Angela Rayner has officially announced the Grenfell Tower block will be demolished. We’ll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story.
Angela Rayner has officially announced the Grenfell Tower block will be demolished – in a move that has sparked mix emotions from campaigners.
The Deputy PM confirmed the 24-storey west London tower block “will be carefully taken down to the ground” after years of uncertainty over its future. She said it will likely take around two years to take it down, adding that there will be no changes to the tower before the eighth anniversary of the deadly blaze in June.
Some bereaved families have reacted with fury over the plan, saying the decision to demolish the block feels like “taking away our gravestone”. Others said they understood there were safety concerns about the tower staying up as it is. Many had called for the building to be brought down only to the tenth floor so part of it would be retained as a “standing memorial”.
The Grenfell Tower inquiry’s landmark final report, published in September, concluded that the deadly 2017 fire, which claimed 72 lives, was the result of “decades of failure” by those in power.
It laid bare how Government complacency and industry dishonesty and greed led to the 2017 tragedy. Construction manufacturers were found guilty of “systematic dishonesty”, with firms having “deliberately concealed” information about the dangers of its cladding products.
A petition has been launched by a survivor Emma O’Connor, calling for all those affected to be “effectively consulted” on the tower’s future. It has racked up dozens of signatures already,
Emma O’Connor, who lived on the 20th floor and escaped the burning block on the night, said a decision to demolish the tower should be stalled until there is more community engagement. She wrote: “We have not been properly consulted or engaged with in making the decision to take down Grenfell Tower. There has been no justice. Until there is, Grenfell Tower must stand.” Directly addressing Ms Rayner, Ms O’Connor said she should “show us some respect”.
Grenfell United yesterday raised concerns that bereaved families and survivors had not been properly consulted. In a meeting with families earlier this week, they said Ms Rayner “refused to confirm how many bereaved and survivors had been spoken to in the recent, short four week consultation”.
The group said the meeting showed “just how upset bereaved and survivors are about not having their views heard or considered in this decision”, adding: “Ignoring the voices of bereaved on the future of our loved one’s gravesite is disgraceful and unforgivable”
Grenfell Next of Kin acknowledged that the decision taken by Ms Rayner “must have been difficult” and admitted the building cannot be “propped up indefinitely due to safety concerns” over the structure.
The group said a discussion needs to be had about what will go in the tower block’s place to memorialise their loved ones. “We need to rebuild our broken shattered lives and out families. And we need to remember Grenfell where out kin died in the most horrific unimaginable way not with patronising pandering and performative responses but with respectful conversations because that is the only way we can get through this.
“Hope is all we have to fuel us towards the peace out loved ones deserve. Peace and justice is out goal. That has to be our focus. We owe it to our loved ones who died and we owe it to our families living.”
Keir Starmer on Thursday insisted that victims of the Grenfell Tower fire are in the government’s “mind’s eye” amid accusations that voices of the bereaved are being ignored. The Prime Minister, who was asked about Grenfell while on a visit yesterday, said: “Well, I went to the tower last year and was really struck by the significance of what I saw and talking to some of the families as well. Obviously a decision has got to be made and the Deputy Prime Minister will be setting that out tomorrow, so we will see the full details on that.”
Asked if he ignored families of the victims of the disaster over a decision to demolish the building, Mr Starmer added: “I think first and foremost we do need to always have in our mind’s eye the victims in this terrible, terrible tragedy.”
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Downing Street said decisions about Grenfell Tower are a “deeply personal matter” for the community. The PM’s spokesman added: “The Deputy Prime Minister has considered expert information about health and safety, mental health and well being. The Government will ensure its decision will not interfere with the path to justice.”
The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has been consulting on plans for a permanent memorial in the area of the tower. In a 2023 report, the commission set out a series of recommendations for a “sacred space”, designed to be a “peaceful place for remembering and reflecting”. It said the space should include a garden, a monument and a dedicated space for the private expression of grief and mourning for the families who lost loved ones.
