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| Grenfell fire: Retired judge to lead disaster inquiry | Grenfell fire: Retired judge to lead disaster inquiry |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick has been chosen to lead the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, sources say. | Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick has been chosen to lead the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, sources say. |
| Sir Martin's appointment is likely to be announced in a government statement on Thursday. | Sir Martin's appointment is likely to be announced in a government statement on Thursday. |
| Prime Minister Theresa May has said residents will be given a say over the direction of the investigation. | Prime Minister Theresa May has said residents will be given a say over the direction of the investigation. |
| Police have said 80 people are now presumed dead in the disaster, which happened in west London on 14 June. | |
| But the final death toll will not be known until at least the end of the year. | But the final death toll will not be known until at least the end of the year. |
| Most of those who died in the fire were said to be in 23 of the North Kensington tower block's 129 flats. | Most of those who died in the fire were said to be in 23 of the North Kensington tower block's 129 flats. |
| Sir Martin retired as Lord Justice of Appeal in December. | Sir Martin retired as Lord Justice of Appeal in December. |
| As a lawyer, he specialised in commercial law before spending more than 20 years as a judge of the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal. | |
| Victims will have state funding for legal representation at the inquiry. | |
| The prime minister has said a full judge-led inquiry is needed to make sure the disaster was "properly investigated". | |
| Meanwhile, the National Housing Federation - which represents non-profit housing associations in England - has called on the government to "halt the testing on ACM (aluminium composite material) cladding and shift its focus to making people safe". | |
| Cladding from up to 600 buildings across England is being examined by the government. Every sample - 120 so far - has failed fire safety tests. | |
| Chief executive David Orr said: "Since the tragic fire that took place at Grenfell Tower, colleagues across the housing sector have been doing everything they can to reassure residents and take action to make homes safer. | |
| "This includes urgently submitting data and samples to the government's testing programme. | |
| "These tests were the right thing to do, but the results are now conclusive - ACM cladding simply does not pass these tests and is deemed unsafe. | |
| "Across the country, valuable resources - from specialist equipment to expert time - are being poured into a testing process of which the results are already known. | |
| "We are calling on government to halt the testing on ACM cladding and shift its focus to making people safe. | |
| "It is highly likely that this means removing the cladding from hundreds of buildings we were assured were safe - including hotels, private sector blocks, hospitals and student accommodation. | |
| "This process has powerfully demonstrated a systemic failure in construction, manufacturing and the way that regulation has been applied." |