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| Council issues brief apology for its slow response to Grenfell Tower tragedy | Council issues brief apology for its slow response to Grenfell Tower tragedy |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The embattled leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nick Paget-Brown, made a brief apology on Thursday for its response to the Grenfell Tower disaster at a tense meeting from which members of the public were barred and journalists allowed in only after a last-minute legal challenge. | The embattled leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nick Paget-Brown, made a brief apology on Thursday for its response to the Grenfell Tower disaster at a tense meeting from which members of the public were barred and journalists allowed in only after a last-minute legal challenge. |
| This first council cabinet meeting since the fire was initially intended to be held behind closed doors, but a group of media organisations including the Guardian obtained a high court order preventing the council from banning journalists at about 6pm, half an hour before the meeting was due to start. The doors were finally opened after the meeting had got under way, although those bereaved by the disaster and local residents were not allowed in. | This first council cabinet meeting since the fire was initially intended to be held behind closed doors, but a group of media organisations including the Guardian obtained a high court order preventing the council from banning journalists at about 6pm, half an hour before the meeting was due to start. The doors were finally opened after the meeting had got under way, although those bereaved by the disaster and local residents were not allowed in. |
| In a statement read to fellow councillors and reporters, Paget-Brown said many of the criticisms of the council would be “challenged” in future. | In a statement read to fellow councillors and reporters, Paget-Brown said many of the criticisms of the council would be “challenged” in future. |
| “We are under sustained media criticism for a slow reaction to the fire, non-visibility and for failing to invest in North Kensington. I believe that many of these criticisms need to be challenged and over time they will be, but I can think of nothing more demeaning to the memory of those lost and missing in the fire than seeking the resolution of political scores.” | “We are under sustained media criticism for a slow reaction to the fire, non-visibility and for failing to invest in North Kensington. I believe that many of these criticisms need to be challenged and over time they will be, but I can think of nothing more demeaning to the memory of those lost and missing in the fire than seeking the resolution of political scores.” |
| He acknowledged the condemnation of the council’s response to the fire and said he would “apologise for what we could have done better”. He added that the council’s “reputation with the wider community in North Kensington is damaged and in some cases fractured”. | He acknowledged the condemnation of the council’s response to the fire and said he would “apologise for what we could have done better”. He added that the council’s “reputation with the wider community in North Kensington is damaged and in some cases fractured”. |
| Paget-Brown told the meeting: “The council will need to think about how we continue to recognise the immensity of this tragedy. It cannot be business as usual.” He said he would announce a team to oversee the “specific challenges posed by the fire and to ensure that we have a coordinated and visible response that is respected by the survivors”. | Paget-Brown told the meeting: “The council will need to think about how we continue to recognise the immensity of this tragedy. It cannot be business as usual.” He said he would announce a team to oversee the “specific challenges posed by the fire and to ensure that we have a coordinated and visible response that is respected by the survivors”. |
| The plan to hold the meeting in private had drawn concern from Downing Street. No 10 said it wanted all parties involved in the fire aftermath “to be as open and transparent as possible, both with residents and the wider public to ensure full confidence in the response effort”. A spokeswoman said: “We would encourage everyone involved to respect this wherever possible.” | The plan to hold the meeting in private had drawn concern from Downing Street. No 10 said it wanted all parties involved in the fire aftermath “to be as open and transparent as possible, both with residents and the wider public to ensure full confidence in the response effort”. A spokeswoman said: “We would encourage everyone involved to respect this wherever possible.” |
| Labour’s Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities secretary, added: “In order to deliver a response that survivors, residents and the wider public can trust, there is no room for anything less than complete transparency.” | Labour’s Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities secretary, added: “In order to deliver a response that survivors, residents and the wider public can trust, there is no room for anything less than complete transparency.” |
| Following his statement, Paget-Brown said the rest of the discussion about the tragedy could not be held with journalists present in order to avoid prejudicing the public inquiry. | Following his statement, Paget-Brown said the rest of the discussion about the tragedy could not be held with journalists present in order to avoid prejudicing the public inquiry. |
| The Labour group in the council demanded the resignation of the whole cabinet of the Conservative-controlled council. In an angry confrontation, a Labour councillor who represents the ward in which the tragedy took place accused Paget-Brown of using the meeting as an “opportunity … to make a statement”. | The Labour group in the council demanded the resignation of the whole cabinet of the Conservative-controlled council. In an angry confrontation, a Labour councillor who represents the ward in which the tragedy took place accused Paget-Brown of using the meeting as an “opportunity … to make a statement”. |
| Robert Atkinson told him: “You could have issued that statement … eight days ago.” | Robert Atkinson told him: “You could have issued that statement … eight days ago.” |
| Beinazir Lasharie, who also represents the Notting Dale ward and who lived near Grenfell Tower, was in tears at the closing of Paget-Brown’s statement. She said residents had been “fobbed off”. She told reporters she had come to the meeting to have her questions answered on behalf of residents but had been denied. | |
| One local resident, Maryon Samuels, went to the council’s offices to try to attend. “This is a continuation of what they have done from the beginning of this avoidable disaster: they have just abrogated their responsibility completely and hidden away and not come out and talked to the community,” she told reporters as security staff barred her entry to Kensington town hall. | One local resident, Maryon Samuels, went to the council’s offices to try to attend. “This is a continuation of what they have done from the beginning of this avoidable disaster: they have just abrogated their responsibility completely and hidden away and not come out and talked to the community,” she told reporters as security staff barred her entry to Kensington town hall. |
| The deputy leader of the Labour group within the council, Monica Press, told reporters that it was “absolutely shameful” that residents of Grenfell Tower had been barred from the meeting, calling the whole spectacle unprecedented. | The deputy leader of the Labour group within the council, Monica Press, told reporters that it was “absolutely shameful” that residents of Grenfell Tower had been barred from the meeting, calling the whole spectacle unprecedented. |
| “They have been avoiding meeting the survivors and the bereaved, and that is what this should have been about,” she said after the meeting. Press said the whole cabinet should resign and that a commission should be brought in to run the council’s response to the fire. | “They have been avoiding meeting the survivors and the bereaved, and that is what this should have been about,” she said after the meeting. Press said the whole cabinet should resign and that a commission should be brought in to run the council’s response to the fire. |
| Opening the session, Paget-Brown told colleagues: “We meet in the tragic aftermath of the worst incident to have occurred in the borough since Kensington and Chelsea was created 52 years ago, and one of London’s worst single losses of life since the second world war. | Opening the session, Paget-Brown told colleagues: “We meet in the tragic aftermath of the worst incident to have occurred in the borough since Kensington and Chelsea was created 52 years ago, and one of London’s worst single losses of life since the second world war. |
| “There are many questions, but I want to start by remembering that it is the 80 people confirmed so far who have lost their lives and their grief-stricken families that are uppermost in our minds. They certainly have been in mine. We also know that the top of the building has not been reached yet and that a number of people are still unaccounted for having been reported missing. | “There are many questions, but I want to start by remembering that it is the 80 people confirmed so far who have lost their lives and their grief-stricken families that are uppermost in our minds. They certainly have been in mine. We also know that the top of the building has not been reached yet and that a number of people are still unaccounted for having been reported missing. |
| “It is still almost impossible to take in the events which led to their final moments in the early hours of that summer morning.” | “It is still almost impossible to take in the events which led to their final moments in the early hours of that summer morning.” |
| In a separate development on Thursday, a man was arrested on suspicion of fraudulently claiming to have lost family members in the Grenfell Tower fire. The 52-year-old man is thought to have attempted to gain money and housing by pretending that loved ones had died in the blaze. | In a separate development on Thursday, a man was arrested on suspicion of fraudulently claiming to have lost family members in the Grenfell Tower fire. The 52-year-old man is thought to have attempted to gain money and housing by pretending that loved ones had died in the blaze. |
| He allegedly came forward in the immediate aftermath of the fire, claiming to have lost his wife, son and all his possessions in the disaster, and seeking financial support. He was assigned family liaison officers. | He allegedly came forward in the immediate aftermath of the fire, claiming to have lost his wife, son and all his possessions in the disaster, and seeking financial support. He was assigned family liaison officers. |