Silent walk as Grenfell United seeks more action ‘in the pursuit of justice’

The gathering will take place on the four-and-a-half year anniversary of the fire, which claimed the lives of 72 people.
Bereaved and survivors will take part in a silent walk (Jonathan Brady/PA)
PA Archive
Aine Fox14 December 2021

Survivors and the bereaved of the Grenfell Tower fire will take part in a silent walk in memory of their loved ones and in a call for justice more than four years on from the deadly blaze.

People will gather at Kensington Town Hall in west London on Tuesday evening, before walking to the base of the burnt-out block of flats.

It marks four-and-a-half years since the disaster, and is the first time in 18 months such a gathering has taken place, campaign group Grenfell United said.

The walk comes exactly a week after the Government apologised as part of the public inquiry into the fire, for past failures in oversight of the system regulating safety within the construction industry and the supervision of building control bodies.

A lawyer representing the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told a hearing that mistakes and missed opportunities to learn from previous fires created the environment for the blaze to happen.

Phase two of the inquiry is examining how the tower came to be coated in flammable materials that contributed to the spread of flames, which shot up the building in June 2017, killing 72 people.

Module six of the second phase is concerned with building regulations and the published guidance on fire safety, including detailed consideration of Government policy in this area.

The inquiry has previously heard from a lawyer for the families of survivors and relatives of the bereaved who stated that the fire occurred partly as a result of an “unbridled passion for deregulation”, with a desire to boost housing construction having led to the industry being allowed to exploit regulations.

The walk also comes a week after Mercedes ended its controversial sponsorship deal with Kingspan, saying it was “not appropriate” to continue the partnership.

Kingspan’s logo appeared on the helmet of Lewis Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, sparking protests due to the use of Kingspan products in the tower.

Grenfell United said it would be calling for “additional actions in the pursuit of justice” as well as its continued call for “truth and change”, adding that it would reveal the new actions on the night of the walk.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in