In the news

It's also about the reassurance that someone senior has noticed and cares.

He probably did. But he can't speak to everyone, nor should he prevent people from venting their anger in front of the national media.

At least he went and was prepared to speak to the residents. The same for Corbyn.

Theresa May due later on, according to 'sources'.

I hope they chase her down the street.

In a "private capacity" though so may not be any video, although likely to be stills

Queen and Wills quite happy to be filmed though so it's going to look bad for May

Can't imagine any previous PM acting like this...

Damage limitation en'it, I can believe she is going to get a hard time.

I don't have the legal nous to determine if this is a thing but supposedly a Coroners inquest holds more power into the public inquiry that has been called by the government.

https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-this-government-must-carry-out-an-inquest-into-the-grenfell-tragedy-not-a-public-inquiry

This petition lays it out, any lawyer types that can confirm?

This fella was on that subject earlier

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/875631139347550214

The visits by politicians are good, but at last nights vigil there was no evidence of local or national government assistance just lots of displaced people, their friends, neighbours and families helping each other. It really is a national disgrace.
I've copied the below from Facebook please share and attend as they deserve all the support they can get.

DON'T LET RBKC GET AWAY WITH GRENFELL TOWER MURDERS.

Mass Protest Outside Kensington & Chelsea Council in solidarity with the 576 victims of Grenfell Tower, London.

FRIDAY 16th JUNE 3pm to 5pm.
Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8 7NX

DEMANDS:

1. Written commitment from the council on immediate rehousing of all the victims of Grenfell Tower fire, within the borough!

2. Immediate release of funds to cover costs of welfare and all losses suffered by the victims.

3. Commission investigation into the recent £10m refurbishment project of the same tower, and bring those who failed to install adequate health and safety measures and equipment at the building.

4. Release full list of victims of the tragedy so families can bereave their dead.

5. Commission investigation into all other similar buildings in the borough to identify fire, health and safety risks and put in place immediate control measures.

Let's NOT leave the Townhall until the demands for the people are met in writing and as a press release statement by the CEO (Nicholas Holgate) and the leader of the council in front of the media with clear timelines.

SHOW YOUR RESPECT AND SUPPORT FOR THE INNOCENT FATHERS, MOTHERS AND CHILDREN WHO WERE BURNT ALIVE IN THEIR HOMES BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. LET'S MAKE SURE THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.

SHARE THIS MESSAGE & BE THERE TOMORROW!

thanks, not as clear cut as all that then!

I'm utterly sick of how factual news reporting has been almost completely excluded by sensationalist 'how did it feel' interviews of distressed survivors/relatives with camera angles getting the anchors distressed face in shot etc.
What time did fire start
Where did appliances come from
How high could their ladders reach
How high could their hoses reach
How should the gap between hose reach and top of building been accommodated
What was the plan of the fire brigades
How did they attempt to rescue
Where were alarms situated
What is the sequence of activation for the alarms
etc

Of course this would require some journalistic effort. Far easier to interview some tearful relative.

Appears there was some anger at Queen and William's visit this morning. Was some disquiet as they left. Also on the wall of condolence someone pointed out that it cost £400m to renovate Buck Palace...

Some of this has been covered by the BBC at least, in their what we know page

What happened?
The fire was reported at the 24-storey block, Grenfell Tower, in North Kensington, 00:54 BST on Wednesday.
Forty fire engines and more than 200 firefighters went to tackle the blaze.
The fire affected all floors of the building, from the second floor up.
Firefighters worked with the gas authority to isolate a ruptured gas main in the block.
Once it was completed, they were able to extinguish the fire with the help of a 40 metre aerial appliance.
The blaze was under control by 01:14 BST on Thursday.

building control jobs in England were privatised a few years ago with obvious implications

Didn't quite get this. So it used to be that inspections were done by civil servants but now you will have to hire independent surveyors? And in the privatisation process one also removed certain obligations to have the surveys done? The motivations of stingy landlords to avoid inspections is obvious, but where are the insurance companies in all of this?

I think its implied that private contractors might not be quite as impartial as civil servants - especially towards larger developers who might work with the same inspectors on different sites over a number of months / years, or that the basic requirement to make money on a job means that there are temptations to cut corners

Lower than whaleshit! This cunt should be strung up

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/16/sun-journalist-grenfell-tower-victim-hospital

I recently had a loft conversion. Building Control was provided by a company chosen by the loft conversion company. A company that probably wants lots of repeat business.

It's privatisation by the back door. Now there are 'Independent Inspection Officers' to 'promote competition' and the supposed advantage of using them is that (whilst often more expensive) is that they are 'more flexible' on a range of issues. So public control departments still exist, but big developers etc don't use them and normally employ their own as they can just self-certify on the quality of work that's been done, compliance etc.

As I said, since this system has been brought in, the number of instances of contractors being denied certification or instructed to undertake remedial work has slumped to zero. Which anyone might think is quite strange...

Name & shame - should never work in industry again

Edit: or NUJ could kick them out?

re No 4 - The fire service have said it will take a very long time to identify all the victims, if at all in some cases. Whilst it is understandably extremely traumatic for families and friends not to know, I don't think there's any suggestion that information is being held back. They just don't know how many people have died or who they are yet.

time to ban the sale of the sun in london.

This may be true but I think they are asking for a little bit of clarity on all of the issues that are affecting them as there are many conflicting answers being published by different sources at the moment. To ask for official clarification and explanation should not be big deal.
Right now I think they are feeling marginalised and angry, that someone from government should be providing these answers should be a given.
Some have spent days and countless visits to hospitals and refuge centres looking for missing relatives only to be stonewalled by officialdom.
I for one feel the response from government so far has been inadequate.

Javid repeatedly saying the Government needs now to rely on experts to assess other buildings.
What would Gove think about this policy u turn?

https://twitter.com/SurryKnight/status/875578437569662977

Written commitment from the council on immediate rehousing of all the victims of Grenfell Tower fire, within the borough!

Complicated issue this one. Some residents may not want to be rehoused in the immediate area. The tower is going to be there for a long time and people may easily feel retraumatised by being in it's vicinity. Also, we're ony a few days in. Rehousing isn't a simple action and very much still in the temporary accomodation stage. Rushing into immediate rehousing can easily cause as many problems as it is attempting to resolve.

Immediate release of funds to cover costs of welfare and all losses suffered by the victims.

This is a bit of a meaningless request. Funds have already been immediately released for things like temporary accommodation and other welfare related needs. We know this and can see it happening. Losses are a whole other issue and without a permanent home for them, where would victims be putting their replacement stuff? This and a whole load of other issues need to be resolved as they come up. Hopefully RBKC, the insurers, underwriters, Central Government and everyone else involved will make a concerted effort to get through the necessary processed as efficiently and effectively as possible and advocate for the victims. However, again, this is one of those things that necessarily takes time.

Commission investigation into the recent £10m refurbishment project of the same tower, and bring those who failed to install adequate health and safety measures and equipment at the building.

Theresa May has already committed to a full public enquiry. Whether this takes the form of an Inquest or an Enquiry remains to be seen but this appears to have been taken out of the hands of RBKC.

Release full list of victims of the tragedy so families can bereave their dead.

Are you fucking kidding me. We have a protocol in place that families are contacted to notify them of the deaths before the names are released. We do that for a number or reasons, not least of all so that families don't find out because a horde of journalists are on the front door step and ringing them out of the blue. Also, there is no full list. RBKC honestly won't have a clue at this time of everyone who is and isn't dead. There's no way you can condone giving out bad information to potential grieving relatives.

Commission investigation into all other similar buildings in the borough to identify fire, health and safety risks and put in place immediate control measures.

Definitely should do this and also work with as may Borough's as possible.