Give Grenfell justice now

Now, here’s a thing... The Oxford English Dictionary has revealed its new words and definitions and the word “thing” is one of them.

Thanks largely to social media “thing” is now “a genuine or established phenomenon or practice” when used to express disbelief – as in “How can that be a thing?” Which was my reaction exactly. The quarterly update has more than 600 additions but my personal favourite is the new, last word in the dictionary “zyzzyva”. It’s a tropical weevil native to South America - but it also scores you at least 43 points at Scrabble. Now, that’s really something. I HAVE written the phrase “a long wait for justice” countless times in my 32-year career.

I’ve used it reporting murder trials, when a grieving family finally sees their loved one’s killer locked up for life.

I’ve typed it following long civil cases when people have been awarded compensation for terrible wrongs.

And I’ve quoted many, many people using the phrase to describe their journeys through inquests or public inquiries.

This week the families of the 96 Hillsborough stadium victims passed another milestone on their long journey – when six men were charged with criminal offences relating to the deaths, alleged lies and perverting the course of justice.

Yet, even after 28 years, their long wait goes on.

They will endure lengthy trials, reliving the horrors of the 1989 stadium disaster over and over again, with the amazing strength and dignity that has somehow kept them going through three decades of pain.

Following the announcement of charges, the admirable Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, admitted: “This is definitely the start of the end.”

But as justice for the 96 comes a small step closer, the journey for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed at least 80, is just beginning. And Mrs POOR old Samantha Cameron. The former PM’s wife has been moaning that she can’t afford to buy designer clothes.

Paying the mortgage and the childcare means she hasn’t got the “disposable income” to buy couture frocks. So Baronet’s daughter Sam has launched her own fashion brand selling cheaper togs, such as £270 for an average dress.

Cam off it, Sam! Your millionaire hubby doesn’t make you pay all the bills yourself does he? A new survey reveals Aspinall, who lost her son James, 18, at Hillsborough, has urged them to “get mobilised as soon as possible” in their fight for justice.

Days after the fire she spoke to the brother of Mohammed Alhajali, the first Grenfell victim named.

She said: “I told him ‘You’ve got to start demanding answers and have transparency and openness about everything as the authorities will try and palm you off’. “I said they mightn’t feel like it now, but they need to get together and stick together. It’s about concentrating that this sort of incident doesn’t happen again.”

That’s why the bereaved and survivors of Grenfell must be fully involved in an urgent, transparent, and wide-ranging inquiry into how the fire happened and who was responsible. And the government must enact the Hillsborough Law which the families of the 96 have drafted.

It will force public authorities and officials to come clean about their role in disasters – to admit failures and cooperate fully with police, investigations, inquiries and inquests. And it will ensure victims and families get equal legal representation.

If Grenfell Tower families have to fight for truth like Hillsborough’s the “start of the end” will not come until 2045. And nobody should ever again have to face such a long wait for justice. 25 things ordinary folk believe makes someone “loaded” and I reckon Sam could tick off most of them (although “never having shopped at Aldi or Lidl” is a tricky one).

And the latest national statistics show that one in three Brits endured at least a year in poverty between 2012 and 2015 – largely due to her husband’s austerity policies.

So until Sam Cam has been unable to pay the mortgage or buy any clothes for her hungry kids I suggest she keep her trap shut – or put a designer sock in it.