Emotions run high as the Grenfell Tower Inquiry opens
In the news
The Evening Standard had Grenfell Tower back on its front page yesterday, and this morning most papers have printed some coverage of yesterday’s opening of the inquiry.
According to The Guardian, many survivors of June’s blaze in North Kensington were left dissatisfied after judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s opening statement.
Newly elected Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad, who has applied to be a core participant in the inquiry, was among those quoted as being disappointed in the session.
The Guardian also has a piece this morning by Dawn Foster arguing that the inquiry will not be enough for former residents of the block. What is needed, she says, is a “wholesale reappraisal and overhaul of our society”.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, makes a similar argument in The Independent, writing that the residents of Grenfell Tower were failed systematically by the government.
Joshua Chaffin in the Financial Times, meanwhile, focuses more on the state of the community back in Kensington. His piece traces the rehousing efforts of the council and examines the mixed reaction from some of the borough’s richer residents to the many people made homeless by the devastating fire.
The Daily Mail has housing on its front page this morning as well, but has more column inches for homeowners in Hertfordshire than homelessness in Holland Park.
It fears that yesterday’s announcement from communities secretary Sajid Javid that the government will set new levels of housing need for every council in the country will hit the green belt hard.
On social media
If you missed it yesterday, this thread on the opening of the inquiry by human rights lawyer Adam Wagner is well worth your time.
1. A thread on why I think today’s #GrenfellInquiry opening was problematic - from someone who has acted in three of them
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1)1. A thread on why I think today’s #GrenfellInquiry opening was problematic - from someone who has acted in three of them
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) September 14, 2017
What’s on
Today is the last day of the Resi Conference in Wales, where the keynote address will be given by futurist Tom Cheesewright.