The Justice4Grenfell Campaign are hosting a Public Meeting on the 1st February 2018, 7pm at Maxilla Social Club, raising the question: ‘How do we get Justice For Grenfell?’

The meeting provides a platform for the community to discuss what justice looks like, and how it can be achieved. This is particularly pertinent as nearly 8 months after the fire, the following issues are still outstanding:

• There have been no arrests
• Hundreds of families are still without permanent accommodation
• Thousands, nationwide, are still living in unsafe buildings and;
• Despite a petition and legal advice, the Public Inquiry panel still remains unrepresentative of our diverse community.

Speakers will include:

• Emma Dent Coad – Local Labour MP
• Clarrie Mendy – Bereaved Family Member & Humanity4Grenfell Founder
• Matt Wrack – General Secretary of the Fire Brigade’s Union
• Joe Delaney – Resident & Grenfell Action Group Member
• Eileen Short – Defend Council Housing
• Kevin Courtenay – General Secretary of National Union of Teachers (NEU)
• Brian Richardson – Stand Up To Racism

The Grenfell Tower fire has highlighted failures in protecting the safety of social housing tenants, adequate public services, lack of equality and human rights with little or no accountability.

The Justice4Grenfell campaign says “It’s vital that those in authority begin to act upon community demands immediately, and lessons are learned, so that no community ever has to face what this community has endured in the last 8 months – only through the responsible authorities implementing action and change, will Justice be done and be seen to be done, by those that matter.”

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On Thursday evening, ITN broadcast a report on Fire Safety in RBKC.

Rags Martel speaks with Stephen Mackenzie, a Fire Safety Expert and Judy Bolton, a resident of Kensal House on the ongoing failures of the Council and KCTMO.

This week commemorates 46 years since the Bogside Massacre, often referred to as Bloody Sunday – in which British Soldiers killed unarmed civilians.

A week of talks, events and open mic sessions concludes today with a march, which has become Ireland’s “largest annual human rights event”.

Joe Delaney, a Grenfell Survivor and member of the Grenfell Action Group, spoke on a panel, named “We Shall Overcome: The Patronising Disposition of Unaccountable Power”. He spoke alongside Becky Shah of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, Suresh Grover of the London-based Monitoring Group and Stafford Scott, co-founder of the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign in 1985, who is now a consultant on racial equality & community engagement.

Bloody Sunday 2018

The Grenfell Inquiry Chairman has today written to all core participants responding to the issues that were raised at the Procedural Hearing on 11 and 12 December.

The main outstanding issue is that Sir Martin declined to recommend to PM Theresa May that panel members with equitable decision-making powers should be appointed alongside him.

He stated,

‘I am and must remain completely independent of the government and in my view it would be wrong for me to take the initiative by advising the Prime Minister either to appoint additional members to the panel or not to do so. That must be a matter for her own judgment, free of any unsolicited advice from me. If proposals were made to expand the panel, I should, of course, consider them carefully and with an open mind, but unless and until that occurs, I must refrain from comment.’

J4G continues to call on the Prime Minister to urgently make these appointments as a step to building community trust and confidence in the Inquiry.

Other Key points in the response include:-

• Lawyers representing Grenfell families ‘may’ be allowed to question witnesses directly, the chairman of the public inquiry into the fire.
• Ministers, town hall chiefs and company bosses will be told to identify their Grenfell Tower responsibilities amid worries that the inquiry could be hampered by a “culture of denial”.
• An expert in tenant management will draw up a report and give evidence amid claims that “little heed was paid” by the authorities to warnings by Grenfell residents about the fire risk.
• Exploring assistance such as travel, childcare and refreshment costs for victims’ families and survivors to attend hearings in central London. No local venue in Kensington has been secured for future hearings. This was requested at the procedural hearings.
• Documents will be disclosed in “sensible tranches” but not all the raw information submitted will be made available to core participants, with some papers redacted. The inquiry may receive 270,000 documents.
• Local residents will be ‘consulted’ on setting up a “consultative panel” to promote a “sense of engagement” and build confidence in the inquiry.

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If you’d like to read the Chairman’s full response, please click here: The Chairman’s Response to Submissions made on 11 – 12 December 2017

A petition has been created by Clarrie Mendy. Please read details the below:

The Bishop’s review of Hillsborough families’ experiences recommends the creation of a Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy. The Government must implement this recommendation. This petition was started by bereaved relatives of family members who perished in the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Charter will include commitments by public bodies to change in relation to transparency and acting in the public interest. By adopting this, the Government will show that it has learned the lessons of the Hillsborough disaster and ensure that the perspective of bereaved families is never lost. We’re concerned that the Grenfell public inquiry isn’t taking into account the views of bereaved families, survivors, and local community affected. They can be spared the indignities, pain and suffering Bishop James Jones describes in his report as “The Patronising disposition of unaccountable power”.

To sign the petition, click here: Create a Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy