Fire at Grenfell Tower in London

It's really upsetting, all of this.

Brexit of course partly motivated by a wish to avoid these stupid lifesaving measures

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/jan/15/tory-landlord-mps-housing-bill-private-rented

That is the problem when a load of scumbag landlords (in the PLP as well) can vote down housing bills in parliament.

It's important not to politicise this, so if we can all come together to hang this Ian-Gibson-drawn motherfucker, that would be good.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-mays-chief-staff-sat-10620357

Ugh.

the level of failure on so many levels here is just heartbreaking and infuriating and appalling and, more than anything, eminently fucking avoidable

A former Tory housing minister warned MPs against beefing up fire safety regulations, because it could discourage house building, the Mirror reports.

It says that five years after the coroner’s report into the 2009 blaze in Camberwell called for developers refurbishing high-rise blocks to be encouraged to install sprinkler systems, Brandon Lewis told MPs:

"We believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation ...

The cost of fitting a fire sprinkler system may affect house building—something we want to encourage— so we must wait to see what impact that regulation has."

That's their answer to everything, better to have more people in penury because legislating against it would create fewer shit jobs paying a pittance. Better to have more deathtraps than fewer properly constructed, safe houses.

2013: Boris Johnson tells Labour opponent to "Get stuffed" when questioned on Fire Service cuts. Thanks to @angelcakephotos pic.twitter.com/TAR0e2BX1E

— EL4C (@EL4JC) June 14, 2017

it's almost as if there was an opposition party pointing out the problems in real time

as ever, fuck boris johnson

Experts have repeatedly warned that the addition of cladding, which is regularly used to refresh old or ugly buildings, can help spread fire. It can work like a chimney, they have warned, bringing up air that allows it to spread across a building quickly.

_Landlord spent £10million to put cladding to make building look pretty (for surrounding rich) for 300k they could have sprinkler system._

"We believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation .../

This *fucking cunt*. An industry has a responsibility to market lifesaving devices to developers? FUCK OFF.

mission v much not accomplished then xp

stet otm, this belief that the free hand of the market will somehow inevitably lead to safe, secure housebuilding instead of deathtrap slums is fucking delusional

It's a lie though, they actually dont care.

well, yeah

Housing providers are in a position with blocks like these where they are encouraged to consider EWI particularly on non traditional construction blocks and also because of the decent homes standard. Poor energy ratings of uninsulated dwellings, the pressure to be seen to reduce carbon emissions, to increase energy efficiency, to help towards reducing fuel poverty: all these have driven similar refurbishment work all over the country.

"Don't look at us, it wasn't OUR job" is a terrible look when people have just died.

The alternative of demolition and rebuild was not always the viable one. Plus there has in the past been loads of funding available for EWI works.

The worrying thing, having been involved in similar works in the past, is that the company that provided the cladding 'solution' on the grenfell project went into administration straight after the contract completed. And in my experience they don't strike me as a leading light in the industry.

I imagine that the powerful in Kensington will be looking to point fingers at architects and contractors to deflect from what appears to have been utterly disdainful management of the block and its tenants / leaseholders. The grenfell association blog post linked to earlier is tragic.

Given this is effectively a large-scale corporate manslaughter charge I don't think deflecting the blame is really going to work.

The official death toll has now risen to 12.

(xp) I wish I shared your confidence.

twitter account of the editor of "inside housing"

This is what a report into cladding used in a nearby tower which caught fire in August said. Report was kept secret. https://t.co/z0GOVjkNjB pic.twitter.com/RPJTTLj3Y7

— Peter Apps (@PeteApps) June 14, 2017

polystyrene ffs

Sorry I'm not good at links on zing

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/14/disaster-waiting-to-happen-fire-expert-slams-uk-tower-blocks?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

That's proper cowboy spec in that tweet.

Jeremy Corbyn has suggested spending cuts could have contributed to the deadly fire at Grenfell Tower. The Labour leader said “searching questions” need to be asked about what happened at the west London tower block, adding: “If you deny local authorities the funding they need, then there is a price that’s paid.”

very sad and enraging situation.

Tensions erupted in clashes with the police outside the Rugby Portobello trust, which is acting as a centre for dispossessed people.

The road outside the club was packed with people, some in tears and some wailing. A fracas broke out, apparently over a journalist trying to film a distraught woman. Some men moved to protect the woman and, within seconds, a large contingent of police officers were jostling with the crowd amid shouting and screaming.

Watching the news right now and the tower appears to be leaning quite alarmingly. Dunno if it's camera angle or what.

I'm almost certain that's the camera angle...

Def camera angle; was just past and it's straight. Fires still burning though

The intrusive questioning and filming of people in the severest state of shock and grief (looking for missing family, kids etc) by the BBC today is fucking repulsive. A new low even by their own appalling lack of standards :(

how many people lived in the tower? david lammy says he expects "hundreds" of ppl to have died

david lammy otm

This is the richest borough in our country treating its citizens in this way and we should call it what it is. It is corporate manslaughter. That’s what it is. And there should be arrests made, frankly. It is an outrage.

Many of use across the country have been caught up in an election knocking on housing estate doors, travelling up to the top floors of tower blocks, and we know as politicians that the conditions in this country are unacceptable.

We build buildings in the 70s. Those 70s buildings, many of them should be demolished. They have not got easy fire escapes. They have got no sprinklers. It is totally, totally unacceptable in Britain that this is allowed to happen and that people lose their lives in this way. People should be held to account.

simultaneous lammyposting there

Just listened to that on youtube, Lammy totally otm and Nick Robinson a total arsehole who was trying to deny there is any class inequality dimension to this preventable tragedy.

There could have been 400+ people in the tower and the numbers confirmed dead and confirmed safe/in hospital are nowhere near that.

The scale of this is horrific, I read somewhere that there could have been anything between 400-600 people in the flats when the fire started.

average house price in kensington and chelsea is £1,989,412

george osbourne could see the fire from his street

grenfell tower was recently remodelled to cram more residents inside, fire alarms were not properly fitted, cladding was flammable

just free associating here, no class inequality implied, of course

fuck nick robinson now and forever btw

There could have been 400+ people in the tower and the numbers confirmed dead and confirmed safe/in hospital are nowhere near that.

I've been thinking about that too, the fire started on the fourth floor and there were, what, 24 floors? It's chilling and horrific. Theresa May is visiting the site today, I really really really hope people tell her to fuck right off, but I'm sure there isn't the will or spirit to do that right now, but soon I hope there will be.

(xp) Fuck the BBC now and forever.

Meanwhile Theresa May visited the site and managed to avoid meeting any of those affected or volunteers helping. She really is a pathetic human being.