Grenfell’s wide fallout

The ghastly consequences of the Grenfell Tower fire are reverberating ever more powerfully, as it becomes clear that dozens of other towers are vulnerable, and council leaders cannot guarantee residents’ safety. Inevitably there is confusion and, among some of those who have been forced to move out for the duration of emergency works, anger.

This presents a political opportunity that some will continue to exploit. But given that the risks of council towerblock living are being exposed across the land, it would be wrong, callous even, to do so. This is a tragedy whose echoes are now being felt across council boundaries, and across party lines. Whether in Tory-run Kensington and Chelsea, or Labour-run Camden, there are significant problems to deal with.

There should be only one criterion that decides between success and failure now, and that is whether councils move swiftly to ensure that residents are appropriately relocated in the short term, and that their homes are made safe in the long. In this task they should face the rigorous scrutiny of central government, but they also require its help, for only slowly are we coming to terms with the sheer dimensions of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

An entire way of providing social housing is being reassessed. Finding the best way forward will take a national effort.