Rees Mogg uses common sense to flee burning building.

[longwayoff]

Or, he would, if he were to find himself in that situation. Having previously insulted the medical knowledge and expertise of a leading neurologist, he now advises ignoring fire service advice, saying those who died in Grenfell lacked common sense and should have left the building. AIBU to say this man's ignorance is an embarrassment and he is unfit for public service?

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/grenfell-tower-jacob-rees-mogg_uk_5dc93b5fe4b02bf579430d17

OPINION
11/11/2019 11:52 GMT
I Lost Family In Grenfell. If The Conservatives Really Cared, They Would Sack Jacob Rees-Mogg
If you are serious about rectifying the wrongs against us, make an example of the Leader of the House of Commons, and MP Andrew Bridgen, Clarrie Mendy writes.
By Clarrie Mendy

To the co-chairs of the Conservative party, James Cleverly & Ben Eliot,

Recent comments by MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg and Andrew Bridgen have brought insult and dismay to me as someone who lost two family members in the Grenfell Tower fire, Mary Mendy and Khadija Saye.

The suggestion by Rees-Mogg that they, and other residents, lacked the common sense to leave the burning building is an utter betrayal of the loved ones we lost. It is the final straw compounding a litany of failures which saw flammable cladding put on Grenfell Tower, rehousing of families torturously drawn out and an inquiry set up in which the families and residents have had to lobby the government to ensure it meets our needs every step of the way.

RELATED...
Jacob Rees-Mogg Faces Mounting Calls To Resign After Suggesting Grenfell Tower Victims Lacked 'Common Sense'
My deceased family members cannot speak for themselves and the Conservative MPs’ comment are an insult to their memory, to the lives they lived. There are no words to express the unbearable pain their comments have caused our family.

The pain of their words cannot be rectified by an apology, no matter how profuse or how grovelling. It appears your party has learnt nothing from your manifesto commitment to “stand up to those in positions of power who abuse that privilege”, which was quoted in the report to ensure the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough families is not repeated.

The Grenfell community is still suffering. Such comments give an insight into what many of us have feared: that our family members were treated as second class citizens and the residents’ appeals for fire safety from the local Conservative-led council prior to the disaster were ignored, because they were considered less equal.

I believe the comments of Rees-Mogg and Bridgen should disqualify them from standing for public office. I therefore call on the Conservative party to finally step up and do the right thing, and do it quickly.

Grenfell is a scar that will take generations to heal. If you are serious about rectifying the wrongs against us, make an example of both and withdraw them as candidates before the nomination deadline this Thursday 14 November.

I and many affected by the Grenfell fire spend the 14th of every month reliving the pain and trauma of what we suffered on the 14 June 2017.

This month, I will be watching to see whether finally, over two years later, you are capable of taking the steps necessary to do right by my family that your successive governments have, so far, failed to do so abysmally.

Don’t let us down again,

Clarrie Mendy

Relative of Mary Mendy and Khadija Saye

tribunemag.co.uk/2019/11/debunking-the-grenfell-lies

Debunking the Grenfell Lies
By
Emma Dent Coad
This week Liberal Democrat Sam Gyimah claimed that Labour MP Emma Dent Coad was partly responsible for the Grenfell tragedy - here, she debunks his allegation and calls on him to apologise for the smear.

wo days after the Grenfell Tower fire an article appeared in London’s Evening Standard in which the former Conservative MP for Kensington accused me of ‘collective responsibility’ for the fire. This was exactly a week after I had won the Kensington constituency, overturning a Tory majority of 7,000 by just 20 votes.

I witnessed the fire, at the end of my road, in which several friends had been able to escape – and others had not. Some of them had been active in the residents’ group which had predicted the fire in November 2016, and then for their trouble had been sent a cease and desist letter from the Council for “scaremongering.”

The fire was utterly shocking and unbearably sad. The accusation levelled against me was inexcusable. I had countless death threats and had to ask the police for protection. My house was under police surveillance. I have asked three times for the former Tory MP Victoria Borwick to apologise and admit she had spoken in error. To date, she has refused

After Jacob Rees-Mogg’s appalling comments at the start of this election that the victims of the fire lacked ‘common sense,’ I didn’t think it could get worse. But I was wrong. Grenfell has become a political football. In recent days the Liberal Democrat candidate Sam Gyimah has repeated the accusation that I was somehow involved, but embellished it by saying that I “was part of all the discussions that went on in terms of the cladding.”

This is quite simply a lie. Where Gyimah got his information from I have no idea, but when misinformation brings death threats, and the perpetrator refuses to correct the error or apologise, and others don’t bother to verify and repeat it, the lie spreads like a virus.

So, here are some checkable facts which I hope will end this libel. I joined the Board of the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) in June 2008 and left in October 2012. (Here is a link to the Board of Directors, also showing which Councillors were on it and when. Council Leader Cllr. Elizabeth Campbell was on the Board at the same time as me.

During my tenure there had been numerous complaints from residents about the condition of Grenfell Tower: broken lifts, draughty windows, poor insulation, and the heating and hot water system regularly breaking down.

In October 2012 (around the time I left the TMO) the then-Cabinet member Cllr. Tim Coleridge announced that a major refurbishment would be undertaken. Residents were pleased. At the time, the proposed contractor was with Leadbitter. The scope of the work was agreed at the time, but the detail was to come.

In April 2013 responsibility for the project was handed over to the new Cabinet member, Cllr. Rock Feilding-Mellen. It was not until January 2014 that the planning application was agreed (search for Grenfell Tower at this link)

n April 2014 it was announced by the Council and TMO that, due to costs, the contract had been awarded to Rydon rather than Leadbitter, who had scoped the work. Note that this was after the planning application was granted approval.

Throughout the summer amendments were made and detailed specifications decided. Cladding materials were proposed on 1 July, 2014. There were several amendments during this period. Often the details of these are done by ‘delegated decision’, which means the final details and choice of materials is decided by officers and not the Planning Committee.

Then on 30 September 2014 ‘Condition 3’ was agreed by delegated decision; this related to the final choice of cladding.

Who made those decisions, advised by whom, and why, should be thoroughly scrutinised by the agencies tasked with the job of investigating these matters and allocating accountability, responsibility, blame and – we hope ultimately – guilt.

To be clear, I was on the Board when the principle of refurbishing Grenfell Tower was discussed, but I was nowhere near the decision-making process for the detailed specifications for refurbishing Grenfell which started when I left. Board members agreed the contract but do not specify cladding or indeed any other technical details. Neither should they.

As you can see clearly from the dates when decisions were made above, the accusation made by the Liberal Democrat candidate Sam Gyimah is incorrect. He has been asked to apologise for his mistake. At the time of writing he has not.

I have signed up for the ‘Compassion in Politics’ campaign, which among other things hopes to: avoid language or behaviour that encourages hate or disrespect; speak with truth and integrity; uphold a level of respect and professionalism. I have huge respect for those who set up this campaign. Some of those who have signed should have a long, hard think.

I met Gyimah for the first time at a hustings recently, and offered a quiet chat afterwards on whether he wished to withdraw his comments. He didn’t take up the offer. I have no wish to spend time, money and stress taking legal action against someone who is clearly misinformed, but if I must, I will.

If this politically motivated lie continues to spread some people will believe it. My life could be in danger. He will be responsible for that.

Politics has always been argumentative and bitter at times. It has now become deadly. For the record, I will never respond in kind. Kindness – and compassion – are also contagious"

I've met Dani Cotton. She is absolutely formidable - and absolutely the person you would want on your side in a crisis.

The responsibility is not with the LFB, but with those who allowed, or turned a blind eye to, the use of flammable cladding.

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/grenfell-contractor-wins-100m-contract-to-redevelop-london-estate-64125

Grenfell contractor wins £100m contract to redevelop London estate

NEWS
12/11/19
1:10 PM
BY JAMES WILMORE

A London council has officially announced the selection of Rydon for a £100m estate regeneration scheme, days after the secretary of state said it should no longer bid for public works

Ealing Council has officially awarded a £100m contract to redevelop the 264-home High Lane estate to Grenfell contractor Rydon #ukhousing
Twitter IHRydon has fought off two other bids to win a £99m contract with Ealing Council to regenerate the High Lane estate in Hanwell #ukhousing
Ealing Council has officially awarded the East Sussex-based firm the contract to demolish its 264-home High Lane estate, in Hanwell, and build 450 new homes of mixed tenure.

Rydon, which was the principal contractor for the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, has been the preferred developer on the project since April 2017.

The contractor fought off two other bids to win the £99m contract as development partner, according to an Official Journal of the European Union notice.

The principal development agreement was signed officially on 8 October. The three-phase scheme, which has been backed by 90% of residents in a ballot, is expected to complete in 2027

Rydon is a major contractor in the social housing sector for construction, repairs and refurbishment projects.

Last week it emerged that it had been included on a government framework to work on high-rise residential buildings in the South of England.

However, after a backlash from survivors of the Grenfell fire, housing secretary Robert Jenrick advised the contractor not to bid for public work until investigations into the fire had been completed.

It also emerged that London mayor Sadiq Khan had signed an order last year saying it was not in the public interest to let Rydon bid for works until the Grenfell Inquiry had reported on “the extent to which any Rydon group companies or employee contributed to causing or exacerbating the Grenfell Tower fire”.

In a statement to Inside Housing, Ealing Council said: “We selected Rydon as a partner for this project in April 2017. This was after a three-stage competitive dialogue EU procurement process that shortlisted to five and then three companies. We then signed a principal development agreement with Rydon in October 2019.”

It added: “The eventual plans for High Lane will meet all current fire safety standards and there can be no comparison made with the construction methods or materials at Grenfell Tower. Residents have been fully aware throughout the process that Rydon is the developer on the project.”

However it added that the agreement “grants us the right to step in if for any reason they cannot fulfil their contractual obligations on the project”.

Rydon declined to comment on the contract award.

Last week Sir Martin Moore-Bick, chair of the Grenfell Inquiry, deemed the aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding installed on the outside of the tower the “primary cause” of the vertical spread of the flames and said that it failed to comply with building regulations.

Rydon was tasked with the refurbishment of the tower, which included new windows, a new communal heating system and the cladding. It sub-contracted the installation of the cladding to Harley Facades and the panels were provided by multinational materials company Arconic.

The first phase of the inquiry looked mainly into the events on the night of the fire. Phase two will look more at the lead-up to the fire, including the refurbishment.

Among the conclusions of the first phase was that the ACM cladding fitted during the refurbishment of the 24-storey block was the “primary cause of fire spread” and did not comply with building regulations.

Rydon is also working on a £155m joint venture contract with A2Dominion on regenerating Ealing’s Green Man Lane estate

Ealing Council’s full response
“Since 2013, the council has been working with residents of the High Lane estate to consider how we could make it a better place to live.

“Residents confirmed that they want the estate to be comprehensively redeveloped, which was confirmed in an independent ballot last December with 90% of eligible voters backing plans to rebuild their neighbourhood.

“We selected Rydon as a partner for this project in April 2017. This was after a three-stage competitive dialogue EU procurement process that shortlisted to five and then three companies. We then signed a principal development agreement with Rydon on 8 October 2019.

“The agreement grants us the right to step in if for any reason they cannot fulfil their contractual obligations on the project.

“Since 2017 Rydon have been working with the council and High Lane residents to produce a design for the new estate, in order to build the safe, modern homes that our tenants want. The design process was put on hold while we balloted residents. It is starting up again now with a new round of design workshops.

“All designs are being fully consulted on with residents. The eventual plans for High Lane will meet all current fire safety standards and there can be no comparison made with the construction methods or materials at Grenfell Tower. Residents have been fully aware throughout the process that Rydon is the developer on the project.

“The estate will be redeveloped in three phases between 2021 and 2027. Once completed it will offer 217 new genuinely affordable housing options for local people."

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3744760-Fire-at-student-block-of-flats-in-Bolton?watched=1&msgid=91612753#91612753

www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/more-than-100000-medium-rise-buildings-outside-scope-of-fire-safety-measures-minutes-reveal-64231?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

More than 100,000 medium-rise buildings outside scope of fire safety measures, minutes reveal

NEWS
22/11/19
BY PETER APPS

There are more than 100,000 medium-rise homes that fall outside new regulations aimed at making buildings safe in the aftermath of Grenfell, including the ban on combustible cladding, Inside Housing can reveal.

More than 100,000 medium-rise buildings outside scope of fire safety measures, minutes reveal

NEWS
22/11/19
BY PETER APPS

There are more than 100,000 medium-rise homes that fall outside new regulations aimed at making buildings safe in the aftermath of Grenfell, including the ban on combustible cladding, Inside Housing can reveal.

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Twitter IHThere are more than 100,000 medium-rise homes which fall outside new regulations aimed making buildings safe in the aftermath of Grenfell, including the ban on combustible cladding #ukhousing
Twitter IHLeaked minutes from a meeting between councils and the government show that lowering the high-rise threshold to 11m would increase scope to 100,000 buildings #ukhousing
Leaked minutes from a meeting between local authority figures and government officials have shown that lowering the official threshold for a ‘high-rise building’ to 11m would raise the current number of buildings in scope from 12,000 to more than 100,000.

These buildings, which can be up to seven storeys tall, sit outside requirements to remove dangerous cladding, as well as newer recommendations to provide fire alarms and write evacuation strategies.

The ban on the use of combustible materials also only applies from 18m – meaning new buildings can currently be built with combustible cladding in compliance with government guidance.

The Cube in Bolton, which was ravaged by fire ripping through combustible high-pressure laminate panels last weekend, measured 17.86m, meaning it slipped narrowly below this threshold.

A huge fire that tore through combustible timber cladding in Barking, east London, in June also occurred in a building below 18m.

Industry sources said that builders have deliberately designed projects to narrowly below 18m to circumvent the regulatory requirements that kick in above that threshold.

Scotland recently changed regulations to reduce the threshold to 11m. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, chair of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, said last month that he would consider recommending such a change in phase two of the inquiry.

It comes as Inside Housing updates its End Our Cladding Scandal campaign ahead of the general election. The campaign calls for a national taskforce to prioritise the building safety work required after Grenfell and a building safety fund that could be used for any tower with serious safety issues, regardless of height.

Funding is currently restricted to buildings with aluminium composite material cladding above 18m only.

The minutes obtained by Inside Housing record a meeting between representatives of London boroughs and government officials held in September.

“There are 12,000 existing buildings over 18m… should we lower the building height to 11m, the number will go up to over 100,000,” they read
Paul Bussey, CDM and fire lead at AHMM Architects and a member of the expert panel on fire safety at the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: “There are people who are gaming the system by limiting buildings to six storeys.

“We are pretty convinced [at RIBA] that the combustibles ban should come down to 11m, if not all buildings. Why put combustible cladding on any building?”

Jonathan O’Neill, managing director at the Fire Protection Association, said he had also heard about the practice of designing below 18m to avoid the ban.

He added that the system should be reformed to prioritise safety based on risk – such as the number of occupants and their vulnerability – rather than simply height.

If you take the Crewe care home fire [Beechmere Care Home], there were 120 elderly residents present. There is no way any height parameter would have applied to that building,” he said.

One other industry source said that if the threshold was not reduced, the effect of the post-Grenfell regulations would simply be “a new generation of buildings narrowly below 18m in height”.

Inside Housing’s End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, run in partnership with leaseholders of affected buildings, calls on the next government to take control of the cladding crisis at a national level.

It is supported by Grenfell United, the Fire Brigades Union, the National Housing Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing and many others.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was unable to comment because of the election.

The Conservative Party did not respond to requests for comment

www.independent.co.uk/voices/election-tory-grenfrell-tower-fire-boris-johnson-a9242341.html

"Grenfell should have been central to this election, the government’s deficient response to the dozens of lives lost reflects their attitude to many areas of social care.

I lost my cousin Mary Mendy and her daughter Khadija Saye in the Grenfell Tower fire. What followed was a litany of institutional failures by the Conservative government and local council. Instead of grieving our loss, my family have had to fight for justice. The lessons have not been learnt. Potentially dangerous cladding is still on buildings. The Bolton fire at a student tower block last month likely should not have happened.

Rehousing Grenfell residents has been torturously slow and the inquiry is still ongoing, meaning we are without justice or closure. This last few years since the fire have been a living hell. Leading Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg’s callous remarks suggest that residents lacked the common sense to leave the building. My relatives made it to the stairway. If Rees-Mogg had met with us he would know how incorrect, wrong and painful his comments are. My calls on the Conservative Party to remove him as a candidate and for him personally to meet with me to explain himself, have been ignored.

The Conservatives seem more comfortable talking to the media about Grenfell, than talking to people like me who have been deeply affected.

Rees-Mogg has kept a low-profile since his shameful comments. His words give an insight into how I feel my family were treated, as second class citizens. Austerity, social housing and cuts on fire safety impacted with devastating consequences at Grenfell. The Conservative government failed me and my family

This includes Sam Gyimah, who was universities minister until his resignation in November last year, and who later defected to the Liberal Democrats after losing the Conservative whip. He gave assurances that cladding on student tower blocks was being investigated and that steps were being taken. However, the Bolton fire proves otherwise.

If the issues that arise from the Grenfell catastrophe were prioritised during this election, Gyimah, now standing as a Lib Dem candidate in the very London borough where Grenfell happened, would never have been put forward as a candidate in the area.

This is an election like no other. Justice for bereaved families and residents of Grenfell should be front and centre. There are wider lessons relating to austerity and the disregard for disadvantaged communities which meant flammable cladding was, and still is, on tower blocks, which means another Grenfell could happen.

This is why I shudder at the thought of the Conservatives being elected again, given their treatment of me and my family. The Liberal Democrats did not mention either Grenfell or cladding in their manifesto. So neither they or the Conservatives give me confidence. Their record in coalition together and as parties, right up to this election, is woefully inadequate. Labour’s Emma Dent Coad was only in office for less than a week as the local MP when the Grenfell Tower catastrophe happened. She has been a constant ally in my fight for justice in parliament and beyond. This is in contrast to the Conservative-run local council that I have had to personally confront over their failings despite ill health.

The council should have been taken into special measures in the wake of the fire. I believe the council failed to listen to residents before the fire, it was “missing in action” during the fire and it continued to fail them afterwards. The council have not yet consulted with me regarding their recovery strategy or programme, even though I am a bereaved family member and a core participant in the public inquiry

The council also stopped holding Grenfell scrutiny committees which were supposed to keep it accountable to the community After the tragedy, it was exposed for still failing on basic fire safety in social housing in the area. Nine households of former residents affected as of this October, were still without permanent homes more than two years after the catastrophe. The government has failed to retrofit fire sprinklers in tower blocks or remove flammable cladding which is still on buildings. Jeremy Corbyn’s response in the wake of the tragedy was genuine and considerate, in complete contrast to then prime minister Theresa May, who was criticised for not meeting with those who were affected soon enough.

The government’s legacy over Grenfell is characterised by a long list of failures. Unless this changes and the ongoing demands for fire safety are addressed, another fire could happen. Over two years on, I believe only a change of government can make the difference that is so desperately needed"

OF COURSE ITS COMMON SENSE.

People. In 9/11, people were told by officialdom, to stay in the second tower.

Is memory that short, that you cannot remember people chosing to jump rather than burn????

Fuck officials and their tick box bullshit.

[it is worth remembering also, that the hijackers were able to take the plane over with STANLEY KNIVES because THE OFFICIAL GUIDELINES OF THE TIME said 'cooperate with hijackers]. More tick box bullshit.

I would have run.

But it was arrogant of him to say, because hindsight is an exact science, AND when people are frightened, they trust officials.

Tired of right on outrage!

Poor people are not always wonderful helpless angels,

often they are very stupid and make bad life choices, are often terrible with money (think of lottery winners/boxers/wives who go through millions back to being poor)

AND IT SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT POLICE duty to censor this common sense observation being pointed out.

So there.

I am no fan of mogg but he didn’t say that and the comments were taken out if context to smear him. Sorry to spoil the party but poor cladding killed the residents of grenfell, not the tories.

Well, he's certainly used his common sense to save himself from further public scorn by fleeing from the GE publicity campaign. I expect he took expert advice from Cummings at al. Well done Mogg, you'll be allowed out soon.

Have you seen the width of the Grenfell staircases? About the with of the staircase in a smallish house. Trying to escape down that in the dark in black choking smoke with firefighters trying to come up the opposite way?

Anyone who believes the snivelling 'out of context' garbage can find the original on LBC.

muminabun

He absolutely did say that

Im glad he has been temporarily at least removed from the public eye, mans a fool

often they are very stupid and make bad life choices, are often terrible with money (think of lottery winners/boxers/wives who go through millions back to being poor)

Said like a true uncaring, judgemental Tory. Fuck off.

Absolutely long

often they are very stupid and make bad life choices, are often terrible with money (think of lottery winners/boxers/wives who go through millions back to being poor)

Wow. Spoken like a true Tory. Well done, you cold hearted bigot. People who are stupid deserve to die, do they?

Sorry to spoil the party but poor cladding killed the residents of grenfell, not the tories

Cladding which would not have been on there if the Tory government had adequate building regulations in place.

Sorry to spoil the party but poor cladding killed the residents of grenfell, not the tories

And that makes it ok that JRM blames the victims, does it?

never trust the tories!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/14/grenfell-tory-mp-kensington-tower-tragedy

After Grenfell, a Tory MP for Kensington is a bitter pill
Seraphima Kennedy

It is a bitter pill for the community in Kensington North to swallow. This morning, almost 30 months since the fatal fire at that killed 54 adults and 18 children, the general election returned a Conservative MP, Felicity Buchan, by just 150 votes. Buchan beat the incumbent, Emma Dent-Coad (who was herself elected with only a slim margin of 20 votes back in 2017, just days before the Grenfell Tower fire).

The residents of Kensington, whose council is still under investigation for corporate manslaughter, now have an MP from the party that rejected the recommendations that could have prevented Grenfell. That same party has also failed to get to grips with the scale of the cladding scandal since the fire. If anything, progress is going backwards: thousands remain in unsafe homes, and new figures released today show an increase in the number of tower blocks with Grenfell-style cladding.

Sam Gyimah was parachuted in but ran a tone-deaf campaign, delivering generic leaflets to still traumatised people
It is hard to see how such a candidate could be returned in a borough where 72 people died so recently, after their concerns about the building were repeatedly ignored. Blame for today’s result was levelled at an aggressive campaign by the Liberal Democrats, fielding newly converted Sam Gyimah, who had little to do with either Grenfell or Kensington before the election was called. Gyimah was parachuted in but ran a tone-deaf campaign, delivering generic leaflets to homes in north Kensington still traumatised by the fire and its aftermath
His campaign literature did not reference Grenfell or the long-term recovery plan, leading to strong criticism from residents. Instead, the campaign stuck to issues the Lib Dems thought would appeal to remain voters: Brexit, schools, the NHS. This was not so much an oversight as a catastrophic slap in the face for a community still working to rebuild. Gyimah himself repeated unfounded accusations about Dent-Coad’s role in the refurbishment at Grenfell, leading to an official complaint, and failed to understand the lived experience of the constituents he was trying to win over.
A swing of 9% to the Lib Dems in this strongly remain borough gave Gyimah more than 9,000 votes, splitting the vote. There were cries of “shame” as the results were announced early this morning – a far cry from the jubilant scenes that greeted Dent-Coad’s election in early June 2017, two weeks before the fire. With a Conservative MP now elected, there is significant concern about whether promised change in the borough will be delivered. This is a grave disservice to a community who has worked day and night to rebuild.

Outside of the north of Kensington, Buchan’s election is a devastating blow for families like mine, who rely on local services and have never felt represented in this borough. Overcrowding, lack of truly affordable housing, poor repairs, and cuts to schools, mental health facilities and other services have made many residents feel as though the change promised after Grenfell has not come.

In the summer of 2019, the government’s own Grenfell Independent Taskforce delivered its fourth report into the extent of changes happening at the council. It stated: “There is a strategic failure to present a coherent narrative on recovery and the progress and outcomes that have or will be delivered. This means that it is difficult for us, never mind the bereaved, survivors and wider community, to see whether the council is really delivering or not.” It also commented that some behaviours in public meetings from elected members were “unedifying”. This is the council, this is the culture.

If Buchan wants to last in Kensington, she will need to quickly familiarise herself with the commitments already given by council leaders, study the work set out in the Independent Taskforce reports, and deliver on promised change. The government itself has immediate work to do: it needs to get a grip on the remediation programme, make homes safe, and deliver on the recommendations in the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 report. Otherwise, the odds seem stacked against a community that has poured so much energy into the rebuild effort.

The residents of north Kensington need justice for their community. The bereaved and survivors continue to campaign for better services. They were ignored before the fire, and no matter what party their MP belongs to, their voices must be heard now. They have been promised change: that change must come.

• Seraphima Kennedy is a writer and academic researcher"