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Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington - news and discussion

Lord Camomile said:
Holy hell, this just keeps on getting more and more embarrassing (and shameful) for K&C.
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On Friday eve at the site there was absolutely zero presence of anyone who looked at all official, apart from the police lines that were guarding the perimeter of the disaster site and keeping an eye on protestors, no sign of any officialdom at all, no information point, no focus for the people who were walking around with Missing posters sticky taped to their teeshirts ffs, nothing. A group of people, mostly Sikh, had set up a line of collapsible tables and were handing out free food and water to anyone who wanted it.
 
bimble said:
On Friday eve at the site there was absolutely zero presence of anyone who looked at all official, apart from the police lines that were guarding the perimeter of the disaster site and keeping an eye on protestors, no sign of any officialdom at all, no information point, no focus for the people who were walking around with Missing posters sticky taped to their teeshirts ffs, nothing. A group of people, mostly Sikh, had set up a line of collapsible tables and were handing out free food and water to anyone who wanted it.
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Utterly shameful.

I've joined a couple of the supporter-type groups on Facebook, and the vast majority is "what do I do with these donations?", "where are the council?", "who's organising?". They're being flooded with donations with very little sense of where they're going or what's needed.

That said, the fact that donations are going awry is one thing, but the fact that those who don't know what's happened to friends and family in the tower, or what to do about it.. that's a whole other level of shame.
 
Don't get the obsession over the number of dead, or buy into any kind of theory that this is being deliberately suppressed (why? To what ends?). Don't think it leads to anywhere useful. The actual number of dead is 'too many', can we just stick to this?
 
Holding back figures invites people to indulge in speculation, quote hearsay and unsourced randos on the internet and ultimately, offers us all an economy class ticket to Loonspudville.

Which of course makes protests about the actual evident crimes associated with austerity far easier to ignore.
 


Can't listen to this at the moment, so unclear on details.

Apparently they're being told they will be declared "intentionally homeless" if they refuse relocation outside of London?
 
Plumdaff said:
Or they are prioritising what people they do have on preparing to defend themselves legally over caring for the survivors. Cynical of me I know, but look at this council.
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I don't doubt that arse covering is top of the council's priority list, that's usually the case with any organisation. I also don't think RBKC actually gives a shit about homeless poors but not giving a shit in private and not giving a shit in the full glare of the spotlight are 2 different things.
In fairness (teeth gritted here) they are going to also be restricted in what they can do by what they have, There aren't going to have 120 empty council homes available so they are going to have to look to the private sector which means hitting the problems of high rents and the rent/benefits cap (not that this excuses incompetence and/or disinterest)
Some of these people are also going to be what a private sector landlord would consider undesirables such as refugees, benefit claimants or folks with rent arrears. Even if the council can/will pressure or persuade landlords to take them, I can easily imagine the kerfuffle 6 months from now when one of these rehoused families gets kicked out of their new home because they struggled with keeping up with the rent.
All the while this is going on of course, London's existing housing crisis continues, there are going to be women fleeing violent partners, families who can't afford rent rises (you know other people that the councillors in RBKC also don't give a shit about) who also need to be homed and will be competing with the Grenfell residents for scarce resources.
The shit from this is going to be flying for a while yet.
 
Bernie Gunther said:
Holding back figures invites people to indulge in speculation, quote hearsay and unsourced randos on the internet and ultimately, offers us all an economy class ticket to Loonspudville.

Which of course makes protests about the actual evident crimes associated with austerity far easier to ignore.
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Who is holding back any figures?
 
I know that 'intentionally homeless' thing hasn't been verified yet but I can see how a particularly awful council could use it. There is a clause in the act that says if you've turned down an offer of suitable accommodation you can be refused accommodation on the grounds of 'intentionality.'
 
Dogsauce said:
Don't get the obsession over the number of dead, or buy into any kind of theory that this is being deliberately suppressed (why? To what ends?). Don't think it leads to anywhere useful. The actual number of dead is 'too many', can we just stick to this?
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I do think the above is broadly true.

Boris quoted a figure claiming that under his watch fire deaths in London fell by 50%. His opponents argue that that is because they started classifying death by smoke inhalation as different to fire.

I don't think they'd try something that clumsy with Grenfell, but it shows there is a deliberate attempt at playing the numbers game.

Plus if the towers were above full capacity for whatever reason (2 or more families to a flat) and sofa surfers, it adds an additional dimension to the tragedy, that if there was more affordable housing available the death toll could conceivably be lower.

Plus the CT (whether it's true or not) fits into what is both a popular and true narrative) the council have ignored, bullied and threatened residents at every turn, so why would they start caring about them now, when they're dead.
 
Shelter have a bit about it here.

You turned down a final offer of suitable accommodation from the council
It is very clear when the council is making you a final offer of accommodation. Do not turn this down without getting advice. The council won't go through the homeless application process with you again if you reject accommodation.
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Fucking hell I hope this isn't true.
 
Voley said:
It's fucking unreal mate. I've worked in social housing for twenty years on and off and I've seen good decisions and bad decisions made over that time as you'd imagine. Don't think Ive ever come up against anything like this before though. I'm just hoping it's not true.
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Likewise
 
cupid_stunt said:
Earlier today a volunteer said on the news that they hadn't seen anyone from K&C on the ground, but staff from neighbouring Westminster were helping, now Ealing is taking over.

Just how fucking useless are K&C? :mad:
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Pretty Bloody useless from start to finish on this weeks evidence. :(
 
Hang on a minute...

...the government is now saying the cladding believed to have been used is banned in the UK. :hmm:

The cladding used on Grenfell Tower, which has been widely blamed for spreading the blaze, is banned in the UK, Philip Hammond has said.

The chancellor told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “My understanding is the cladding in question, this flammable cladding which is banned in Europe and the US, is also banned here.

Cladding on Grenfell Tower banned in UK, says Philip Hammond
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