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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Home Office offers immigration amnesty to Grenfell Tower survivors – as it happened

Corbyn grills May over public sector pay at PMQs

Afternoon summary

  • Alok Sharma, the housing minister, has told MPs that only three families from Grenfell Tower so far have moved into the new temporary accommodation they have been offered. Today marks the deadline for all families to be offered temporary accommodation, and Sharma said 158 families had been identified as needing housing. He said 139 had been offered accommodation, and the other 19 were not yet “ready to engage” in the process, in some cases because people were still in hospital. He said 14 of the offers had been accepted, and three families had already moved.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Labour says Tories are delaying letting them stage opposition day debates

The Labour party says the government is delaying giving it opposition day debates in the Commons (debates where the motion is chosen by Jeremy Corbyn). Labour Whips, an official Twitter account, says a debate in Westminster Hall this afternoon, where a large number of MPs have turned up to debate Waspi (Women Against State Pension Injustice) women, shows why.

Given that the Tories do not have a majority, when the Labour party does get a debate, it should be relatively easy for it to choose a motion critical of the government that will be passed by the Commons.

Labour gets 17 of these debates a session. But, because this is a two-year session, not a one-year one, effectively Labour may end up getting fewer than normal.

Jo Maugham, a Labour-supporting QC, claims the Home Office immigration amnesty offer for Grenfell Tower survivors is carefully-worded and minimalist.

The Migrants’ Rights Network, a group that campaigns for migrants’ rights, says the Home Office 12-month immigration amnesty offer for Grenfell Tower survivors (see 2.20pm) does not go far enough.

Brexit minister Steve Baker says talking about UK staying in EEA is 'like putting blood in the water'

On the World at One Steve Baker, the new Brexit minister and previously head of the European Research Group, the influential group of Tory MPs lobbying hard for leave, said that any talk of the UK staying in the European Economic Area after Brexit (ie, staying in the single market) amounted to “blood in the water”. Sharks like blood in the water, but what Baker meant is that it would be unacceptable. He said:

It is the case that some people would like to reinvent things. But, look, we’ve taken a major strategic decision to leave the European Union .. And the last thing we need to do now is take a misstep. And one of those missteps would be to divert from the policy that was set out in the Lancaster House speech and the white paper. It is like putting blood in the water to even talk about the EEA [European economic area]. We don’t want to be a rule taker. For all the reasons that David Cameron gave during the referendum, we mustn’t take up some of those ideas.

What was not clear from the interview was whether Baker was saying that EEA membership as a final outcome was unacceptable, or whether he meant it would it would also be unacceptable as a transitional arrangement.

If it is the latter, then his comments are very significant, because this is an unresolved issue within government. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, and other Brexit “softeners” probably favour the UK staying in the EEA as a transitional option.

(It is also odd to hear Baker cite Cameron as being on his side. Cameron did argue during the referendum against the “Norway option” - ie, the UK being outside the EU, but inside the EEA. But that is because he thought EU membership was better. Of all the Brexit options, he thought staying in the EEA was the least bad.)

Steve Baker.
Steve Baker. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

Updated

In the aftermath of the failure to reach a deal to restore power sharing government there have been calls in Northern Ireland for the wages of local politicians to be suspended.

A former member of the independent financial review panel, which sets the salaries for assembly members at Stormont, demanded today that their pay be stopped entirely until a deal is finally reached.

Alan McQuillan, who is also an ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary deputy chief constable, said continuing to pay members to a non functioning assembly was wasting £1m of taxpayers’ money each month.

McQuillan’s call was echoed by SDLP North Belfast Assembly member Nichola Mallon who said that “no one should be paid for a job they are not doing.”

The average salary for a member of the Assembly is £49,500.

In the Commons Labour’s Dennis Skinner says he hopes the Grenfell Tower tragedy will stop Tories demanding the end of regulation and red tape. If there had been more red tape and regulation, the disaster would not have happened, he suggests.

Sharma says that the relevant regulations were drawn up in 2006, when Labour was in power.

UPDATE: George Monbiot writes about this in his Guardian column today.

Updated

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, has welcomed the announcement of the Grenfell Tower immigration amnesty (see 2.20pm) but said the temporary 12-month limit did not go far enough. She said:

I’m pleased to see the government has met the request I raised in the Commons on Monday for an immigration amnesty for Grenfell survivors. Without an immigration amnesty there may well be people we never know about, and too many people who need help who will not receive it.

But this does not go far enough to ensure the confidence of those affected. Why would they volunteer their details knowing that in just twelve months they could face deportation? The amnesty must be indefinite to be truly effective.

Survivors who contact the Home Office will be given up to 12 months temporary leave to remain in Britain outside the immigration rules and with full access to relevant support and assistance. The usual requirement that they demonstrate that they can live without claiming social security benefits or having recourse to other public funds will also be waived. No fees will be charged either.

The new policy will be kept under review and will remain in place at least until August 31.

Home Office offers one-year immigration amnesty to Grenfell Tower survivors in UK illegally

Brandon Lewis, the immigration minister, has announced a one-year amnesty for immigrants who are in the UK illegally, or whose leave to be in the UK is about to expire, who were affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. He unveiled the policy in a written statement to MPs. Here’s an extract.

The government has been clear that its priority is to ensure that victims of this tragedy get the access they need to vital services, irrespective of immigration status. The Home Office will not conduct immigration checks on survivors and those coming forward to provide information to assist the authorities in their enquiries. However, we recognise that some foreign nationals directly affected by the fire may not wish to engage with the authorities due to concerns about their unresolved immigration status, or if their status is about to expire. I am therefore announcing today that those individuals directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire who contact the Home Office via a specified process will be given a period of limited leave to remain in the UK with full access to relevant support and assistance. This will be done by using discretionary powers to grant leave to remain outside the immigration rules for a temporary period of 12 months and without a condition precluding recourse to public funds. I will place a copy of the policy document in the House Library.

Sharma is responding to Healey.

He says it is not up to ministers to determine the pace at which families should move. That should be up to the families, he says.

He says families were not offered accommodation in residential tower blocks. But some were offered accommodation in hotels in tower blocks. That was changed, he says.

He urges MPs to tell him if he thinks there are any survivors who are not getting the right level of support.

John Healey, the shadow housing minister, says the prime minister says people would get a new home within three weeks. But most are still living in hotels. And only three families have moved into a new home, he says.

He says some families have been offered homes in tower blocks, or with too few bedrooms, or with bizarre conditions - like no friends or relatives staying overnight.

He asks how long it will take before people are offered permanent homes.

Kensington and Chelsea is a failing council, he says.

He says the government has conceded this by sending in a taskforce.

But a taskforce will only be able to advise, he says. He says commissioners would be able to take over control.

Alok Sharma's statement on Grenfell Tower

Alok Sharma, the housing minister, is giving MPs an update on Grenfell Tower.

He says survivors have been offered good quality, rent-free accommodation.

Some 158 families have been identified as in need of housing.

All ready to engage in the process have been offered housing. Some 139 families have been made an offer.

Another 19 families are not in a position to engage. In some cases people are in hospital.

He says the housing team has identified more than 200 properties where people could live.

He offers to visit some of these properties with John Healey, the shadow housing ministers.

All are local, either in Kensington and Chelsea or in a neighbouring borough.

He says 14 offers have been accepted, and three families have moved in.

He says he expects that number to rise.

But he can understand why people might not want to accept an offer. Some people moved into Grenfell Tower being told that was temporary, and were there many years later.

Some families want to wait until a permanent home becomes available, he says.

He says there have been reports about being told they will lose a home if they do not accept what they are offered. That is not the case, he says.

He says people will be offered new homes on the same rent and with the same level of security..

He says there were 17 leaseholders who lost homes. The government will ensure they do not lose out financially, he says.

He ends by saying that meeting the victims has been the most humbling thing he has experienced in his life. He pauses for a moment, and seems to be wiping away a tear.

Updated

Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts asks why pay in Wales is lower than anywhere else in the UK. She says that, although the SNP government in Scotland has decided to lift the 1% public sector pay cat, the Labour government in Wales has not done the same, even though it could.

Truss says this is a matter for the Welsh government.

Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman has condemned Glastonbury’s use of zero-hours contracts for staff. Corbyn has been under pressure to speak out since this story broke at the weekend. This is from my colleague Heather Stewart.

Labour’s Lilian Greenwood says 55% of public sector workers are not covered by pay review bodies. What will be done to ensure they get a pay rise?

Truss says the same principles will apply. Policy will be set to ensure that the government can hire the best possible workers, while ensuring public finances are sustainable.

This is from the Sun’s Steve Hawkes.

PMQs - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about PMQs.

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May both made a positive impression.

From ITV’s Robert Peston

From the Daily Mirror’s Jason Beattie

From the Times’ Patrick Kidd

From Guido Fawkes’ Alex Wickham

From Nyta Mann

From the Jewish Chronicle’s Marcus Dysch

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the Spectator’s Katy Balls

From CNN’s Matt Wells

From the Guardian’s Peter Walker

From the Observer’s Michael Savage

Updated

Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem MP, says the cap should be lifted to reflect economic reality. Circumstances have changed a great deal since it was introduced, he says.

The SNP’s Neil Gray asks if Truss agrees with David Cameron that asking for a pay rise is “selfish”. Truss dodges the question, and just says the government will adopt a responsible approach.

Kenneth Clarke, the Conservative former chancellor, says the government’s policy on this is “sensible”. The government needs to carry on tackling the deficit. If the government did back down on this, that would set off a wave of pay claims across the public sector. That could be “an economic disaster”, he says.

Updated

Truss says she is here because she is responsible for public sector pay.

The policy on public sector pay remains in place, because it is the responsible thing to do, she says.

She says McDonnell was being “disingenuous”.

John Bercow, the speaker, says she must withdraw that. Under the rules, an MP cannot accuse another of lying, or anything similar.

Truss withdraws the term, and says McDonnell was mistaken.

She accuses him of talking down the public services.

Labour has uncosted commitments worth £60bn, she says.

She says the government is looking at pay review body recommendations. It will look at the balance between affordability and what is needed to retain staff.

But she will not take her eye off the public services, she says.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, says Philip Hammond, the chancellor, should have been responding.

He says the pay review bodies are still operating within the guidelines set by government, which say there is a 1% cap.

He says the government has been chaotic. He says last week the government briefed that the policy would be reviewed, only for Number 10 to brief the opposite a few hours later.

He says cabinet ministers are scrapping in the play ground.

He asks Truss how the government’s estimates, on the order paper today, will accommodate the extra money offered to firefighters.

He asks Truss if she agrees that the pay policy is making nurses leave the profession.

When will the new pay policy be announced?

And will the chancellor write to the pay review bodies lifting the 1% cap?

Urgent question on public sector pay

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, is responding to John McDonnell’s urgent question about public sector pay.

She says pay policy is designed to be fair to public sector workers.

But it also has to ensure that that public services are sustainable.

She says some workers have had more than 15.

She says teachers got a pay rise of 3.3% in 2015-16.

More than half of nurses got more than 3% in 2016, she says.

She says the armed forces have had 2.4%.

She says public sector workers have good pension arrangements.

And she says average public sector pay is higher than average private sector pay.

She says the government will respond to the pay review body reports in due course.

Robert Halfon, a Conservative, asks if we can have “a Britain that works for motorists”.

May praises Halfon for the campaigning he has done in the past against a rise in fuel duty. She says Halfon is trying to get her to make a budget commitment. That will have to wait, she says.

Anna Soubry, a Conservative, says some people (ie, Jeremy Corbyn) are saying fewer disadvantaged people are going to university because of tuition fees. Are they right?

May says more disadvantaged 18-year-olds are going to university than in 2009.

Labour’s Seema Malhotra asks about her constituent, the critically ill baby Charlie Gard. She says if there is any discretion in the court rulings for Charlie to go to the US for treatement, will May back this?

May says the thoughts of MPs will be with Charlie and his parents.

She says she is confident that Great Ormand Street hospital will take any decisions with the best interests of Charlie at heart.

James Duddridge, a Conservative (who is not wearing a tie), accuses Labour of trying to weaponise the NHS.

May says NHS England has a plan for developing services over the next five years. She says decisions should be made by clinicians.

Labour’s Diana Johnson says more people have died from the contaminated blood scandal than died in Hillsborough. She says there was a cover-up. Will May order a public inquiry?

May says this is an important issue. If MPs have evidence, it should go to ministers, she says. She says the government has increased the compensation.

In the Commons the Conservative Scott Mann welcomes the Brexit bills in the Queen’s speech. But he asks about the rural post office network.

May says rural post offices play an important role in communities.

The Spectator’s James Forsyth has posted this on Twitter.

And George Osborne has retweeted, posting a smilie as a comment.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, also asked about public sector pay. And, in his two questions, he also challenged May over the impact of quantitative easing (QE). He asked her:

  • Since the 2010 general election the FTSE100 has risen by 39.6%. Monetary policy – not least quantitative easing – has helped drive up financial assets while workers have paid the price for austerity ... Will the prime minister give workers a pay rise?

  • May replied:

  • I would have thought that particularly with his background the hon gentleman would have recognised the role monetary policy including quantitative easing has done.
  • (Blackford used to be a banker.)

    • May now seems to be losing her voice at PMQs.

    PMQs - Snap verdict

    Corbyn had one knockout question. He was effective throughout the whole exchange, and had May on the defensive throughout, but perhaps he would have scored a more decisive win if he had kept hammering away at the point about May being able to afford £1bn for the deal with the DUP that would keep her in her job, while refusing to commit to putting up pay for public sector workers.

    As for the debate about pay and austerity, much of it sounded like a rehash of the debates that David Cameron used to have with Ed Miliband in the first half of the decade. May was over-reliant on economic bullet points, and the “deficit” arguments sounded even more hoary than they did when Cameron was using them.

    But the politics of what she had to say were interesting. Even with public opinion, and half her cabinet, siding with Corbyn, May refused to give an inch on public sector pay. She could have chosen to hint that there will be some relaxation of the policy in the autumn budget, but she didn’t, and instead repeated the Philip Hammond line on pay and austerity almost word for word. And it is not just the Hammond line; it is David Cameron’s and George Osborne’s too. She spent the first nine months of her premiership distancing herself from their record, but today she sounded like the last Osbornite in the cabinet.

    Updated

    Corbyn says when Tories talk of tough choices, we know who suffers. Students have debt that will stay with them until they retire. This is the only country where wages have not recovered since the crash. He says more and more people are using food banks. The low pay epidemic is a threat to our economic stability. Will May offer something for young people, who deserve optimism.

    May says the proportion of people in absolute poverty is at a record low. The government has cut taxes, she says. It is providing jobs for people. The best route out of poverty is work. Corbyn has taken to calling himself a government in waiting. He is waiting to put up taxes and destroy jobs. “We will never let it happen,” she says.

    Corbyn says May “simply doesn’t get it”.

    The Tory jeering is getting very loud. John Bercow says he has got lots of time. He tells MPs they should think about if they want to be seen by their constituents like this. “It is very down market”.

    Corbyn says this is the first generation to be earning less than the previous one. What does May offer the young people of this country.

    May says she offers more jobs, more homes and an opportunity to own their own home.

    What is not fair is to refuse to take tough decisions and to take on more debt, she says.

    It is not fair to say you can have more public spending without paying for it, she says.

    Corbyn says we have had seven years of tax cuts for the rich and corporations. He says NHS staff are leaving. Philip Hammond said last week we all value public servants. But Theresa May found £1bn to keep her own job. Why can’t she find the same amount to keep nurses and teachers in their own jobs? They serve all of us.

    May says there are 600,000 nurses registered in the UK. There are 13,000 more than in 2010. She says she understands that it has been hard, as the government has been dealing with Labour’s mismanagement of the economy. But if you don’t deal with the deficit, you will become like Greece. Spending on the health service in Greece was cut by 36%. That does not help patients or staff.

    Corbyn says he hopes May is proud of the fact nurses need to go to food banks. But it is not just in the public sector that low wages are a problem.

    May says over the last seven years we have seen record number of people in employment, 3m more people in work, the introduction of the national living wage, and 4m people taken out of paying income tax, and a cut in income tax equivalent to a tax cut of £1,000 a year to basic rate taxpayers, including nurses.

    Updated

    Jeremy Corbyn starts by wishing everyone a happy Pride month. But he says half of all LGBT people still face discrimation.

    He also welcomes the NHS’s birthday, but says May should have said more about public sector pay.

    Will the pay cap remain until 2020?

    May also offers her best wishes to Pride. She values the incredibly important work done by public sector workers.

    She says she will set out the current position.

    Three pay review bodies published in April, covering doctors and dentists, NHS staff general and the armed forces, and the government accepted the recommendations.

    Further reports are coming, and the government will respond.

    But the government has to live within its means.

    Corbyn quotes from a letter to a teacher. The teacher said he had had no pay increase for seven years. Only dedication was holding the education system together. That was starting to run out. These people need a pay rise.

    May says there are more nurses than in 2010, and more teachers. She wants to remind Corbyn was pay restraint was necessary; the government inherited the biggest deficit in history, she says. The government has acted to bring the deficit down. It is down by three quarters. The government’s policy balances the need to be fair to public sector workers with the need to protect jobs and to be fair to taxpayers.

    James Morris, a Conservative, asks about the fight against Islamic State in Mosul. Does May agree the UK has to work with the Iraqi government on reconstruction in places like Mosul?

    May says Morris is right. To keep the UK safe, we must continue to fight Isis in Iraq and Syria. And it is important to work on reconstruction too. And we must work together to fight the “hateful ideology” of Isis.

    The SNP’s Hannah Bardell asks about a constituent who faced domestic abuse because she refused genital mutilation of her daughter.

    May says MPs are agreed that female genital mutilation is an “abhorrent” activity that should not be taking place. The message must go out, we will not accept FGM in this country.

    Theresa May starts by saying today is the 69th anniversary of the NHS. And last week marked the 80th anniversary of the 999 service. She pays tribute to the men and women who save lives.

    She says she is going to the G20 later this week.

    Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

    PMQs is about to start.

    Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

    The Financial Times is very good on the government today. George Parker has a long read on Theresa May (paywall), and Parker and James Blitz have a story on Brexit turf wars (paywall).

    Here are some of their key claims.

    • Theresa May’s Brexit policy was determined by a very small group before the general election because her co-chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, froze out alternative views, the FT says. Timothy and Hill both resigned after the election.

    Before the election, policymaking on Brexit was straightforward: it was set inside Mrs May’s fortress by an inner circle with Mr Timothy and Ms Hill at its heart and presented to the cabinet as a fait accompli. The “chiefs” controlled all access to the prime minister; unwelcome advice or overly “pessimistic” officials were kept at bay ...

    So when Mrs May set out her “red lines” for the Brexit negotiations at last year’s conference in a speech written by Mr Timothy, there had been no thorough cabinet consultation. Her insistence, for example, that the European Court of Justice could have no future role in a Brexit settlement came out of the blue and left Brexit secretary David Davis “hamstrung” in negotiations, according to James Chapman, his former chief of staff. Mr Timothy, anxious to court working-class voters, was determined that big business should also be kept at arm’s length from Mrs May. The prime minister’s allies now admit this was a mistake: on Friday business leaders will be invited to a Brexit summit at Chevening, a country house near London, hosted by Mr Davis. Business voices are now starting to fill the policy vacuum.

    • Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is challenging Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, to prove that gains from new trade deals will outweigh the losses from leaving the customs union (which is necessary if Fox is going to have the freedom to negotiate new trade deals).

    Mr Hammond is pressing for a long transition during which Britain would retain close ties to the EU, including remaining in the customs union. The Treasury is challenging Liam Fox, international trade secretary, to prove that the deals he hopes to secure when Britain eventually leaves the customs union more than offset an expected loss of trade with the EU. Mr Hammond is vehemently opposed to Mrs May’s threat — or bluff — that Britain could walk away with no deal at all.

    • Tory Brexit politics can be seen as a battle between the “fuckers” and the “wankers”, according to quotes which show just what the two sides feel about each other.

    The poison is already running around the system. “We can work with half the Labour party and crush the fuckers,” says one Conservative MP, referring to his Eurosceptic colleagues. A leading pro-Brexit MP says he would not tolerate threats from the “wankers” on his party’s pro-European wing.

    • Some Tories are critical of the role the Brexit department plays in the process.

    Some are critical of the role played by the Department for Exiting the EU (Dexeu).

    “Dexeu is supposed to be a secretariat drawing together a common Whitehall position on Brexit,” said one official. “But the central problem we face is that Dexeu is also a department whose lead minister [Davis] has a strong view of what Brexit should look like. It is both a player and a referee and it can’t be both.”

    Some senior figures remain particularly critical of what they say is the secretive role played by Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at Dexeu who is also the prime minister’s chief Sherpa at the Brexit negotiations ...

    Even inside Dexeu, there is unease about how Mr Robbins manages his dual role, reporting to Mr Davis and to Mrs May. “It can get very confused,” says one departmental figure. “Sometimes Olly has sent papers up to Number 10 which David Davis doesn’t get to see. Sometimes Nick Timothy would get sent papers from Olly that nobody else did.”

    Andrea Leadsom, the new leader of the Commons, told Theresa May in the reshuffle that she should be home secretary or foreign secretary, the Times (paywall) reports today. Here is an extract from Francis Elliott’s story.

    Mrs Leadsom initially refused to accept a move from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to Commons leader in the post-election reshuffle and wanted to be home secretary.

    Mrs May had been planning to sack Mrs Leadsom, who pulled out of the leadership race a year ago after a controversial interview with The Times, had she won a landslide victory. Insiders said Mrs Leadsom had struggled to meet the complex challenge of preparing British farming and fishing for a future outside the EU.

    Without an overall majority, the prime minister abandoned a full reshuffle, moving Mrs Leadsom to Commons leader and replacing her at Defra with Michael Gove, the former cabinet minister. On being told of her move from Defra, however, Mrs Leadsom told Mrs May that she believed she deserved a major promotion and wanted to be home secretary or, failing that, foreign secretary. With the prime minister struggling to cling to power, Mrs Leadsom suggested she would resign rather than be demoted.

    Senior sources said that Mrs Leadsom stood her ground for several hours while a panicked No 10, desperate to avoid a resignation that might trigger a leadership challenge, sought a way out. She took the job as Commons leader, traditionally seen as a step towards a cabinet exit, only after extracting a promise that she would be allowed a wide-ranging role promoting and defending the government.

    After PMQs there will be an urgent question on public sector pay, and then a Commons statement from Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, on Grenfell Tower.

    Starmer says excluding ECJ from any say over UK after Brexit should not be red line

    Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, and Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, have a letter in today’s Financial Times (paywall) clarifying Labour’s position on the European court of justice. Prompted by a letter in the FT yesterday from Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, and Greg Clark, the business secretary, in which they said the government wanted to continue to “work closely” with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after Brexit, the two Labour figures say the Hunt/Clark letter does not really explain whether the government is relaxing its objection to any post-Brexit deal that would continue to give the European court of justice a say over British affairs.

    Starmer and Ashworth explain:

    [Hunt] stated [in evidence to a Commons committee in January] that he “did not expect” Britain to remain in the EMA after Brexit and that it was “likely” the EMA would move its HQ from London. Mr Hunt was also clear that he and Mrs May saw this as “a matter of sovereignty” and that membership of the EMA was impossible because the government “could not agree to anything that meant that we were subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice”.

    Labour recognises that our future relationship with the ECJ will have to change after we exit the EU, but rejects the ideological and deeply unhelpful red line the prime minister has drawn that would prevent any future involvement of an EU-UK court-like body, even when such an arrangement is demonstrably in the national interest. We have called for a more flexible approach that would make it far easier for Britain to stay inside common EU arrangements that benefit the UK.

    Police says they have made '87 recoveries' from Grenfell Tower

    This is what the Press Association has filed about the police saying they have made 87 recoveries from Grenfell Tower.

    Police investigating the Grenfell Tower disaster say they have made “87 recoveries” but stressed “the catastrophic damage” inside means “that is not 87 people”.

    Most survivors displaced from Grenfell Tower and Walk are still living in hotels three weeks after the deadly blaze as the government attempts to find them suitable accommodation.

    Fourteen households hoping to be moved out of emergency accommodation have accepted offers for more permanent living arrangements, Grenfell Response Team (GRT) said.

    It also emerged that a specialist taskforce will be sent in to Kensington and Chelsea council to take over the running of key services, following heavy criticism of its response to the disaster.

    Commander Stuart Cundy, who is overseeing the Metropolitan Police response to the fire said: “On Monday, we forensically recovered the last of the visible human remains from Grenfell Tower and transferred them to Westminster mortuary.

    In total we have made 87 recoveries, but I must stress that the catastrophic damage inside Grenfell Tower means that is not 87 people.

    Until formal identification has been completed to the coroner’s satisfaction I cannot say how many people have now been recovered.”

    The Press Association has just snapped this.

    Police investigating the Grenfell Tower disaster say they have made “87 recoveries” but stressed that “the catastrophic damage” inside means “that is not 87 people”.

    Updated

    New Kensington and Chelsea council chief says she asked government to send in recovery taskforce

    Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, has now formally announced that he is sending in what he describes as an “independent recovery taskforce” to help Kensington and Chelsea council deal with the aftermath of Grenfell Tower. We previewed this earlier here, and the press notice does not add a great deal to the earlier briefing. It says information about who will be on the taskforce, and what it will do, will be announced “with the following few weeks”.

    But the press notice includes a quote from the new leader of the council, Elizabeth Campbell, saying she requested help. In other words, she is claiming the taskforce was not imposed on the council against her wishes. She said:

    We have a lot of very dedicated council staff working to provide help and support to those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

    But the unprecedented scale of this incident makes it impossible for one organisation to cope on its own.

    That’s why my first action as leader was to ask DCLG [department for communities and local government] for help, and I’m delighted they have been so swift to respond.

    Good morning. I’m sorry I’m starting late today. I was held up for various routine, domestic reasons.

    Here are the main stories we have been running this morning.

    • Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, has dampened hopes of an imminent lifting of the 1% public sector pay cap for teachers, police and prison officers, saying the issue was a matter for future budgets.
    • A specialist taskforce is to be sent in to Kensington and Chelsea council to take over the running of key services in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
    • Just 14 of 158 families evacuated from Grenfell Tower have accepted offers of temporary accommodation three weeks after the fire, officials have revealed.

    The main event on the agenda today is PMQs at 12pm.

    As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary after PMQs and another in the afternoon.

    You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

    If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

    I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

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    Forget birdwatching, I’m into moth-watching: they’re fascinating and misunderstood insects
    According to new research, distinguishing between the UK’s 2,500 species could halt cognitive decline – so my brain could not be happier, or healthier, says science writer Helen Pilcher
    The Guardian - UK
    The Guardian - UK
    I tried HigherDose’s $1,400 PEMF mat to help me relax. I got weird dreams and disappointment
    This pricey infrared therapy mat claims to help mood, sleep and muscle recovery. It felt more like a glorified heating pad
    The Guardian - US
    The Guardian - US
    Florida judge asked if Black defendant had ever ‘chopped cotton’ as he mulled community service sentence, report says
    The judge acknowledged his remarks were ‘ill-considered,’ court documents state
    The Independent UK
    The Independent UK
    Watch Zakk Wylde in emotional video for Black Label Society's Ozzy Osbourne tribute
    Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society release video for Ozzy's Song – their touching tribute to the late Prince of Darkness
    Metal Hammer
    Metal Hammer
    Robert Pattinson Sparks Buzz After Relationship “Red Flag” Remark Fans Link To Kristen Stewart
    “100% shading Kristen Stewart,” one user wrote
    Bored Panda
    Bored Panda
    Valerie Bertinelli Says She Feels “Deformed” In Raw, Emotional Body Confession
    “I mean, if you read the book, you’ll know that my b*obs are deformed,” Valerie Bertinelli said.
    Bored Panda
    Bored Panda
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