It’s time to get our own house in order
FAMILIES who lost loved ones in the Grenfell Tower fire only need to look at the experiences of the relatives of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster to see how long the fight for justice can take.
The public inquiry that commenced yesterday must ensure that the full story behind the blaze which led to 72 deaths is told.
Decision-makers and those in positions of responsibility should be held to account for their actions. Not only is it essential that justice is done, it is also vital that all possible lessons are learned.
This process is not about the hunt for scapegoats but a quest for truth. How, in the centre of one of the world’s richest cities, were so many people allowed to live in dangerous conditions?
The images of the inferno were shocking but so is the picture of rampant inequality which emerged in the days and months since. It is deeply regrettable that so many people live on the edge of poverty; it is scandalous that being poor can mean your life is in danger.
London is a city in which oligarchs dine at exclusive restaurants while outside other people scramble for survival. MPs daily walk past rough sleepers huddled outside the tube station entrance to Parliament.
Throughout the capital, the homeless gaze up at rows of empty flats owned by millionaire investors. Victims of human trafficking suffer slavery and exploitation near the banks where the already-rich chase even greater wealth.
Inequality may be treated as a fact of life. But the inquiry may discover it was also a factor in the Grenfell deaths.
If the appalling potential for a fire was ignored in this case, what guarantee is there that the concerns of other vulnerable people have been heeded elsewhere in the city?
The disaster put a new focus on the risks posed by flammable cladding, but how many tenants in this sprawling city live in properties with dangerous wiring?
It is intolerable if landlords – social or private – are able to ignore mould, infestations and structural dangers, but the growing collection of horror stories suggests a decent and safe home is still out of reach for too many people.
It is not just London which needs a day of reckoning. There will be important lessons to be learned in Welsh towns and cities.
The true measure of a nation is not its GDP but how it supports those who have the least. Grenfell should be a spur for us to get our house in order.