THERESA May has personally apologised for the response of the Government to the Grenfell Tower fire saying the state failed residents in how it reacted to the horrific fire that has left at least 79 dead and hundreds homeless.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, a contrite May said: “The whole country was heartbroken by the horrific loss of life and the utter devastation that we have seen.
“One lady I had met ran from the fire wearing no more than a t-shirt and a pair of knickers. She had lost absolutely everything.”
May continued: “So let me be absolutely clear. The support on the ground for families in the initial hours was not good enough.
“People were left without belongings, without roofs over their heads, without even basic information about what had happened, what they should do, and where they could seek help.
“That was a failure of the state, local and national, to help people when they needed it most. As Prime Minister, I apologise for that failure.”
May said that all those who had lost homes would be rehoused within three weeks.
And the Prime Minister said there would be a “new strategy for resilience in major disasters, which could include a new civil disaster response task force”.
The fire dominated the opening exchanges in the Queen’s Speech debate yesterday. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was both a tragedy and an outrage as “every single one of those deaths could have been avoided”.
“Something has gone horrifically wrong. The North Kensington community is demanding answers, and it is entitled to those answers. Thousands of people living in tower blocks around the country need urgent reassurance, and the emergency services – especially, in this case, the fire and rescue services – deserve our deepest respect and support.”
The Government are to allocate 68 new social housing flats about a mile and a half away from Grenfell to some of the survivors.
The one-, two- and three-bedroom flats are located in two blocks that stand alongside a large luxury development, where private homes go for up to £8.5 million.
There have been concerns that residents and families affected by the fire would be rehoused in other parts of the country due to the severe shortage of homes in London. A small number of Grenfell residents are still sleeping in rest centres set up in the aftermath of the fire, one week on.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Alhajali, the Syrian refugee who was the first victim of the fire to be formally identified, was buried yesterday.
In a statement, his family said: “His very last words to us were how much he missed us. Ever since he moved away from us, we tried to be united with him and his brothers, and now, instead, we have been united by his body,”
A planned “day of rage”, started by Movement For Justice By Any Means Necessary, seemed to fizzle out with just 500 people joining the march, after residents from Grenfell distanced themselves from the plan to “bring down the Government”.
The Clement James Centre, which has been helping those displaced by the fire, earlier shunned the movement as opportunistic.
“We cannot emphasise enough how against this many of the affected residents we’ve spoken to are and they do not want their grief hijacked for any violent or destructive means,” a spokesman said.
In another development, reports yesterday claimed Grenfell Tower renovation works had been inspected 16 times by Kensington and Chelsea council.
Those inspections were spread over almost two years and at no point did the local authority spot the cladding used was a material with a flammable polyethylene core that was effectively banned on tall buildings.
Local Labour councillor Judith Blakeman said: “This raises the question of whether the bui- lding regulations officers were sufficiently competent.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here