Grenfell - 3rd anniversary

[jon1959]

https://news.sky.com/story/grenfell-...nline-12006389

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ry-of-disaster

It is 3 years since the totally avoidable disaster and the survivors are still being let down by this useless government - as are over 56,000 other residents in hundreds of high rise blocks around the country still clad in flamable material.

[the other bob wilson]

https://news.sky.com/story/grenfell-...nline-12006389

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ry-of-disaster

It is 3 years since the totally avoidable disaster and the survivors are still being let down by this useless government - as are over 56,000 other residents in hundreds of high rise blocks around the country still clad in flamable material.

For me, Grenfell was a consequence of thirty eight years of doing things on the cheap by Conservative and Labour Governments in terms of the quality of work being done and the trimming of things like Health and Safety Regulations. It could and should have been a wake up call which might have led to a more effective response to the virus, but, typically, it produced nothing but sympathy and hollow words at the time and was then, effectively, booted into the long grass.

[Baloo]

Over 300 tower blocks still clad in similar materials and still no enquiry 3 years later. What the fek is going on?

[xsnaggle]

In 2015 a similar thing happened in Baku and 16 people died. About 100 families lost their homes. At th time the Ex Pat com unity was saying how typical it was of a "Third world" minded government to allow this, and it would never have happened in UK.

Within 1 month of the fire every single building in Azerbaijan that had this type of cladding fitted was stripped and replacement cladding provided by the government. (Replacement took some time longer).
It can be done, you just need the will!

[jon1959]

For me, Grenfell was a consequence of thirty eight years of doing things on the cheap by Conservative and Labour Governments in terms of the quality of work being done and the trimming of things like Health and Safety Regulations. It could and should have been a wake up call which might have led to a more effective response to the virus, but, typically, it produced nothing but sympathy and hollow words at the time and was then, effectively, booted into the long grass.

There is some truth in your first comment Paul - but I know the scale and ambition of the Decent Homes Programme that improved the quality of 95% of council housing from the early 2000s. It took longer than planned and the quality of improvements varied from a minimum standard to a higher bar - but it was a huge programme that recognised a generation or more of under-investment. In Sheffield our Decent Homes budget from 2004-14 was nearly £1bn. The funding taps were turned off from 2010 and the last years were just mop up works. Decent Homes never applied to private sector or housing association rented homes!

There was a separate issue about the standard of tower block cladding. The three main problems were: priority for aesthetic results (especially in London to ensure neighbouring private residents had an attractive view), cheap materials and installation systems that compromised safety, and gutted control and supervision agencies (from council building control and planners, through the HSE, to local fire services that were withdrawn from their previously proactive safety role - instead a lot was passed over to the landlord).

The scandal of Grenfell for me is that a smaller but still lethal fire (6 died) happened in 2009 at Lakanal House in Camberwell - a fire that highlighted all the failures that repeated at Grenfell. In 2009 there was a concerted national reaction to Lakanal (it was my main priority at work) that covered cladding materials, compartmentalisation, safety standards for signage, lighting, doors and windows, inspection regimes, sprinklers (trialled in Sheffield), regulations, evacuation or 'stay put' policies and anything else relevant. Government and civil service (John Healey as Housing Minister was excellent) co-ordinated this drive with councils, housing associations, private landlords, fire and rescue, the HSE and others - all with significant funding despite the financial crisis. It was on the way to transforming the safety of residential blocks when Cameron and Osborne arrived with the cult of austerity. The funding stopped, the political priority changed, the civil service was gutted and Grenfell happened!

Boris Johnson's speech saying Britain and the government are with the Grenfell survivors 'in spirit' makes me sick. He and his government are part of the problem. They failed to apply the lessons from Lakanal, they implemented the austerity policies that made high rise blocks much more dangerous, they mishandled the aftermath of the fire, they have dragged their feet over the enquiry, and they have taken their eyes totally off the other 300+ blocks still clad 3 years later in materials similar to Grenfell.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...-boris-johnson

[jeepster]

It is a national disgrace that nothing has moved forward, peoples lives are still at risk.I wonder if all the residents have been rehoused?

[Whisperer]

Im glad the silent march is not going ahead this evening with everything else that's happening, this morning the left wing socialists were pedalling their bile outside Ladbroke Grove tube. Local people today are just wearing the green ribbon around their necks. to answer Jeepsters, no there are still lots of families in temporary accommodation waiting to be rehoused.

[jon1959]

“We can’t breathe”. In a harrowing call made to the fire brigade from her 22nd-floor flat, these were some of the last words of 33-year-old Nadia Choucair, a nursery teacher who died in the Grenfell Tower fire with her three daughters, Zainab, Fatima, Mierna, her husband, Bassem, and her mother, Sirria.

Now three years on, with the country witnessing anti-racism protests triggered by the death of George Floyd and his hauntingly similar plea, the parallels are being highlighted.

With the inquiry into the blaze that killed 72 people set to resume next month, there are growing calls from the bereaved and survivors for the Grenfell inquiry to include institutional racism in its terms of reference, and to scrutinise whether racial stereotyping and unconscious prejudice affected the actions of the local authority and the way firefighters responded to the inferno that night.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...utional-racism

[jeepster]

Im glad the silent march is not going ahead this evening with everything else that's happening, this morning the left wing socialists were pedalling their bile outside Ladbroke Grove tube. Local people today are just wearing the green ribbon around their necks. to answer Jeepsters, no there are still lots of families in temporary accommodation waiting to be rehoused.

That is terrible 3 years and nothing has changed,it is a bit like racism still there .

[dembethewarrior]

In 2015 a similar thing happened in Baku and 16 people died. About 100 families lost their homes. At th time the Ex Pat com unity was saying how typical it was of a "Third world" minded government to allow this, and it would never have happened in UK.

Within 1 month of the fire every single building in Azerbaijan that had this type of cladding fitted was stripped and replacement cladding provided by the government. (Replacement took some time longer).
It can be done, you just need the will!

The typical response is to wait for public outrage to die down and wait a bit longer, then they can forget about it completely, saving a few quid.

[ccfc_is_my_life]

“We can’t breathe”. In a harrowing call made to the fire brigade from her 22nd-floor flat, these were some of the last words of 33-year-old Nadia Choucair, a nursery teacher who died in the Grenfell Tower fire with her three daughters, Zainab, Fatima, Mierna, her husband, Bassem, and her mother, Sirria.

Now three years on, with the country witnessing anti-racism protests triggered by the death of George Floyd and his hauntingly similar plea, the parallels are being highlighted.

With the inquiry into the blaze that killed 72 people set to resume next month, there are growing calls from the bereaved and survivors for the Grenfell inquiry to include institutional racism in its terms of reference, and to scrutinise whether racial stereotyping and unconscious prejudice affected the actions of the local authority and the way firefighters responded to the inferno that night.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...utional-racism

Wasn't it Doreen Lawrence who claimed the firefighters were racist? There may well be institutional issues around Grenfell but intimating fire crews were willing to let people die due to racism was abhorant.

[Jimmy the Jock]

Where I live is clad in the same material as Grenfell. Prospect place Cardiff Bay

At some point they will be removing it . If I am honest I am not that bothered .

Hey lets get some faux outrage going ...

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Boris Johnson and his tory party have basically forgotten about grenfell

Sajid Javid talked a good game for a few press interviews

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Where I live is clad in the same material as Grenfell. Prospect place Cardiff Bay

At some point they will be removing it . If I am honest I am not that bothered .

Hey lets get some faux outrage going ...

You will be bothered if it catches fire

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Wasn't it Doreen Lawrence who claimed the firefighters were racist? There may well be institutional issues around Grenfell but intimating fire crews were willing to let people die due to racism was abhorant.

I dont know was it ?

[dembethewarrior]

Where I live is clad in the same material as Grenfell. Prospect place Cardiff Bay

At some point they will be removing it . If I am honest I am not that bothered .

Hey lets get some faux outrage going ...

It probably didn't bother the residents of Grenfell until it went up while they were all sleeping.

[jon1959]

Where I live is clad in the same material as Grenfell. Prospect place Cardiff Bay

At some point they will be removing it . If I am honest I am not that bothered .

Hey lets get some faux outrage going ...

Good for you. We don't want any 'faux outrage' do we? Maybe just accept that the outrage is real and justified - and that if anything deserves the label 'scandal' then Grenfell and everything that went before and has come after does?

If this is Prospect Place it is low rise - and therefore lower risk than the 300+ high rise blocks around the country that still have the Grenfell type cladding. Still very dangerous - but still.... maybe it will just be a faux fire?

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/l...uncil-16324118

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Good for you. We don't want any 'faux outrage' do we? Maybe just accept that the outrage is real and justified - and that if anything deserves the label 'scandal' then Grenfell and everything that went before and has come after does?

If this is Prospect Place it is low rise - and therefore lower risk than the 300+ high rise blocks around the country that still have the Grenfell type cladding. Still very dangerous - but still.... maybe it will just be a faux fire?

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/l...uncil-16324118

There are high rise flats in cardiff

This isnt one of them

[Jimmy the Jock]

You will be bothered if it catches fire

no .will you ?

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

This is

https://images.app.goo.gl/VmwdZv43FmktXTVt5

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

no .will you ?

You live in a block of flats and you wont be bothered if it catches fire ?

[Jordi Culé]

Where I live is clad in the same material as Grenfell. Prospect place Cardiff Bay

At some point they will be removing it . If I am honest I am not that bothered .

Hey lets get some faux outrage going ...

Be great if you spontaneously combust into a ball of flames tonight. The fire being so fierce that the only thing that remains of you is a shadow like the poor sods in Hiroshima.

Imagine the lols when this board finds out. We’ll probably throw a barbecue.

Ashes to ashes...

[OurManFlint II]

Im glad the silent march is not going ahead this evening with everything else that's happening, this morning the left wing socialists were pedalling their bile outside Ladbroke Grove tube. Local people today are just wearing the green ribbon around their necks. to answer Jeepsters, no there are still lots of families in temporary accommodation waiting to be rehoused.

Which left wing socialists and what was it they were peddling?

Honest question.

[Baloo]

Im glad the silent march is not going ahead this evening with everything else that's happening, this morning the left wing socialists were pedalling their bile outside Ladbroke Grove tube. Local people today are just wearing the green ribbon around their necks. to answer Jeepsters, no there are still lots of families in temporary accommodation waiting to be rehoused.

Hopefully the exercise did them good.

[Baloo]

What were people doing when discussing, for example, follow-up to the Bradford City fire, before ‘faux outrage’ was invented?