By Ben Kerrigan-
The news comes as the official Greenfell inquiry prepares its final first phase report on the events of the night of the inferno which cost 72 lives for publication in June.
Fire chiefs are about to receive letters “warning them they face withering criticism over their handling of the Grenfell Tower disaster.” Critics say the ruling elite have attempted to shift responsibility for Grenfell away from the negligence of the council, its Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, and various corporations that turned a safe building into a death trap during a “refurbishment.”
Despite June being cited as the target date for the end of the first phase, but the Telegraph felt obliged to note, “The legal process can take many months—it is suggested the Maxwellisation letters in the Chilcott Inquiry into the Iraq War took years—meaning the Greenfell report risks being delayed by several months.”
CHANGE
London Fire Brigade Commissioner Danny Cotton said she “would not change anything we did on the night.” She added, “I wouldn’t develop a training package for a space shuttle to land in front of the Shard [a famous London landmark].”
Whilst Cotton’s statement refers to the causative link between the installation of flammable cladding and the eventual inferno that consumed the entire building, turning it into a hell hole, the dangers were known to the London Fire Brigade and the Kensington Cuncil years in advance.
WARNING
The first warning of the tragedy to come came in 2009 at Lakanal House in Camberwell, London, in which six people were killed. Responding to Cotton, Grenfell United, which represents many of the victims, wrote, “To not prepare for a repeat of Lakanal House and say chances are like a space ship on the Shard is flippant and disrespectful.”
Other analysts and critics point out other factors that are being overlooked. An overstretching of the London Fire brigade due to under funding and cost cutting. Since 2008, funding cuts made the situation facing the London Fire Brigade (LFB) a ticking time bomb, with then Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson slashing £29 million in 2013 alone. The policy applied by the London Fire Brigade on the fateful day has been repeatedly criticised. However, critics believe they were not chiefly to blame.
Instructions given by the LFB used the standard “stay put” policy. Their instruction was based on the misguided belief that high rise buildings like Greenfell tower were isolated and separated from each other and would prevent the spread of fire. This belief was based on the assumption that the buildings were well maintained.
It did not take into account the fact the application of the highly flammable cladding and insulation on its exterior had been poorly maintained. The cladding accelerated the spread of the fire across multiple floors so that the building was rapidly engulfed. The highly compromised interior had just one stairwell which was quickly immersed in toxic, deadly smoke. Reference has been made to the warning that came from the Greenfell Tower action group months earlier that said:
Greenfell Tower was so dangerously compromised that a “catastrophic event” was only a matter of time. Channel Four has also been criticised for airing a documentary said to have been biased against those who are really culpable for the Greenfell disaster. Its documentary: Grenfell: Did the Fire Brigade Fail? It began on a flawed premise of Moore-Bick’s inquiry that an informed judgement could be made based solely on an examination of what happened on the night of the fire. It concluded that 55 out of the 72 who died did so because they got the wrong advice from the LFB.
UNFAIR
Journalists from the World Socialist Web which brought this development to the attention of The Eye Of Media.Com on Monday morning(today) insist that Firefighters appear to be unfairly being victimised to conceal the failings of a wider investigation that ought to declare the full truth of this disaster. The insist a whitewash scenario is being prepared that will hide the full truth from the public. They say the failure of The Metropolitan police to arrest anyone in relation to the ”social murder” of 72 people is the biggest sign yet that they will allow the true parties at fault escape justice.
The police already said in March that no-one will be even be considered for arrest, possibly for years hence, as the “police investigation must take into account any findings or reports produced by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, including its final report. The Eye Of Media.Com believes that those who ignored clear warnings of the dangers posed b inadequate cladding at The Greenfell Tower are guilty of an offence fr which they should be punished.
We cannot share the view that the are guilty of murder since that would conclude that they intended the disastrous outcome of death that occurred. What we can conclude is that their negligence was so serious that it should have at least led to resignations and possibly very high fines, and possible criminal charges of manslaughter.
P.S The Eye Of Media.Com is not affiliated with the World Socialist Web, but remain open to ideas relating to news or progressive topics where we believe the information is worth sharing.