Raising the alarm

‘We all let down Grenfell victims’

THERE WILL be even more national soul-searching over the Grenfell Tower disaster now it has emerged that the block of flats had failed fire safety tests before a faulty fridge freezer sparked last week’s blaze which has claimed at least 79 lives.

Yet, as the nation shares the pain of the victims and their growing anger at how their safety was allowed to be put at such risk by the powers-that-be, it’s compounded by the regret of campaigners like Nick Ross who were also ignored.

As the broadcaster writes in The Yorkshire Post ,it should not take national tragedies – whether it be the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985, the King’s Cross underground fire 30 years ago or this latest disaster – for ineffective regulations, including the provision of potentially lifesaving sprinklers, to be exposed.

His thought-provoking and challenging piece is also required reading for all politicians, landlords and builders now carrying out emergency checks on the fabric of high-rise blocks and social housing around Britain. “We could do with less party politics here,” he says. “We all let down the Grenfell residents. And we all must share the blame, including those of us who failed to make the case sufficiently convincing.”

Coming from such a respected individual – Mr Ross was the face of TV’s Crimewatch – who considers himself fortunate to have escaped a fatal fire, there should be a presumption that all such buildings should be fitted with sprinklers unless it can be proven that it is not in the public interest to do so. As he says: “There is a terrible anger after Grenfell. We must put it to good use.” It’s not too late to do so.