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Grenfell inquiry will NOT be including broader context and attitudes towards social housing tenants.

87 replies

HelenaDove · 15/08/2017 13:44

Statement from Emma Dent Coad.

kensingtonlabour.com/2017/08/15/grenfell-inquiry-terms-of-reference/amp/

The general attitudes towards tenants are part of the problem. Yet its not to be included?!

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PoppyPopcorn · 15/09/2017 08:21

Tenants and actions groups can't have it all.

This enquiry is opening very soon after the event - just think how long it's taken for other enquiries to happen. It took almost 30 years for the Hillsborough enquiry to happen. This is what the action groups demanded.

It will also be looking at the specifics of this case and this case only - again, as the action groups wanted. They will be looking at the actions of the council in this specific case.

These are all very specific, concrete things to look at. Paper trails, minutes, invoices, etc etc etc. Specific people to speak to and interview.

Broadening the enquiry to take in aspects such as woolly concepts like "attitudes to social tenants" is impossible - where do you look for evidence? There are hardly going to be meeting minutes saying "we don't really mind if social tenants are in unsafe accommodation". There is going to be far less hard evidence when looking at these concepts and it's all ifs and buts and he said and she said. So the conclusion is likely to be equally woolly.

Plus - the enquiry is looking into potential law breaking. Has health and safety law been broken? Was there negligence and if so, who's fault was it? Holding an opinion or having an attitude isn't a crime.

NewDaddie · 15/09/2017 12:32

Thank you @HelenaDove for sharing this.

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isadoradancing123 · 15/09/2017 17:31

In the end probably no one will be held accountable, no heads will roll, they will utter the usual shite about lessons being learned and nothing will change. Cynical, yes .

woman11017 · 15/09/2017 17:38

Bhupinder Singh has been one of the key volunteers helping the Grenfell Tower survivors. He reminded us that most of the residents of Grenfell were immigrants, a large proportion were refugees, and all were poor, living in one of the wealthiest boroughs in Europe. Those who have died have not all been identified and those who escaped have not all been given the right levels of accommodation and support, particularly with regards to mental health treatment. He concluded: "the measure of any society is how it treats its poor

www.southeastlibdems.org.uk/lib_dems_march_for_exit_from_brexit".

I can't find footage of Bhupinder Singh's speech, but I learnt more about Grenfell from it than I have on msm for months

He talked about the real mortality rate, and the tragic effect the fire has had on the firemen on duty that night.

woman11017 · 15/09/2017 17:39

Singh was a guest speaker at the People's March for the EU last Saturday.

HelenaDove · 25/09/2017 16:21

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/grenfell-foodbanks-emma_uk_59c8ee4ce4b06ddf45f93ca2

Grenfell survivors had to use food banks and a disabled survivor was left sitting in her own excrement after being moved six times and being forgotten.

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HelenaDove · 25/09/2017 16:28

"Some of the stories are shocking,” said Dent Coad. “The council-run response centre is depressing and uninviting as well as run in an occasionally cavalier manner.

“On my first visit, I discovered that none of the volunteers were DBS checked. They were dealing with deeply traumatised and vulnerable people. They were helping to hand out cash. They were running a crèche.

“One of those volunteers that I had concerns about two months has finally been caught for an alleged fraud. There are other cases to come and it is down to the incompetence of the council and no coordination.”

She also claimed some survivors had been advised not to approach her for help as it would affect their chances of getting housing."

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ReginaBlitzkreig · 25/09/2017 19:02

We need to let this judge and his team undertake this, focused, task. After they report people can set up other inquiries to look at particular aspects of what happened.

This blog by a barrister argues it much better than I could:
Fact Finding.

He says:
As I write we can be certain that teams of (very expensive) lawyers are preparing the evidence on behalf of the many corporate interests involved. Similarly teams of (very expensive) experts will be instructed in an attempt to persuade the Enquiry that the party who instructs them are not at fault.

At the Enquiry itself we can be certain that many of the victims will give different, sometimes contradictory, accounts of what happened. None of these will be lying. It will need a careful and expert fact=finder to make sure every witness is treated carefully and sympathetically while the accurate parts of their evidence is fully and properly accepted.

Again we can be certain that lawyers, and pressure groups, for the multitude of parties involved will be putting through hotly contested versions of the facts, ranging from the basic terms of the contract, the technical aspects of the cladding, to what happened during teh fire.

Someone, and someone very capable, is going to have to cut through all this evidence to come to the truth as to what happened.

Until we can answer the question "How did it happen?" with some degree of certainty, we can't deal with all the wider issues that are so important.

Make no mistake this is going to be a difficult and laborious process. Getting to the bottom of, probably several decades, worth of policies, technical information and numerous witnesses (some of whom will be very anxious to deflect blame).

HelenaDove · 29/09/2017 00:05

Newsnight film Grenfell Tower The 21st Floor.

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