June 14th was the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, “the greatest tragedy to befall this city” since World War Two, that officially claimed seventy-two lives. (1) Many of the survivors and their families, referred to by some as “the walking unhealed,” are still trying to recover. (2)
In response Kensington and Chelsea Council’s leadership team voted on Wednesday, June 5, to approve the £42 million Future Grenfell Support package, which will provide financial relief and services to survivors and the immediate community around Grenfell Tower, including:
- £7,000 in annual payments
- Free gym memberships
- Discounted respite breaks
- Advocacy support to residents (3)
This follows a £150 million payment to 900 families in 2023 that some say they felt ‘pressure’ to sign adding that the amount “devalued the victims’ lives” and was “pathetic.” These sums might seem generous but if, as the likes of Justice4Grenfell co-founder Sis. Yvette Williams contend, the housing crisis and social inequality in the area have worsened in the past seven years, there is a still a significant shortfall to make up. (4)
However, the amount was still proportionately less than the compensation to the firefighters that tackled the blaze (5), which have inspired a group of thirty-three police officers to sue twelve separate parties including the Met commissioner, the London fire commissioner, Kensington and Chelsea council and several private companies involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower in highly flammable cladding. (6)
It is worth noting that, unlike the firefighters and the police, the families do not have the benefit of public funds to pursue legal action. This is something ‘Hillsborough Law’ advocates and which the Labour Party’s general election manifesto states they are committed to. (7)
Meanwhile the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is scheduled to be published in September of this year to which the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have already issued the pre-emptory “lessons learned” trope. (8) For what it’s worth, throughout its hearings, the enquiry has revealed a staggering catalogue of corporate and state failures that some have said are tantamount to “murder.” (9) This it should follow that there’ll be a substantial raft of recommendations but whether they’re ever taken up is another matter.
One of the fundamental demands is for accountability. Edward Daffarn, one of the Grenfell Tower survivors said in relation to this: “We need justice, we need to hear the clink of handcuffs. We need the perpetrators [responsible for the issues that led to the fire] in court and in jail.” (10) Unfortunately, the Metropolitan Police announced last month that the criminal trials will not begin before 2027, a four-year delay on an earlier expected timetable and ten-years after the fire itself. Neverthless they insisted it is not a case of “justice denied,” in contrast to what Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr famously said. (11) It would be foolhardy to omit the fact that any decision to proceed with a criminal trial is in the gift of the Crown Prosecution Service – with its attendant discrimination issues. (12)
The police annoucement bears out the observation of Sis. Yvette Williams that justice for those who had died, the bereaved families and the wider community “still feels far away.” (13)
Yet, in the interim the torment continues as typified by this reflection by Sis. Yvette: “You never un-see that night. You never un-hear that night. You never un-smell that night.” (14)
The UK state’s propensity for injustice has compelled Grenfell campaigners to link with other causes like infected blood scandal, Covid-19 and the Hillsborough disaster. (15) That many of the key Grenfell milestones will occur under a Labour government will be a test of how much their rhetoric matches their actions.
(1) Emma Harrison (21/05/18) Grenfell Tower: Inquiry opens with tribute to stillborn baby. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44190742
(2) Anna O’Neill and Victoria Cook (14/06/24) Grenfell victims ‘walking unhealed’ seven years on. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ll3x209zyo
(3) Adrian Zorzut (06/06/24) Grenfell fire victims to receive £42m in direct payments and wellbeing support until 2028. https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/grenfell-fire-victims-set-receive-29284906
(4) Neha Gohil, John Simpson and Emma Bentley (13/04/23) Grenfell families criticise £150m pay out and say they felt ‘pressure’ to sign deal. https://www.thenewsmovement.com/articles/grenfell-families-criticise-pound150m-pay-out-and-say-they-felt-pressure-to-sign-deal; O’Neill and Cook. Op. cit.
(5) Robert Mendick (29/03/24) Grenfell Tower victims receive less compensation than firefighters who tackled blaze. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/29/grenfell-tower-fire-compensation-insulting-to-relatives/. Relatives, survivors and residents received £166,000 each compared to £175,000 for emergency workers.
(6) Chiara Fiorillo (10/03/24) Over 30 Grenfell police sue for ‘psychiatric injuries’ from trying to rescue families from fire. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/over-30-grenfell-police-sue-32316206
(7) Natasha Elcock (14/06/24) It’s seven years since the Grenfell fire, and we’re still fighting for justice. But now we have allies. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/14/seven-years-on-grenfell-fight-justice-hillsborough-covid; Sam Millne (13/06/24) Labour Party commits to Hillsborough Law in UK general election manifesto. https://www.thisisanfield.com/2024/06/labour-party-commits-to-hillsborough-law-in-uk-general-election-manifesto/
(8) O’Neill and Cook. Op. cit. “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said it was committed to learning from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry,…”
(9) Daniel Trilling (12/06/22) It’s 5 years since Grenfell. Here’s what we’ve learned from the inquiry so far. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/grenfell-tower-fire-five-years-inquiry-what-we-learned/; Professor William Watkin (22/06/18) “Grenfell dead were murdered. Here’s why: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Grenfell-dead-were-murdered.-Heres-why
(10) Mariam Khan (14/06/24) Grenfell Tower fire: Five unanswered questions seven years on from disaster that killed 72 people. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/grenfell-tower-fire-anniversary-2024-33026666
(11) Robert Booth and Vikram Dodd (22/05/24) Grenfell bereaved and survivors must wait until 2027 for suspects to face trial. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/22/grenfell-bereaved-and-survivors-must-wait-until-2027-for-suspects-to-face-trial; Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr (16/04/63) Letter from a Birmingham Jail. https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html. “For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
(12): Leah Mahon (09/02/23) Top prosecutor clueless about cause of racial disparities in charging. https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2023/02/09/top-prosecutor-clueless-about-cause-of-racial-disparities-in-charging/
(13) O’Neill and Cook. Op. cit.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Elcock. Op. cit.
Grenfell@7: Justice Delayed or Denied?
1) Is the Future Grenfell Support package adequate?
2) Why has the housing crisis and social inequality in the area worsened in the past seven years?
3) Will a Labour government have any impact on the Grenfell outcomes?
4) What does justice for Grenfell look like?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Sis. Yvette Williams: is a founding member of Justice4Grenfell (J4G) a community-led organisation, focused on obtaining justice for the bereaved families, survivors, evacuated residents and the wider local community, collaborating with representative organisations. She has lived in North Kensington for over 30 years and previously worked with the Mangrove Community Association and has helped lead or found a range of community organisations. Sis. Yvette has worked with a number of campaigns including those for Stephen Lawrence and Frank Critchlow andhas a professional background working in Education and Criminal Justice. Both Sis. Yvette and her daughter witnessed the fire at Grenfell Tower; after being alerted by a family friend who was evacuated from one of the walkways.
GoFundMe for Baba Herukuti: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cosmo-aka-elder-herukuti?qid=29108d7870148f07e175c9e0a4307f7f