Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FINALLY... GRENFELL TOWER CHIEFS QUIT
Sneering boss blames ‘perceived’ failings
THE embattled Grenfell Tower council boss and two of his close cronies have finally caved in to pressure and quit their posts.
Nicholas Paget-brown, leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, resigned on the same day as two of his colleagues – but he has still failed to apologise. It comes in the wake of the authorities’ disastrous response to the tragedy. Grenfell residents were joined by local councillors and senior politicians in calling for the council leader to go. Mr Paget-brown had seemed unwilling to stand down, but the pressure intensified when under-fire Robert Black, boss of the organisation that manages Grenfell Tower, “stepped aside” yesterday. Finally, at 5.30pm, the Tory council boss said he had to “accept my share of responsibility for these perceived failings” and would go once a successor was in place. In farcical scenes on Thursday night, Mr Pagetbrown, 60, closed the council’s first meeting since the inferno, which killed at least 80, after just a few minutes. Journalists had been forced to get a court order to be able to attend, but Mr Pagetbrown and his cabinet filed out of the meeting. They claimed continuing would “prejudice” the public inquiry. Speaking about Mr Paget-brown’s resignation, Labour group leader Robert Atkinson said: “My initial feeling is one of relief. With the departure of the leader, perhaps the council can now begin to organise itself to provide the services the residents so desperately need. He has totally failed in the leadership role since the disaster more than two weeks ago.” Last night, deputy leader Rock Feilding-mellen also quit. The 38-year-old was the council’s housing chief and oversaw the £8.6million refurbishment and the installation of controversial cladding last year. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the resignations, saying: “The council now needs to find a way to move forward and find a way to restore the confidence in that community. That can only be done with new leadership and a new approach that reaches out to residents who, quite rightly, feel desperately neglected.” He said the Government should appoint “untainted” commissioners to take over the running of the council “to act in the best interests of residents”. Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Communities, said: “Sajid Javid [Minister for Communities] must immediately ensure all residents who are homeless or in temporary accommodation are getting the support they need.”
As leader I have to accept my share of responsibility for these perceived failings NICHOLAS PAGET-BROWN FORMER COUNCIL LEADER