GrenfellTower inquiry to decide on scope of probe

THE public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire will aim to establish what issues are examined within a matter of weeks, a spokesman said.

A consultation period with victims and other parties about the scope of the probe is under way and is expected to wrap up by the parliamentary recess.

This gives survivors concerned the process will be too “narrow” until July 20 to make their case to Sir Martin Moore-Bick that its parameters should widen.

Discontent has been brewing after the judge leading the inquiry suggested it will largely focus on the cause of the fire and how it could be prevented in future.

Campaigners warned a boycott could be afoot unless the systemic issues underlying the blaze, in which at least 80 people have died, becomes a central plank.

An inquiry spokesman said: “The aim is to have (the terms of reference) done before Parliament rises on the 20th.”

Sir Martin met survivors and those displaced from homes nearby on his first day in the role and will hold further meetings with other groups in the next week.

Labour MP David Lammy called for the retired Court of Appeal judge to forge closer links with victims so the process could maintain legitimacy in their eyes.

“He is a white, upper-middle class man who, I suspect, has never, ever visited a tower block housing estate,” he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday. He suggested the judge should try sleeping in one.

Yvette Williams, one of the organisers of the Justice 4 Grenfell campaign group, told Sky News: “They cannot just look at 14 June, when that building became an inferno.

“If we don’t get good terms of reference for the public inquiry and we don’t get a wide remit so that those people can take responsibility for what they’ve done, then we won’t participate in it.”

Meanwhile, the future of troubled Kensington and Chelsea council was also called into question by one of its Labour councillors. A minister also questioned whether the council could be scrapped to make way for a larger body.

Foreign Office minister Mark Field, a former Kensington councillor, suggested the move could make them better equipped to respond to major crises.

He told the Sunday Times: “It raises questions about the model of London governance, with 33 unitary authorities... You could look at the New York model, where they have five boroughs.”