We are going to close this blog now, thanks so much for reading. For all of our coverage of the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower, you can visit our dedicated page.
Here is the latest Guardian report on the number of missing, presumed dead:
Evening summary
Here’s a summary of the latest news:
- Downing Street has announced that a £5,500 down payment will be given to residents whose homes were destroyed in the fire tomorrow.
- Residents who met the prime minister yesterday hit out at the “longstanding neglect” of council buildings in the area and said estate managers of the building as having been “invisible in the aftermath of the tragedy”.
- The British Red Cross announced they will be stepping up support and will be establishing a community assistance centre near the tower.
- Kensington and Chelsea council has been relieved of responsibility for taking care of the survivors of the disaster and their work handed over to a new Grenfell Fire Response Team.
- The police now believe more than 58 are unaccounted for. A new figure of those missing, presumed dead will be released tomorrow.
- An appeal has been launched for information on people who could have been visiting the building at the time but have not yet been reported missing by friends or family.
An appeal for anyone with images and footage that may be relevant to the police investigation was launched yesterday.
Detectives are working through the material that has already been supplied by the public, the statement from the Met police said.
Cundy added:
I’m really grateful to all those people who have provided us with material that could help our investigation. I’d urge anyone who has not yet provided us with material to please do so.
Our investigation will be wide ranging and exhaustive – it will seek to find out if any crimes have been committed and if so make sure that we do all we can to bring any person responsible to justice.
This will take us some time, but I give my commitment that if as part of that investigation we identify anything that gives cause for concern for the safety of the public we will inform the relevant authorities.
Anyone with any images or footage is asked to send them via an appeal website, selecting Grenfell Investigation from the drop down menu.
Releasing a tranche of footage showing the aftermath of the blaze, Cundy said the next figure of those presumed dead will be released tomorrow.
Photograph: AP
An appeal was launched for information on people who could have been visiting the building at the time but have not yet been reported missing by friends or family.
Police are concerned there may be others who were living, staying, or visiting the tower at the time, but that no-one knows are missing.
The statement from Cundy said:
Today, police teams continue their support to families, and make enquiries to cross check the number of those missing. I have always said I will be accurate about what I know, so the next figure of those presumed dead and missing will be released tomorrow, Monday, 19 June. The figure will be higher but I do not wish to speculate on that number today.
I must consider the fact that there may be others in the building who, for whatever reason have not been reported to us. There is also a real possibility that there may be people in the building that no one knows are missing.
I want to hear from anyone who believes that they know someone who may have been living, staying or visiting but has not yet been reported missing to us. We are not interested in your reasons for not telling us sooner, we just want to understand as best as we can who may still be inside the building.
The images that have been released are from inside flats where police know that everyone inside has been accounted for.
Releasing the first images from inside the burned-out building, Met police commander Stuart Cundy said some of the victims may never be identified.
Photograph: AP
He said:
“It is really important that we are clear about the scale of the challenge facing us as our teams search Grenfell Tower to recover those people still inside and return them to their loved ones.
While our teams have been from the bottom to the top of the tower, we must now carry out a full forensic and systematic search. The conditions due to the fire damage verge on indescribable, which is why this will be such a lengthy operation taking weeks to complete. We must also prepare people for the terrible reality that some people may not be identified due to the intensity of the fire.
Family liaison officers are supporting families, and that includes those people we know to be dead; some of those who are critically ill and sadly those people who we have been told were in Grenfell Tower that night who we have been unable to trace.
Work has been ongoing throughout the night and continues today, so we can get as good an understanding as possible about who we believe to be still missing.
Sadly that work leads me to believe that the number of people missing, but as yet unaccounted for, has risen from yesterday’s figure of 58.
Updated
Police now believe the “number of people missing, but as yet unaccounted for, has risen from yesterday’s figure of 58”, Metropolitan police commander Stuart Cundy said.
The residents’ group, who visited the prime minister in Downing Street, have released a statement to say they welcomed the announcement that each household would receive £5,500 immediately but said they had not been consulted on this beforehand as promised.
The group said:
We naturally welcome funds for those in need, though this does show once more the tendency to sideline residents’ views.
At No 10 yesterday, the prime minister assured the group that from now on residents would be consulted on a coordinated relief effort. This has not happened with these funds.
Updated
Kensington and Chelsea council has been relieved of responsibility for taking care of the survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The work is being handed over to a new Grenfell Fire Response Team, made up of representatives from central government, the British Red Cross, the Metropolitan police, London-wide local and regional government, and the London Fire Brigade.
It is embarrassing for the council, the wealthiest in the country, to have had to cede control.
Eleanor Kelly, chief executive of Southwark council :
We want to make clear that whilst the emergency and local community response was nothing short of heroic, we know that the initial response was simply not good enough on the ground. People are angry, and rightfully so. Our focus is now ensuring those affected are being cared for and looked after.
The team is to provide 24-hour access to services and support at the Westway sport and fitness centre. Help is to be provided for housing, funds, health, social care, food and advice.
Kelly said:
Housing is our main priority. We will organise and speed up the rehousing process. We are currently working with those affected households to establish what their housing need is – as you can appreciate this takes time. By the end of Monday, 19 June, we aim to have contacted all known families affected by the fire and completed an assessment of what they need. The latest information we have is that 201 households have received emergency accommodation to date, of which 113 are homeless.
The British Red Cross, which has been involved since Wednesday, has a team of more than 60 volunteers to provide help. They will help distribute donations and meet grieving relatives as they arrive at airports.
Kelly said:
There is nothing we can say that will blunt the feeling of loss and anger. But what I hope the new team and this package of support will start to get those affected by this tragedy the urgent assistance from the authorities they need.
Updated
Earlier today firefighters leaving the scene at the end of their shift were greeted with a round of applause and cheers from the local community.
Scores of people lined the street as two fire engines past by. Some of the London Fire Brigade crew appeared teary eyed as they wound down their windows to thank well wishers.
Vincent McAviney, a presenter for LBC radio, caught the moment on video.
Watch: Incredible moment @LondonFire Brigade fightfighters leaving #GrenfellTower brought to tears as they are clapped out by community.@LBC pic.twitter.com/ynEXUtCOpF
— Vincent McAviney (@Vinny_LBC) June 18, 2017
Updated
The British Red Cross has released a statement about their involvement in the aftermath of the disaster. Mike Adamson, the chief executive, said the charity was planning to “step up” support and will be establishing a community assistance centre near the tower.
Adamson said:
The British Red Cross has been actively helping those affected by this horrendous tragedy since the early hours of Wednesday morning. Our emergency response volunteers have been stationed within the rest centre and are providing both practical and emotional support to people in crisis.
We will now step up to use our expertise in delivering humanitarian aid to support the establishment and running of a full-service community assistance centre, as well as to help with the donations given by the compassionate public. We will also help to enhance the psychosocial support available, and we are providing a dedicated helpline for people affected.
The Red Cross movement exists to help people at times of most need and we are guided in our work by fundamental principles of neutrality, impartiality and unity. In recent days we have seen incredible acts of humanity from the community, and we will stand side by side them in helping people to recover.
A Red Cross appeal has so far raised £885,000.
Updated
Here’s more from the group of victims, residents and community leaders who spent over two hours with Theresa May. They hit out at the “longstanding neglect” of council buildings in the area.
The statement said:
We are devastated by this tragedy. We are angry about the inadequacy of the response and the longstanding neglect of our buildings by the council and building management.
We are grateful to the prime minister for listening to us and for the assurances she has given us but now we need to see real action and immediate results with centralised coordination of the relief effort with residents closely involved.
The Government must also take a serious look at the neglect and chronic underfunding of social housing over decades.
They added that local residents should be “consulted at all stages and that we should be listened to” in dealing with the fallout from the tragedy.
Updated
The emergency money will be made up of £500 in cash and £5,000 delivered through the Department of Work and Pensions into bank accounts or similar in a single payment. This comes from the £5m that the prime minister announced on Friday.
The £500 cash is already being made available to those affected and further payments are available immediately from the council at Westway centre, or from Monday through the post office in Portobello Road, as and when families need it.
The £5,000 will be made available from Monday and support workers will assist households in accessing it – including those who don’t have bank accounts.
The discretionary fund is also being made available to meet funeral costs, and to top up payments for those households with complex or additional needs. The fund will be kept under review and will increase if necessary.
Updated
Grenfell Tower families to get £5,500 government payout
Downing Street has announced that £5,500 from the government’s emergency fund will be given to residents whose homes were destroyed in the fire. The money will be available for each household from tomorrow and support workers will help them access it. We’ll have more details on that shortly.
Updated
Residents who met the prime minister in Downing Street following the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised estate managers of the building as having been “invisible in the aftermath of the tragedy”.
The group, made up of victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, said they were grateful to Theresa May for listening to their concerns but demanded “real action and immediate results” moving forward.
In a statement to the Press Association they criticised Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation for its reaction to the disaster.
The group said:
In our meeting at Downing Street, we explained to the prime minister the anger of all residents towards the management of the estate over a long period of time, paving the way to this tragedy.
“With the exception of very few junior officers, the estate managers have been invisible in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Updated
The Home Office, which has assisted the family of a Syrian national Mohammed Alhajali, the first victim to be formally identified, to travel to the UK to attend his funeral, said it had “established processes in place which allow us to consider visa applications outside the Immigration Rules on compassionate grounds”.
It is also launching a 24-hour advice line for people directly affected by the fire who are seeking guidance on UK passports and visas. Many will have lost passports and personal documentation. Those affected and seeking guidance on UK passports, visas or immigration can call the advice line on 0300 222 0000, which will allow callers to arrange a call back by specialist teams. Anyone calling from outside the UK should include the UK dialling code: +44 (0) 3002220000. The dedicated line is in English.
In addition, the Home Office said it had staff with immigration expertise at the scene in west London to support survivors with guidance about UK passports, visas or immigration queries.
Updated
London mayor Sadiq Khan said it is crucial tower blocks across the country be checked, and if needed made safe “as soon as possible”. Regulations needed to be looked at, he told BBC News, after attending a service for victims at St Clement’s Church, west London.
Of Grenfell Tower, he said: “Is it the case that the cladding currently appears to be lawful according to the regulations, but isn’t fit for purpose? Is it the case the way the cladding was fitted was faulty? How many tower blocks have this cladding? How many tower blocks have had cladding fitted properly or improperly?” The government needed to examine these questions, he said.
He added: “If it’s the case that some tower blocks are – forgive me for language that may cause concern – if some tower blocks are death traps, we need to know which ones they are. And action needs to be taken, to provide housing for those people in their communities in the same area, and if necessary, those tower blocks repaired and refurbished in a safe way, not cutting corners, or those tower blocks pulled down as soon as possible.”
Updated
Kensington and Chelsea council has confirmed that Avondale Park primary and St Mary’s RC primary schools near Grenfell Tower will be opening on Monday. St Francis of Assisi RC primary school will also be open but operating from the Sion-Manning site, while Kensington Aldridge Academy will be moving to Ark Burlington Danes Academy.
Updated
Summary
The leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nicholas Paget-Brown, said council officers had been working “round the clock” since Wednesday to put support structures in place, despite claims by some that council staff were not in evidence.
“I’ve been out this morning at the Westway sports centre. I’m told the council is never in evidence, it’s all disorganised. That was not my perception,” he told BBC News.
“What people do need to know is that Kensington and Chelsea council officials have been working around the clock since Wednesday.”
Paget-Brown denied that council officers had been told not to wear hi-vis jackets for fear they would become targets. The perception of lack of council staff on the ground was “possibly because council officials aren’t identifiable”, he said.
“The last thing after a tragedy of this enormity is to wonder whether we’ve got the right hi-vis jackets,” he said.
The tragedy raised a number of issues about towers and the way housing had been designed over the last 50 or 60 years, he said. “Over the longer term there is a real challenge about how estates are regenerated.”
He dismissed accusations that the Grenfell Tower refurbishment had been to “gentrify” and “prettify” an “eyesore” to make the area more attractive. Residents had complained the block was too cold in winter and too hot in summer, he said.
“Quite rightly we will have to look into the cladding which was used,” he said, adding that these were matters for the public inquiry. “The council would expect all regulatory standards are complied with.”
Asked if he had considered resigning, he said his immediate concern and pre-occupation was to ensure support for the distressed and vulnerable people affected.
Updated
Summary
Musicians contributing to a charity single to raise funds for those caught up in the blaze include the X-Factor winner Louisa Johnson and Emeli Sandé, the Press Association reports.
They were reportedly seen at Sarm music studios where the single, a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, is being recorded.
Others said to be involved in the project, which is organised by Simon Cowell, include the Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones, Rita Ora, Pixie Lott, Leona Lewis and Britain’s Got Talent 2017 winner Tokio Myers.
Johnson said: “The amount of people that have actually agreed to it and gone out of their way to do it is incredible, especially how busy some of these people are.”
Gareth Malone, the choirmaster and TV presenter who is putting together an ensemble of 300 people from local people and choirs, said he hoped it might “raise some money” and “touch a few hearts”.
Updated
The reason why the low-rise flats around the foot of Grenfell Tower have no hot water is apparently because the central water supply system was in the basement of the burned tower.
Residents were told they could go to the Westway sports centre for showers and food, but there is frustration about the lack of information from the council about the longer-term plans for the block and about the current safety of the area.
Some residents of nearby houses are offering their support, however:
Residents who live in the low-rise blocks at the foot of Grenfell Tower are angry at the continued absence of help from the council.
Nina Masroh said the only contact she had had was two texts telling her she could return home but that there was no hot water or gas.
She remains worried about whether her flat and the block is safe, amid conflicting advice from police officers stationed around the site.
We don’t feel safe. We are closer to the tower than the school and the tube line and they are both closed because of the risk of falling debris. There’s debris on my balcony. We’ve had no one here to tell us if it is safe. It is ridiculous. We feel so angry.
Masroh works at Kensington Aldridge academy, the school by the tower, which remains closed.
Although there was a commitment to make more officials available on Sunday to help families affected, she said she had seen no one and had had no contact from the council since they sent her the two texts on Friday afternoon.
Families with children who have returned to their flats at the foot of the tower were concerned about the risk of pollution and about the structural safety of the tower and wanted reassurance from someone official but complained that there was no one in the area.
“It feels like the ineptitude is continuing,” Masroh said.
Survivors of the Grenfell Tower blaze are being offered temporary accommodation in high-rise hotels, according to a woman interviewed by Mail Online near the charred hulk on Sunday.
Nadia Isla, who lives close to the 24-storey tower, said she knew of one man and his family who “freaked out” when they saw a picture of the hotel they had been asked to stay in.
They wanted to put him in a building which is a high-rise building. He freaked out because he doesn’t want to put his children in a high-rise building - would you?
They have been trying to re-house them in the building but they [the survivors] do not want to go in it. Would you? Do you blame them?
He freaked out, he said he does not want to put my children in that building. His wife, I hugged her, she cried in my arms for five minutes. The wife said: ‘I don’t want to go higher than the first floor’.
Isla also said some of the survivors had been offered rooms in Manchester and Birmingham.
Updated
Grenfell Tower survivor 'moved three times' since fire, Kensington MP says
Kensington’s new Labour MP, Emma Dent Coad, is a guest on BBC One’s Sunday Politics. She said it was “appalling” that survivors of the fire were being repeatedly moved around.
“We are still hearing stories of people not being allocated properly,” she said. “There’s one woman this morning and her child, they have been moved three times since Wednesday into different accommodation. That’s absolutely appalling.”
On the same show, the shadow communities secretary, Andrew Gwynne, denied suggestions that Labour was stirring up emotions in an attempt to capitalise politically on the tragedy.
“I don’t think that we are stirring it up. I would hope that we have been fully responsible in reflecting the concerns, the anxieties, the hurt and the worry or those residents in Kensington.”
Asked about former shadow cabinet minister Clive Lewis’s tweet stating “burn neoliberalism, not people”, Gwynne told the programme: “I think it is really important that we are measured in our approach. We need to calm things down.”
Updated
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has been asked if she feels shame over the disaster.
“Totally, yes, of course, of course,” she told BBC One’s Sunday Politics. “We all think what should we have done, could we have done? It’s just unbearable. This cannot happen in the 21st century and yet it has”.
She said May’s decision to send in senior civil servants to deal with the aftermath is so “issues can be addressed much more quickly with greater experience and precision”.
Updated
Here is our full story on Philip Hammond’s comments on the Grenfell Tower cladding.
Updated
The Guardian’s Alan Travis has tweeted the Southwark coroner’s key recommendations after the Lakanal fire in Camberwell in 2009, in which six people were killed.
The Southwark Coroner's key recommendations after Lakanal fire on "stay put" and "get out and stay out" fire safety advice.. pic.twitter.com/7CJE4C8XJ8
— Alan Travis (@alantravis40) June 18, 2017
Updated
Father’s Day cards have been left close to Grenfell Tower.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Father's Day cards have been left close to Grenfell Tower - nestled in flowers and surrounded by candles pic.twitter.com/K8goVI8zZC
— Georgina Stubbs (@georginafstubbs) June 18, 2017
Updated
Three teaching unions and the Association of Educational Psychologists have issued a joint statement calling for more support for the children and schools affected by the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The statement, signed by the general secretaries of the National Union of Teachers, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, says:
School is one area of children’s lives which can provide them with care and stability. It is essential that children continue to attend their own school, with teachers and other staff who know them and can support them, and their families. We know that those who work in education are rising to this challenge. They will need the full support of those around them.
All schools which have on their roll children from Grenfell Tower, and the area around it, must be provided with counsellors and other necessary resources.
The government and the local authority must ensure that provision is in place throughout the summer months, and in the years ahead.
The residents of Grenfell Tower feel that they have been failed by a system that should have protected them. We now have a chance to show them a different face of government - one that takes responsibility for their care and support when they are most vulnerable.”
The school most directly affected by the fire is Kensington Aldridge academy, which is next to Grenfell Tower and opened in 2014.
The school remains closed but from Monday pupils have been directed to attend three other schools in the area, including Burlington Danes school in Shepherd’s Bush and Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith.
Updated
Sadiq Khan attends church service for victims
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has arrived at a church service to remember those who have lost their lives and those who remain missing. The service is at St Clement Notting Dale church, which has been used as a relief centre.
Updated
Volunteer Nisha Parti told ITV’s Peston on Sunday that fire victims were receiving just £10 when they arrived at hotels and the large sums donated by the public were not getting through.
Volunteer @partinator says victims of #GrenfellTower fire have no access to donated funds and are being given 'a tenner' at hotels #Peston pic.twitter.com/wUmjVd8twe
— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) June 18, 2017
Press Association reporter Georgina Stubbs tweets:
There's a service taking place outside Latymer Community Church. Lots of reps from different local churches here as well as worshippers pic.twitter.com/gwAtaTpcCT
— Georgina Stubbs (@georginafstubbs) June 18, 2017
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has called for the government to consider emergency legislation to ensure homes can be requisitioned to house the families made homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire.
Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, McDonnell said that councils already had the power to requisition property, using compulsory purchase orders, to find places for people to live. Last week Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, suggested these powers should be used in Kensington following the fire tragedy.
But when it was put to McDonnell that this process could take time, he said parliament could legislate to speed things up. He told the programme:
“In emergency measures, as we saw in wartime periods as well, you can requisition properties. You will need powers to do it. We have got those powers.
“If necessary, I would have convened parliament immediately to, if necessary, push more legislation through within 24 hours, if that was necessary. We cannot be in a situation where we have people who have lost their homes struggling to find alternative accommodation and we have properties standing empty.”
Updated
The Labour MP David Lammy, who lost a friend, Khadija Saye, in the fire, has called on the prime minister and the Metropolitan police to immediately seize all relevant Grenfell Tower documents to allay fears by residents of a cover-up.
“Within the community, trust in the authorities is falling through the floor and a suspicion of a cover-up is rising,” the Tottenham MP said. “The prime minister needs to act immediately to ensure that all evidence is protected so that everyone culpable for what happened at Grenfell Tower is held to account and feels the full force of the law. We need urgent action now to make sure that all records and documents relating to the refurbishment and management of Grenfell Tower are protected.”
Updated
NHS England has released an update on the number of Grenfell Tower patients still receiving care in hospital. There are 18 in total, including nine who remain in critical care.
King’s College hospital in Camberwell, south London, has the highest number of patients, with seven - six of whom are in critical care.
The Met Police said on Saturday that 58 people are missing, presumed dead - a figure that includes the 30 confirmed deaths.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn renewed his call to requisition empty homes in Kensington and Chelsea to house victims of the blaze.
“There are a large number of deliberately kept vacant flats and properties all over London. It’s called ‘land banking’. People with a lot of money, buy a house, buy a flat, keep it empty”.
“Occupy it, compulsory purchase it, requisition it. There’s a lot of things you can do,” he told Peston on Sunday. “Can’t we as a society just think, all of us.
He added you “have to bring all assets to the table” in an emergency.
Updated
Reverend Mike Long of the Notting Hill Methodist Church has been on BBC1’s Sunday Morning Live talking about helping those affected by the Grenfell fire.
When asked about whether the tragic had affected his faith, he said that it “shapes it”, adding: “It affected me to be part of a traumatic community event even though many others have been more involved in actually supporting victims. In terms of my faith, it
shapes me. It doesn’t mean I lose my faith but it has affected me as a person – the way I see things and people.”
He added that the faith community will have a “huge role” for many years to come in supporting the local community.
Children are looking out on that building and have seen scenes no one should ever witness. The faith community is partly about togetherness and having some things that are normal. The most difficult thing for me is walking away from the site and hearing laughter ... that must continue. The community needs to draw together and have not only peace but also find sense of joy in the people they are and what makes this an incredible place to live.”
Philip Hammond on sprinklers, cladding and fire safety
The cladding used at Grenfell Tower was banned in the UK, chancellor Philip Hammond believes. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr:
My understanding is that the cladding in question, this flammable cladding which is banned in Europe and the US, is also banned here. That’s my understanding.”
Asked why it was used, he replied: “There are two separate questions. One is, are our regulations correct? Do they permit the right kind of materials and ban the wrong kind of materials.
“Second question is were they correctly complied with? And obviously that will be a subject that the [public] inquiry will look at. It will also be a subject that the separate criminal investigation will be looking at.”
On the lack of sprinklers in Grenfell Tower, and other buildings, he said: “My understanding is that the best expert advice is that retrofitting sprinklers may not always be the best technical way of ensuring fire safety in a building.”
This would be a matter for the public inquiry, Hammond said: “The commitment that government should make, and I’ll make it now, is that when the inquiry produces its evidence, and I don’t mean in years time because we are going to ask them to produce interim findings, when it produces its findings, we will act on them.”
Asked if the government had responded adequately to coroners advice following the Lakanal Tower fire in 2009 which killed six in south London, and which said building regulations relating to fire safety had to be looked at again, he said: “My assessment is that we have responded correctly and appropriately to those recommendations”.
They were “complex technical issues” and technical expert research was commissioned “so that the decisions could be properly informed”, he said. “Now, did it take too long? Did we handle it in the correct way? The inquiry will determine that”, he added.
Here is the Guardian report on the choice of cladding:
Updated
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also been on Peston on Sunday:
.@jeremycorbyn renews his call to requisition empty homes in Kensington and Chelsea to house victims of the #GrenfellTower fire. #Peston pic.twitter.com/Vyxs2gRpjz
— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) June 18, 2017
Surely in the wake of the #Grenfell fire we have to recognise that something has gone badly wrong in this country - @jeremycorbyn #Peston pic.twitter.com/lPcYonsk7V
— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) June 18, 2017
Updated
Tory MP for Totnes Sarah Wollaston is on ITV’s Peston on Sunday:
.@sarahwollaston believes @theresa_may does care profoundly about victims of #GrenfellTower but should have met residents earlier #Peston pic.twitter.com/vfi9s1OOXp
— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) June 18, 2017
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has written a comment piece for the Observer:
The greatest legacy of this tragedy may well end up being the skyline of our towns and cities. In the postwar rush to reconstruct our country, towers went up in large numbers, most of which are still here today. Nowadays, we would not dream of building towers to the standards of the 1970s, but their inhabitants still have to live with that legacy. It may well be the defining outcome of this tragedy that the worst mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s are systematically torn down. Of course, this must mean people being rehoused in the same areas where they have put down roots.”
Chancellor Philip Hammond is on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show.
BBC assistant political editor Normal Smith tweets:
Upgrades to building regs delayed for 4years after Lachlan House cos involved "complex technical issues" says Philip Hammond @MarrShow
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) June 18, 2017
Cladding used on #GrenfellTower - "My understanding it was banned in UK" says Philip Hammond. So why used ? @MarrShow
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) June 18, 2017
Eve Allison, a Conservative who sits on Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, said the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower should have looked at the inside as well as the outside of the block.
“It is on our watch, it’s our responsibility, we do have a duty of care to all our residents and whatever findings and failings come out, they have to come out soon because all the community, the victims, the families, people need answers,” she told BBC Breakfast.
“All too often we’re a little bit too concerned with how the immediate streetscape looks, how a building fits into other buildings, does it detract from the immediate streetscape.”
“I was not involved with the actual planning of the recent refurbishment....from what I’m hearing, it would have been ideal if part of the refurbishment package had looked at actually trying to gentrify inside, not just outside. “
The Home Office is assisting the family of Mohammed Alhajali, the 23-year-old Syrian refugee who was the first fatality of the disaster to be formally identified by police, to travel to the UK to attend his funeral.
More than 85,000 people have signed a petition calling for his parents to be granted visas.
A Home Office spokesman said:
We have made contact with Mr Alhajali’s family yesterday and assisted them in making arrangement for their travel to the UK in these terribly sad circumstances.”
The petition was set up by a family friend, Mirna Suleiman, 26. His older brother, Omar, who was with him in the flat, survived the fire after they were separated on their way out.
Residents affected by the Grenfell Tower atrocity were passionate and angry during a lengthy exchange with the prime minister, according to a bishop who sat with them.
Sixteen “very ordinary people” sat in Downing Street on Saturday to bring their concerns to Theresa May in an “unprecedented” meeting and finally felt they were listened to, said the bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin.
He is hopeful the meeting which lasted nearly two hours, attended by victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, was the starting point for a process of “lasting change”.
He told the Press Association: “I’m positive because I think it was a real chance for local residents, people affected by this tragedy, to voice their concerns directly to the prime minister so that she could hear them. That’s why I’m positive about it, because I think in the past local residents here have not always been listened to.”
He said that feeling of being ignored is a source of much “deep frustration”, and told how people have been left feeling “that decisions are taken about their lives and their homes that they are not party to”.
He described the residents as “brilliant” in how they raised and explained their concerns to May: “I thought the way they expressed themselves with a mixture of passion and reason was fantastic, and I hope it’s the beginning of a process, not the end of a process, the beginning of a process of real listening between government, RBKC [the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council], local residents, that will bring about lasting change.”
Following the meeting, May released a strongly-worded statement in which she said on-the-ground support for families in the immediate aftermath of the blaze “was not good enough”.
She said she had ordered daily progress reports on housing for those affected, and vowed the public inquiry into the disaster would be “open and transparent”. Tomlin said the residents had gone from living normal lives before the tragedy to bringing their frustrations to the very top of government.
He said: “Clearly it’s quite unprecedented for 16 very ordinary people, who this time last week were walking their dogs or talking to each other in the streets around here and north Kensington, actually to be in 10 Downing Street talking face-to-face with the prime minister. I think it was a good thing to do.”
Asked if there were angry exchanges, he said: “We tried to hold it well as a meeting. There was passion, there was anger, but there was good, hard, reasoned argument used by the residents.”
Tomlin said he believed residents left the meeting feeling “reassured that they were listened to”, but added: “Time will tell as to whether it makes a difference. We wait to see what action will come from it, but they were reassured that they were listened to.”
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