*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

The Justice 4 Grenfell Campaign has called a protest today, 6th Dec 2017 at 17.30, to demand permanent homes for the Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk residents.

The protest is being held at Kensington Town Hall tonight at 6pm. It is taking place to bring to the attention of Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) and the UK, how survivors of the Grenfell Fire Tragedy are being treated. Many were made involuntarily homeless by the fire and RBKC have a duty of care to them – this should be one that offers a premium service not one that meets a minimal standard.

Only 20% of survivors have be permanently rehoused.

Six months on, over 40 children under the age of 18 years are still living in temporary accommodation.

RBKC has a housing policy that is dense and subversive and not written for the audience it is intended to serve. This is creating more anxiety, stress and trauma. There should be a policy in place that is accessible and conducive to the needs of survivors, implemented with humanity and understanding – this is not currently the case.

Residents are expected to work through the complex policy (that even RBKC admits is a ‘monster of a policy’ to implement) and bid for homes against each other. We demand that RBKC puts competent officers in place now, who can lead on the Grenfell Rehousing policy; more importantly officers who can implement the policy with humanity, understanding the needs of former residents and their families.

The current RBKC leadership have shown, month after month, that they are not fit for office or purpose. A new ‘revised’ commitment by the government and RBKC to rehouse the survivors within 12 months is not acceptable and is akin to cruel and unusual treatment.

Providing safe and permanent housing is a paramount issue here – RBKC continues to fail on its promises, deadlines and effectively engaging with the community of North Kensington -so business as usual for them and on-going contempt for the local community. They fail the Litmus test over and over again – this cannot be tolerated!

In the words of a former resident who summed up RBKC’s continued treatment and poor attitude to our community, this is a perfect example of “Institutional Indifference” by a public service.

Marking 100 Days Since the Grenfell Tower Disaster, Friday 22nd September

One hundred days ago Grenfell Tower was engulfed by flames in the worst, land-based, UK peacetime disaster since WWII. We have witnessed the best and the worst of humanity since those life changing events in the small hours of June 14th. Justice4Grenfell mourns the loss of life, the shattering of a tight-knit community of vibrant, dynamic, talented souls. We offer our heartfelt condolences to all those who’ve lost loved ones, rest assured we will never ever forget and will do everything in our power to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.

No-one can forget the way the community, on the night and in the immediate aftermath, stepped into the void left by the local authority to assist, support and care for their families, friends and neighbours. 100 days later nothing much has changed, the wider local community maintains common humanity, empathy and love looking after the survivors whilst some public and statutory services continue to largely fail in their responsibilities and duty to the survivors, bereaved families, evacuated residents and the wider impacted community.

So much has happened since 14^th June, so many promises have been made and broken by the authorities, so much pain, grief, despair, psychological trauma and anger has been endured by the survivors, bereaved families, evacuated residents and wider local community. The situation continues to be an on-going catalogue of blunders and failures; starting with RBKC leadership’s total failure to activate their own emergency/contingency action plan on Day 1.

Lest We Forget

Theresa May visited Grenfell on 15^th June to meet the emergency services but not survivors, the ensuing wave of criticism forced her to meet with a small, hand-picked group 2 days later and subsequently. The Prime Minister made the first of many broken promises at that meeting – Grenfell Tower survivors would be rehoused, either temporarily or permanently, WITHIN 3 weeks.

More than 3 months later the majority of survivors and evacuated residents remain in totally unsuitable hotel accommodation, separated from each other and their community, unable to start to try and rebuild their shattered lives, stuck in terrible limbo. Just 34 households have been permanently rehoused, with a further 29 households now in temporary housing. This is shameful. It is doubly so when we know that RBKC has both the highest number of empty properties in the UK and the largest reserves of any UK council.

RBKC not only failed to distribute any of the public’s generously given donations to the community, the council actually removed them from the local organisations that had been receiving and distributing them and put them in storage. Those that weren’t given to the Red Cross (on whose authority we ask?) have been sitting in storage, not reaching those they were intended for. This week saw the return of some of those donations to the local community but only after a long struggle with the council.

When the Prime Minister appointed Judge Moore-Bik to chair the Inquiry, she broke another promise – that the community would be fully consulted over who would be chosen to lead the Public Inquiry and on its Terms of Reference (ToR). Judge Moore-Bik was appointed without any consultation whatsoever. A less appropriate individual would be hard to imagine, his most notorious ruling enabled Westminster Council to rehouse a Social Housing tenant and her children in Milton Keynes – 50 miles away from relatives, work and school. This ruling, overturned 2 years later by the Supreme Court, is seen to have given the green-light to Councils across the UK to “socially cleanse” their boroughs.

Judge Moore-Bik announced on the day his appointment was made public that he had already been given his very narrow Terms of Reference. The ensuing outcry forced him to open a period of consultation over the ToR.

The Judge’s unsuitability to lead the Inquiry remains a live issue, J4G, our members and the wider community found his comments and behaviour at the formal opening session held last week to be further evidence of this. The choice of venue; the requirement for all present to stand when he entered the room (a hired venue and NOT a court of law); his overall tone; his dismissal of the call for survivors to be involved in the Inquiry; his refusal to take any questions all compounded the very real fear that we are looking at another Hillsborough.

Moore-Bik has appointed a team of lawyers and related staff that fails to recognise the need to reflect the very broad ethnic, religious and social diversity of the impacted community in his team or to address this by appointing community advisors to the panel, this is another major source of concern.

The Prime Minister also promised an amnesty for undocumented migrants, initially presented as open-ended, it was subsequently limited to 12 months. Even Moore-Bik has written to the PM saying that it needs to be unlimited otherwise the Inquiry risks not hearing vital evidence. Apparently, the need to really understand what happened on that dreadful night and what led up to it; to learn the lessons that Grenfell can and should teach us, is less important than pandering to an anti-immigration agenda.

One hundred days after the fire, not only do we still not know the final “official” number of fatalities (considered by many in the local community to be closer to 200) we are now being told that the original, confirmed figure of 80 is likely to decrease. This is inconceivable, J4G, the survivors, bereaved families, evacuated residents and the wider local community know this figure of 80 cannot be true. 100 days on there is an increasing sense that a serious, concerted cover-up is going on, that those responsible are doing everything in their power to downplay the scale of the disaster and to dehumanise the victims and the survivors.

ENDS

Note: There will be a candle lit gathering at the Memorial Wall, Bramley Road at 4 pm on Friday 22^nd September to mark the 100 day anniversary.

Justice4Grenfell broadly welcomes the news that the Metropolitan Police have announced that individual manslaughter charges arising from the Grenfell Fire are a possibility. The survivors, bereaved families, evacuated residents and the wider community have all been calling for such charges to be brought, for individuals to be held personally accountable under the law. The prospect of RBKC Council being charged with Corporate Manslaughter and subsequently paying any fine arising with Council Tax Payer’s money is completely unacceptable, a travesty of justice, so this updated position is definitely a step in the right direction.

However, there’s still a long way to go and other hurdles to leap before anyone can be certain that individuals will be held accountable. The Police can of course recommend individual charges but the final decision rests with the CPS, there is no guarantee that the CPS will consider there’s sufficient evidence to successfully bring such charges. It remains a waiting game.

J4G is concerned that, following hard on the heels of the announcement that individual manslaughter charges are possible, the Police have also said that only 59 people have been identified as victims of the fire and that the overall death toll is likely to be less than the already announced 80. This is bizarre, how can it be so?

From the 14^th June itself, the on-going narrative from the relevant authorities continues to try and reduce the scale of the disaster, to minimise the number of fatalities. The local Community has never accepted the previous “official” death toll of 80, believing it to be a gross under-estimate of the true number. How do survivors and the wider community reconcile the considerable number of people still reported as “missing” with that revised estimate, are those listed as missing included in the now reduced overall figure? In order to achieve any kind of closure, all impacted by the Grenfell fire need clarity, something that has been missing from day 1. The continuing attempts to apparently downsize the scale of the disaster only serve to compound the distress and trauma felt by those who’ve experienced unbelievable horrors. It certainly does not aid recovery.

Justice4Grenfell understands and accepts the need for a thorough criminal investigation, we recognise that this will take time. We would far rather wait for that investigation to be concluded so that ALL the evidence can be presented to the CPS in support of the recommendation for individual manslaughter charges, than for it to be rushed. Rushing the investigation may result in the bringing of lesser, Corporate Manslaughter charges and completely fail to satisfy the need everyone who has been impacted by the Grenfell disaster has for justice to be done and seen to be done.

J4G is deeply concerned at the appointment of Michael Clarke to the post of Director of Communications and Community Engagement at RBKC. Immediately prior to this appointment, Mr Clarke was Head of Press for the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. J4G believes that his appointment to an internal Council post is a classic example of poacher turned gamekeeper and seriously undermines what little credibility the Public Inquiry had with the North Kensington community and other stakeholders. It also raises questions about the much heralded “new” approach to governance at RBKC, moving from the consultation model to a community led model.

This concern is further compounded by his previous role as interim chief media spokesman for First Secretary of State Damian Green and Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood. In this role, according to his own Linkedin Profile, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelclarkethamesadvisors/?ppe=1

Mr Clarke led a team of press officers covering UK Government transformation programmes including the Government Digital Service, Crown Commercial Service, Government Commercial Function, Government Property Unit, and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

The odds continue to stack up against a robust and meaningful Public Inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bik already faced an uphill challenge as far as convincing survivors, bereaved families, evacuated residents and the wider community that the Inquiry would address their concerns about the Council and TMO. That task has just got a whole lot more difficult.

J4G has grave concerns that the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster is being undermined before it has even begun and that this is no accident. Today, 31^st August, marks the end of the time granted by the Government under their so-called “Amnesty” for undocumented people impacted by Grenfell to come forward.

Whilst – thanks to the continuing total lack of transparency from the relevant authorities – the Campaign doesn’t know if any undocumented individuals who survived the fire have come forward, we seriously doubt it. The 12-month immigration “amnesty” appears to have been designed to discourage anyone from doing so.

Justice 4 Grenfell share the concerns expressed by many that the work of the Public Inquiry cannot be carried out thoroughly and its recommendations be meaningful without all the available evidence. The evidence of undocumented former residents of the Tower could be critical in establishing what actually happened on the night, why would the Government wish to prevent such evidence from being given?

The Judge chairing the Inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bik, has already indicated in his letter to the Prime Minister that he considers the 12-month period to be insufficient and that survivors will be discouraged from coming forward to give evidence as a result. The Leader of the Opposition has also written to the Prime Minister expressing his reservations about the limited immigration “Amnesty”.

J4G are calling on the Government to both extend the deadline and to grant a lifetime amnesty to anyone who comes forward. To do otherwise merely reinforces the impression that the Government are hoping for a cover up as opposed to a real understanding of all the factors that led up to the disaster that is Grenfell. Now is not the time to be pandering to a racist agenda.

2017’s Carnival officially opened at the end of the beautiful and moving Interfaith Service, dedicated to the victims, survivors, bereaved families and wider community impacted by the Grenfell disaster. The service took place at the Carnival Judging Point on Great Western Road on Sunday morning (August 27th) in front of an invited audience that included Grenfell Tower survivors, the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan and Emma Dent-Coad, MP for Kensington & Chelsea.

Clarrie Mendy, Carnival Ambassador and aunt of fire victim, artist Khadija Say spoke about a united, harmonious and respectful Carnival, honouring the memory of all those who lost their lives or who have suffered as a result of the fire.

The service set the tone for the two days, Carnival goers from far and wide honoured Grenfell in the minute’s silence held at 3 pm on both days, many also dressed in Green for Grenfell. Justice 4 Grenfell Campaign Coordinator, Moyra Samuels joined Ladbroke Grove firefighters for the minute’s silence on Monday.

The love and unity expressed during Carnival, the solidarity and the sorrow, all converged to make 2017’s Carnival a beautiful occasion, celebrating the best of humanity. Noticeably in a change from previous years, not all main-stream media coverage focused on the crime stats, many preferred to concentrate on Carnival’s response to Grenfell.

Justice 4 Grenfell wishes to thank everyone who came to Carnival, all the organisers, bands, troupes, sound systems, performers, vendors for helping to deliver a brilliant 2 days, we celebrated and we mourned. It was perfect, another example of the strength of our community.

At The Village Healing Circle 

Acklam Village, 4-8 Acklam Road, Portobello, W10 5TY

Every day

Drop in for a cup of tea and a chat at 2pm every day. Grenfell residents are welcome to pick up New essentials from the village.

Tuesday 22nd August

3.30pm African Yoga for children with Pablo Imani

4.30pm Creative Writing with Zikko

5.30pm Fashion and Sewing Workshop with Jennifer and Rose

6.00pm Chanting with Nichiren Buddhists

Wednesday 23rd August

4.00pm Overtone Chanting ‘Love your unique sound’

5.30pm Yoga with Donna

Thursday 24th August

1.00pm Painting From Life! with Janet, Allison & Honey

2.00pm Children’s Singing Class with Emzee

3.00pm Creative Writing and Spoken Word Performance Workshop

5.00pm Boxercise with Micah

Friday 25th August

Info on pre-Carnival events coming soon

Justice4Grenfell Campaign notes the publication today of the recommended terms of reference for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the response of the Prime Minister Theresa May.

Judge Moore Bick had stated previously that the remit of the Inquiry would be narrow and that he felt it would not satisfy the demands of survivors or residents and the local community. We therefore welcome the fact that the inquiry has been broadened to examine such issues as “the response of central and local government in the days immediately following the fire”, however we remain of the opinion that the remit does not go far enough and that Kensington and Chelsea Council are not specifically named, when they are clearly culpable.

We believe that from the start of the process of announcing and setting up the terms of reference of the Inquiry, that the greatest consideration should have been given to the broadest remit possible to ensure all aspects of this avoidable disaster could be examined and lessons learnt to ensure such a disaster never occurs again. The broadening of the Inquiry terms of reference has only been announced following a massive amount of public pressure and this reflects the importance of the community never remaining silent and ensuring that their voices are heard.

J4G make the following comments:

• It is disappointing that the question of social housing especially social cleansing/gentrification will not be addressed in the Inquiry as this remains a critical issue not just for the community of North Kensington but across the country and goes to the heart of a changing ideological approach to social housing and the pursuit of profit rather than provision of safe, affordable, appropriate and adequate housing
• The Inquiry must have the ability and power to make recommendations regarding compliance in relation to a range of regulations; should this not be possible under the recommended terms of reference, then they will need to be broadened as the Inquiry unfolds, this will ensure that perfunctory answers are not given and that critical issues as they arise are addressed appropriately
• Community Advisors should be identified and contacted as soon as possible to be included on the Inquiry panel from the start of the Inquiry.
• The role of Dame Judith Hackett as chair of the Independent review is untenable given the building standards that are being challenged are those that she endorsed, such a major conflict of interest requires nothing less than her removal from the role
• Undocumented survivors must be granted a life time amnesty as they are not likely to participate in the Inquiry and their crucial evidence may not be included if they are only given a 12 month amnesty

The Government has the power and opportunity to ensure this Inquiry is meaningful, transparent and robust and that some justice is provided for the victims, survivors and their families, and the local community. In order for this to happen the Government must listen to and involve local community advisors. This will be the litmus test for community trust and confidence in the Inquiry process.