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Grenfell survivors project message onto Houses of Parliament slamming failures
Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire projected a message onto the Houses of Parliament accusing politicians of not keeping their promises over improvements to fire safety.
The Grenfell United group beamed a message onto the side of the iconic building which read: “Two years after Grenfell this building still hasn’t kept its promises #DemandChange.”
The stunt follows a similar move by the bereaved families and survivors’ group, which last week projected messages about fire safety onto tower blocks in London, Manchester and Newcastle to coincide with the second anniversary of the disaster.
A spokesperson for Grenfell United said the support since last week has been “incredible”.
They added: “We felt now was [the] time to shine a spotlight on one more building: the Houses of Parliament.
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“We’ve had two years’ worth of promises but very little action to make sure homes are safe and people living in social housing are treated with dignity and respect. We are calling for all dangerous cladding to be replaced, for fire safety measures in all tower blocks and for a new separate housing regulator that would put people over profits.”
They said that the new prime minister must fulfil the promises made by the government after the fire as “a priority”.
“People must be safe in their homes. We will not let the promises made be forgotten,” they said.
Inside Housing’s End Our Cladding Scandal campaign has called on the government to provide a fund to cover the cost of cladding removal and remedial works on private blocks. But while £200m has now been set aside for towers with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, ministers have refused to provide public money for other towers.
Last month, families bereaved by the fire said they were “angry and frustrated” by the government response and public inquiry into the disaster.
A report published by Inquest, a charity that scrutinises investigations into state-related deaths, found that families “felt abandoned by the state at all levels” in the aftermath of the blaze.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The government has banned combustible materials on new high-rise residential buildings, provided £600m to remove unsafe ACM cladding and is currently consulting on new legislation for building safety.
“Over £100m of national government funds have been committed to the Grenfell community, and we will continue to support the bereaved, survivors and their families.
“Our thoughts are with those who lost their lives on 14 June 2017 and we are determined to improve building safety, to search for the truth and to ensure no such tragedy can ever happen again.”
End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign aims
- Government provides a fund to cover the cost of cladding removal and remedial works on private blocks
- A firm timescale is set out of no more than two years for the work to be carried out
- Residents are reimbursed for the interim fire safety costs incurred, and funding is to be provided for necessary internal fire safety measures identified by a competent fire risk assessor
