VOICE OF THE MIRROR:

THE speed and ferocity at which a West London block was turned into a towering inferno is a dreadful tragedy raising disturbing questions.

Once again we witnessed the inspiring bravery of ordinary folk, risking their lives to help others escape as smoke filled corridors and flames lapped at windows.

We also saw the humbling heroism of firefighters rushing into a disaster zone to save trapped families.

But the questions start now over the apparent indifference of the authorities in the years before the blaze and dismissal of renters in social housing as second class citizens.

Self-evidently something went horribly, fatally wrong with Grenfell Tower.

Political leaders and officials in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a local authority encompassing obscene extremes of poverty and wealth, must be forensically examined.

Gavin Barwell, a former Housing Minister recently appointed Theresa May’s chief of staff in Downing Street, will be required to explain why he failed to order a recommended review into safety standards after a previous blaze, in a South London block, claimed six lives.

Whatever happened to Grenfell Tower must never be permitted to occur again.