Cladding fire tests flawed
KATE TRIBUTE AS HUNDREDS DEFY
THOUSANDS of homes and public buildings with Grenfell-style cladding need urgent testing after a company admitted its fire checks were flawed.
Kingspan withdrew safety warrants for its K15 product after admitting “inaccuracies” in test conclusions. It apologised.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick stunned MPs by ordering thousands of tests to be redone.
An MP said: “We simply don’t know the full implications... but it’s huge.”
At least 1.5 million people live in flats with Grenfell-type cladding, making sales impossible.
Labour frontbencher Mike Amesbury urged Mr Jenrick to reveal how many properties were affected.
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A SOMBRE Duchess of Cambridge yesterday made an “unprecedented” visit to a memorial for tragic Sarah Everard.
Kate, 39, stood solemnly at a shrine at the bandstand on Clapham Common, close to where 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah was abducted.
The Duchess laid daffodils she picked from the Kensington Palace gardens.
She spent several moments looking at a sea of flowers left in tribute to Sarah.
Sources say the visit was a personal pilgrimage and her message of support to Sarah’s family was from the heart.
A palace source said: “The Duchess wanted to pay her respects to Sarah and her family. She remembers what it felt like to walk around London at night before she got married.”
Mum-of-three Kate, like millions of Britons, is understood to have been deeply shocked and saddened by the senseless killing of Sarah. She used to live in Chelsea, West London, with sister Pippa and would have known the perils women face at night.
BARRED
Her visit was unannounced and came before an official vigil was due to start.
Hundreds defied a ban on the gathering due to Covid. And as the numbers grew last night, tensions ran high as some accused police of insensitivity and disrupting the gathering.
Kate did not wear a mask during her visit, though many who laid flowers at the bandstand did.
For a member of the Royal Family to attend such a public gathering is unheard of – but is, perhaps, a sign of how the royals are modernising.
It came after a tumultuous week in which Prince Harry’s wife Meghan claimed that Kate made her cry, that the tone of her son Archie’s skin was questioned – and that her pleas for mental health support went unanswered.
Kate’s Clapham homage struck a chord as the debate about women’s safety was reignited by Sarah’s death.
She made the four-mile journey from Kensington Palace, where husband William stayed with their children George, seven, Charlotte, five, and Louis, two. A source close to the palace added:
FOR SARAH Hundreds defy ban at Clapham vigil yesterday
“The timing wasn’t specifically planned – she did it privately.”
Royal expert Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, said: “I can’t recall this happening before. But I think Kate has been very affected by it and it meant a lot to her. Clearly she told protection officers, ‘I want to do this, this is important to me, you’ll have to help me’.”
The Duchess’s appearance had echoes of visits made by William’s mother
Diana, who reached out to the homeless and AIDS patients. Among hundreds of women at Clapham Common yesterday was Emily Pite, 23, who said: “Anger and despair brought us here today. I cried at work yesterday. I’ve never felt so emotional about someone I didn’t know.”
Charlotte White, 22, said: “The Met tried to stop us coming, but everyone here has turned out in Sarah’s memory.” Tributes included signs saying “We are all Sarah” and placards with the words “You could have been any of us”.
Mum Soraya Bounouara who attended with her three children, added: “I wanted to make them aware of what happened and that she shouldn’t have passed away.
“I’ve felt so sad this week, the community feels so broken.”
There were smaller vigils in Manchester and Birmingham – after police had also urged people to stay
away. Around 100 congregated in Manchester and laid flowers and lit candles at the statue of women’s rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst.
Katie Richards, 27, and her friend Caia Fallowfield, 23, said: “Cancelling the vigil is a further affront to women.
“This was a perfectly peaceful, safely organised protest and it feels ironic that the police feel the need to shut down something organised by women, for the safety of women.” In Birmingham, 50 people gathered in Victoria Square with candles and flowers.
Zoe Plummer, 27, said: “We’re out in solidarity. This week has shown this collective feeling from people who have gone through their lives doing things to protect themselves.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fellow political leaders joined many in lighting candles in tribute to Sarah. Mr
Johnson tweeted: “Tonight Carrie and I will be lighting a candle for Sarah Everard and thinking of her family and friends.
“I cannot imagine how unbearable their pain and grief is. We must work fast to find all the answers to this horrifying crime.
“I will do everything I can to make sure the streets are safe and ensure women and girls do not face harassment or abuse.” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also lit a candle, echoed the sentiments about safety and tweeted: “The whole country’s thoughts are with Sarah’s friends and family at this awful time.”
Scottish Parliament leader Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh Assembly leader Mark Drakeford also paid tribute.
Sarah was last seen on March 3, while walking home to Brixton. Her remains were found in woodland in Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday.
Serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, from Deal, Kent, yesterday appeared in court charged with Sarah’s kidnap and murder.
■■Additional reporting by Katie Tarrant and Dan Warburton