Opening day of Grenfell inquiry ends in uproar
THE launch of an inquiry into the Grenfell Tower inferno yesterday ended in uproar as survivors branded the £15million probe a “whitewash”.
Residents, backed by Left-wing campaigners, claimed investigators would never get to the bottom of why 80 people died in the high-rise blaze.
They accused presiding judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick of “disrespect” after he walked out while their lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC, tried to ask questions.
Local Labour MP Emma Dent Coad attacked the authorities for holding a social housing inquiry in the luxury Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn, central London.
Infuriated
“What kind of society are we living in?” she asked. “We are getting a discussion with a judge in a room dripping with crystal chandeliers. That says it all.
“At the hearing, Sir Martin said the inquiry would ‘provide a measure of solace’ to survivors and grieving families.”
The retired Appeal Court judge vowed to “get to the truth of what happened” and “seek out all the evidence and examine it calmly and rationally”.
But he infuriated residents of the tower and neighbouring blocks by rejecting calls to include survivors on the inquiry panel.
About 30 residents stormed out of a specially arranged screening of the meeting at a church hall near the tower. One resident who was watching at Notting Hill Methodist Church said: “This is a whitewash, and that’s all it will be.”
Yvette Williams, a co-ordinator for the Justice4Grenfell campaign, said: “At the end, to not even give 15 minutes to questions is appalling.
“So I’m hoping that the Civil Service advisers have gone back to him now and said actually that was a bit of a faux pas.”
Mr Mansfield stood up as the hearing ended, asking: “Sir, before departing, I wonder if I may make a quick request on behalf of survivors?”
But the judge ignored him and left the room, while audience members shouted “hello?” and “rubbish”.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Mansfield said: “I feel it is disrespectful to survivors.”
Labour MP David Lammy said he was “disappointed” by the lack of community representation on the panel.
“The first thing that Sir Martin Moore-Bick has to do is gain the trust of the community,” he said.
“The Grenfell public inquiry is not a trial. The families must come first and it is his job to hold powerful organisations to account on their behalf.”
The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of June 14 after a fire broke out in a flat on the fourth floor of the 24-storey block.
It is believed the flames spread rapidly because the building was fitted with flammable cladding during an £8million refurbishment. It did not have sprinklers. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, left, was yesterday accused of ‘disrespect’ to survivors of the fire that raged through the tower