Honour the victims by learning lessons
The best way to honour the memory of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire is to ensure that urgent lessons are learned from this disaster.
The commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral acknowledged the intensity of the horror but also, rightly, looked to the future.
The deaths of 53 adults and 18 children has been a terrible wakeup call for the entire country.
An inquiry has vital work to do exploring the causes of the blaze and there may be prosecutions.
It is critical that the fullest understanding is gained of how the fire ripped through the building.
It is also essential that the evacuation is studied so that if emergency services are confronted with a similar situation in the future there is the best chance of saving lives.
But concerns awoken by this true tragedy extend far beyond immediate health and safety and disaster response issues.
If residents had profound and justified fears for their own safety, when they spoke out, why were their voices not heard?
As the Right Reverend Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington, said at the memorial service: “Today we ask why warnings were not heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, uncared for, not listened to.”
With piercing honesty, he spoke of a “city that didn’t listen”.
If residents were let down before the blaze, the failure to secure permanent housing for all of the survivors is yet another disappointment.
In one of the wealthiest cities on the planet people who have suffered appalling trauma are struggling to rebuild their lives and there is the sense that so much more could be done to help them.
It is right that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and other members of the royal family were at this service. Their presence has helped focus attention on a wound that has yet to heal.
Grenfell is an icon for so much that is wrong with the country, and there is no excuse for any section of the establishment to turn a blind eye to the enduring inequality, vulnerability and suffering which is a source of torment for so many.
Figures as diverse as the Archbishop of Canterbury, singer Adele, the PM and Jeremy Corbyn were in the pews.
We can hope that the event brought some comfort to those who mourn loved ones and whose sleep is interrupted with nightmares of the blaze, but the country should also aspire to secure them a true measure of justice.
This is not an hour for despair but action. There was so much to give thanks for at St Paul’s.
The world witnessed exceptional heroism on the part of firefighters and other rescue workers who worked past the point of exhaustion.
There were demonstrations of outstanding generosity as people turned up at local churches with donations for those who had lost everything.
And now there is the determination to honour the dignity of the survivors and show solidarity with the grieving, coupled with a beautiful and powerful desire for change.