disson, Tony’s second wife, and their three children, Charlie, Alfie and Harriboy. Cordelia says:
Tony was a good dad, he was a brilliant husband and a wonderful grandad...Tony will always be my first love, he will always be my last love.
His sons recall how he would do everything for them and would train them all at the boxing club.
Cordelia says:
They loved doing it and he used to watch them love doing it because that was their passion ...Tony was so proud of them, you couldn’t get a prouder dad.
Charlie says:
He weren’t [sic] one of the richest people in the world but he was rich with love.
Applause follows the tributes with the chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick describing it as a “great, great” video which really gives a sense of the man.
There will now be a break until 11.45am.
Updated
The end of Lee Disson’s testimony about his father Tony is heartbreaking as he explains how for some reason they drifted apart. There was no rift but they just didn’t have the same relationship as previously.
I always assumed that we would work through whatever it was and that it would be how it used to be ...I never once thought we wouldn’t get the chance to make it right.
Lee’s statement, read by Michael Mansfield, concludes:
The fun and the laughter is something nothing can take away from me. I love you dad. Rest in eternal peace.
We hear through Michael Mansfield about how Tony Disson bought his son a horse which escaped and then bought Lee a Shetland pony so as not to disappoint him.
Lee recalls that he was always doing things with his father. He also taught him how to fish, a hobby of Tony that he passed to his son.
In school holidays, there was always something my dad and I would do. To me, our life then, was perfect.
Tony Disson later divorced Lee’s mother and had three sons with his second wife, Cordelia Disson. He was very pleased to moved into his flat in Grenfell because it was in the area where he grew up, his son says.
Lee moved to Peterborough but came down to see his half-brothers box, Tony Disson was a coach at the Dale Youth Boxing Academy, which was at the foot of Grenfell Tower.
Michael Mansfield QC is reading a commemoration by Lee Disson about his father Tony (Anthony) Disson because Lee felt unable to read it himself.
Tony was born into a close knit family in Notting Hill. He met Lee’s mother in 1967, they began dating the following year and Lee was born in 1970. Tony was not permitted to be in the delivery room but was waiting at the hospital when Lee was born.
Lee was a member of Brunswick Boys Club and his father was a coach there.
I was with him [dad] wherever he went. I don’t remember ever missing an event that was taking place.
This included various sports and camping trips.
One of the most emotional moments of the #GrenfellInquiry so far when the sweet, innocent voice of 4 year old Fethia Hassan is played over the speakers.
— Matthew Thompson (@mattuthompson) May 23, 2018
She was blowing kisses to her cousins. She sounded so full of love and light.
A recording of 5 yr old Fethia Hassan is played where she tells her family she loves them. “I want to hug and kiss you”
— Sophie Barnes (@sophieevebarnes) May 23, 2018
A fascinating and terribly moving insight into the love and solidarity within a large Egyptian family - and particularly the mutual support that the female members gave each other.Ruth Michaelson discovered very strong bonds between Rania Ibrahim and her siblings when she wrote for the Guardian about the Egyptian woman who died aged 31.
But we didn’t know that Rania was effectively raised by her oldest sister Sayeda - and that she returned that devotion by coming to London when Sayeda fell ill, and helped her sibling raise her four young children.
It is striking how tightly these two lives were interwoven, with their children closer than most cousins I know. And extraordinarily poignant that, as Sayeda says, she was present at Rania’s birth, at the moments Rania gave birth, and then at her funeral too.
The family of Rania Ibrahim broke down in tears on the stage at the front of the inquiry as audio of Fethia, Ayesha’s daughter, was played at the end of their video tribute.
Pictures are shown of Rania Ibrahim on her wedding day in 2011, after becoming engaged earlier that year and at an Eid celebration. Photographs are also being shown of her daughters Fethia, 4, and Hania, 3, who also died.
She was beautiful and she liked making sure everyone around her was also happy and beautiful.
Aiasha Ibrahim is overcome by emotion in the video as she continues reading the statement by eldest sister Sayeda.
Rania will always be remembered for her smile and selfnessness ...she was like my right hand ...We were once a family.
She says if Rania was alive, she would be at the forefront of the fight for justice for the victims of Grenfell.
A week before the fire, Rania told Sayeda how lucky she was to have her as a sister.
The chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, pays tribute to Aiasha for her bravery in reading the statement in the video and there is a round of applause.
She says Rania’s favourite subjects were maths, English and ICT, she also loved poetry and was deeply religious.
Rania wanted to become a lawyer. She said the family did not have much money but Rania wanted to help other people.
Rania made a lot of sandwiches at home and put them in large containers and gave them to other pupils at school.
When Sayeda became ill with cancer, Rania, aged 22, moved to the UK from Egypt and Sayeda says their previous roles were reversed, with Rania looking after Sayeda like Rania was the mother and Sayeda was the daughter.
I took care of Rania when she was young. When she came to the UK, she did the same for me...She never complained.
First up is a further commemoration for Rania Ibrahim, 31, and her children Fethia, 4, and Hania, 3. It’s a video, introduced by a family friend, which begins with her sister Sayeda Ibrahim’s daughter Aiasha Ibrahim reading a statement on her mother’s behalf.
In the statement, Sayeda Ibrahim says she is the eldest of five sisters and three brothers. She says when Rania was born, her mother was initially disappointed because she wanted a boy.
She says:
I was the first to hold her, she was a beautiful angel, so light and soft...I really felt as if she was my own daughter.
She says Rania looked at her like a mother.
Rania turned out to be a tomboy. I would dress her up in more boyish clothes and cut her hair short ...I raised her to be a very brave and strong woman.
Updated
Inquiry staff have handed out a “trigger sheet” on the content of video tributes for Grenfell tower victims due to be played today, after some 20 survivors walked out and one woman collapsed in distress after viewing footage of tower on fire.
Inquiry proceedings were halted for half an hour during Tuesday’s session after the footage was played of the tower on fire and people trapped behind the windows.
Bernie Richmond QC, beginning the proceedings, said: “The one today that I draw your attention to is the very powerful video that has been produced by the brother of Ernie Vital.”
According to the trigger sheet, the commemoration of Barbara and Ernie vital contains images of Grenfell tower after the fire, including footage from inside the burt tower.
Learning from its mistakes. The #GrenfellInquiry has now published a “trigger sheet” which informs attendees of any potentially upsetting content in the commemorations.
— Matthew Thompson (@mattuthompson) May 23, 2018
Follows awful scenes yday when several people needed medical attention after footage of the fire was played. pic.twitter.com/iZFMDGsyM3
Sheets of paper have been placed on seats at the inquiry warning attendees when there may be “particularly upsetting” content.
It follows turbulent scenes yesterday, when footage of the tower engulfed in flames was broadcast as part of a commemoration without anyone being warned beforehand.
Several further commemorations will include footage of the tower on fire and of its interior after the blaze.
NHS Grenfell Outreach Team on site today @grenfellinquiry. They are wearing green t-shirts and carrying ID. @Hestia1970 counsellors are also present. More details below, including contact details for help if you have left the Inquiry.
— Grenfell HIR (@GrenfellHIR) May 23, 2018
Source: https://t.co/Hw81tzOYfb #Grenfell pic.twitter.com/5izDdjftdy
Proceedings should commence any minute. Meanwhile, it is worth pointing out that the Guardian’s portraits of the all 72 people who died in the fire are being updated each day of the commemorations as more details emerge about them.
One of the first contributors to give testimony at the inquiry has challenged social media criticism directed at bereaved families who have paid tribute to their loved ones in the opening two days.
Michael Volpe, general director of Holland Park Opera, read a tribute to Debbie Lamprell who lived on the 16th on behalf of her 79-year-old mother Miriam at the start of the second day of the inquiry.
He said he had been a “astonished” by the “utter hatred and nastiness towards the victims and survivors I have seen on social media and elsewhere”.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Volpe pleaded for understanding and gave a passionate defence of the commemorative hearings taking place at the inquiry.
I had to get this off my chest.#GrenfellInquiry 💚 pic.twitter.com/1uxDEuEfSi
— Michael Volpe 🇮🇹🇪🇺 (@NoisyMV) May 22, 2018
After reading the tribute to Lamprell, Volpe says he was comforted by Marcio Gomes, who described how his pregnant wife lost their son Logan on the opening day of the inquiry.
Volpe said he decided to speak out after reading comments questioning the veracity of Gomes’ testimony.
He said: “I met a man today whose son was stillborn after the tragedy, but came to console Miriam, to shake my hand to comfort me, who’d merely read an address. I left the inquiry only to read someone saying on Twitter that the man’s story had been a set up. If you have any belief or faith in the decency of this country, you need to stand to up and challenge such hatred.”
He added: “My plea is that whatever you hear, whatever you think, try to understand what it is that these families have suffered.”
Speaking to the Guardian, Volpe added: “Every single day I see people challenging the veracity of how the fire began of who the people were. I don’t think that is hate speech I just think it’s a neutering of decency, but I’ve seen tonnes of hate speech towards the Grenfell victims. You can’t see a thread about Grenfell where somebody doesn’t go ‘what about the bloke with the fridge?’”
He added: “I personally haven’t been attacked, I’ve just challenge people when I’ve seen it. You know what people just stop. Just have a little bit of bloody decency and little bit of humanity. That’s all.”
Updated
Survivors and the bereaved attending the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry are “really struggling” as they sit through what feels like a multiple funeral each day, a nurse leading the outreach response has said.
Emma Kennedy, manager of the Grenfell outreach team, was among NHS staff at the inquiry yesterday, when people fled the room in tears after seeing footage of the burning high-rise without prior warning.
Staff from Central and North West London NHS trust (CNWL) will propose to the inquiry that private mindfulness sessions be run at the beginning and end of each day. This would help bring people away from the adrenaline of the room, they believe.
Kennedy said:
Yesterday the video of the burning building with people at the window gave rise to panic.
Two people were carried out both needing NHS staff to ‘ground’ them when they were experiencing collapse and panic attacks. We managed to bring her (the woman) back.
Others started to fall, another gentleman had to be taken out.
It’s very heavy, emotionally, it’s like being at a funeral for multiple people for six hours.
CNWL staff and counsellors have been standing around the perimeter of the main room as commemorations are heard, ready to take people out for counselling or “grounding” if they become distressed.
They are recognisable by their green T-shirts and green and orange scarves. There are also teams providing massages and breathing exercises to reduce anxiety.
Kennedy said: “We know most of the survivors, so going for coffee, checking in with them regularly during the day, always helps.”
Yesterday, Bernard Richmond QC reminded attendees that support was available if they needed it.
But he later apologised after failing to warn people that a filmed commemoration would include footage of the tower ablaze and people calling for help.
Welcome to our live coverage of the third day of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.
Tributes are continuing to the 72 who died in the fire. The commemorations so far have been both moving and harrowing.
Yesterday was particularly difficult as 20 survivors walked out in distress and a woman collapsed in an apparent panic attack during a video presentation about the deaths of six members of the same family.
The family in question was the Choucairs. More tributes will be paid to them today.
Sirria Choucair, 60, a hospital caterer who lived on the 22nd floor in a flat neighbouring his sister, died along with her daughter Nadia, 33, a nursery teacher, son-in-law Bassem, 40, a supervisor at Marks and Spencer, and their three daughters, Mierna, 13, Fatima, 11, and Zaynab, three.
Yesterday, the inquiry heard from Sirria’s son Hisam Choucair, who described the fire as an “atrocity” caused by the segregation of rich and poor, and his sister Sawson.
There will also be more tributes today to Rania Ibrahim, who lived on the 23rd floor and her daughters Fethia, five, and Hania, three, who all died. Yesterday, the inquiry heard from Rania’s sister Rasha Ibrahim, who said she had flown in from Egypt to take part because “it is very important for me to take part in this process of questioning to find out the truth”.
Proceedings are due to commence at 10am. Here is a full list of those who will be commemorated today:
The programme for today's commemorative hearing. A link to the live stream will be posted prior to commencing at 10am. pic.twitter.com/hYYpDnlVdo
— Grenfell Inquiry (@grenfellinquiry) May 23, 2018
