Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have written to the prime minister demanding that the composition of the public inquiry be entirely changed amid fears that it will be a whitewash.



The survivors are angry at what they say is a failure of the government and Kensington and Chelsea council to deal appropriately with the tragedy and are concerned that the inquiry will follow in a similar vein.

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The letter, which contains 12 demands in all, has been drawn up based on feedback from a meeting of about 150 survivors of the fire and BMELawyers4Grenfell, a team of black and minority ethnic lawyers who are supporting them.

BMELawyers4Grenfell said that if the terms of reference of the inquiry did not change, it would consider a judicial review against the government for failing to consult sufficiently with those affected by the fire.

The 12 demands include:

A properly diverse expert panel to sit alongside the inquiry judge to advise on a variety of issues, including housing need, fire and safety construction.

A response team to be available to survivors 24 hours a day.

The removal of Sir Martin Moore-Bick as head of the inquiry.

The centralisation of all donations into one charity and a full record of money collected.

Confirmation in writing from the home secretary within 28 days that undocumented survivors are given full UK citizenship.

A guarantee that the interim findings will be made public within four months.

The survivors are concerned about comments from Moore-Bick, the former court of appeal judge who is heading the inquiry, that it will be restricted to issues relating to how the fire started and spread rather than examining wider issues about Grenfell Tower, the council, central government and the management and funding of social housing.

Peter Herbert, the chair of the Society of Black Lawyers, said: “The inquiry must be capable of guaranteeing answers that honour the memory of all those who have lost their lives and those that remain.”

He said the government must “appoint a judge that residents are comfortable with”. Justice4Grenfell, another group supporting survivors and bereaved relatives, has called for Moore-Bick to step down.

Letter to the prime minister from the umbrella action group BMELawyers4Grenfell

Ismet Rawat, the president of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said it was clear to the entire community that the inquiry should address “the extremely important questions raised about our society as a whole and the manner in which those who hold power deal with discrimination and deprivation”.

Speaking in the Commons, the communities secretary, Sajid Javid said it was up to Moore-Bick to determine the scope of the inquiry, adding: “We expect it [the inquiry] to be as broad and wide-ranging as possible.” He said the government was determined that residents would be properly represented and received the financial support they needed to ensure that. Javid also said that all Grenfell tenants would be offered temporary accommodation by Wednesday.

He rejected Labour calls to send commissioners to take over the running of Kensington and Chelsea council. Criticism of the council over the fire and subsequent response has led to the resignations of its chief executive Nicholas Holgate and council leader, Nicholas Paget-Brown.



On Monday night Cllr Elizabeth Campbell was chosen by her Conservative colleagues to be the new council leader. In her first public statement, Campbell said she was “truly sorry” and pledged to “heal the wounds” in the community and to seek more central government help from Javid.

The Metropolitan police commander Stuart Cundy and coroner Fiona Wilcox will meet residents on Tuesday amid continuing concerns that the number of presumed dead given by the police is too low and accusations that the real tally is being withheld to quell public anger.

However, concerns have been raised about the meeting protocol, with residents told they could not ask questions unless they submitted them in writing by 11am on Monday. Many claim they did not get the message in time.



Testing introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire of cladding on other tower blocks has so far identified 181 buildings – all of those tested to date – with flammable cladding. But on Monday the Labour MP Yvette Cooper said that the testing should be extended to insulation, given that, according to DS Fiona McCormack, in tests the insulation proved “more flammable than the cladding”.

In response, the fire minister, Nick Hurd, said: “Testing of the cladding was a priority but it’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s not just about the cladding: there’s a significant issue about insulation and fitting, and considerable questions to be answered about the safeguarding of risk inside buildings.”

He also said the government was reviewing Home Office advice that it would not be checking people’s immigration status, after Labour demanded a more explicit immigration amnesty.

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A number of MPs called for flammable cladding to be banned, including the Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who described such a move as a “no-brainer”. They voiced their demands as King’s College hospital NHS foundation trust revealed it had removed a small amount of cladding as a precaution from a non-patient area at its Denmark Hill site in south London after tests suggested it was flammable. In the Lords, there were demands for water sprinklers to be made mandatory in all new and refurbished schools.

Inquests into the deaths of two more victims of the blaze opened at Westminster coroner’s court on Monday. Gloria Trevisan, 26, was found in a flat on the 23rd floor of the block, where she lived with Marco Gottardi, the court heard. Gottardi also died.



Trevisan, an Italian architecture graduate, was identified by her dental records and the cause of her death was given as “consistent with the effects of fire” .

One of the oldest victims, Ali Yawar Jafari, 81, was pulled from the building by firefighters but pronounced dead at the scene, the hearing was told.

The cause of his death was provisionally given as “inhalation of fire fumes”, with a second cause of coronary and hypertensive heart disease. Wilcox adjourned the inquests to a date to be fixed.

Barbara Brownlee of the Grenfell fire response team said 126 offers of accommodation have been made to survivors so far. Brownlee, who is director of housing and regeneration at Westminster city council, told the Press Association eight offers had been accepted so far, adding that families were under no pressure to take up the first property they were shown. She said all of the families would have their rent payments suspended for a year from the date they move in.