Grenfell fire: Backlash against Mercedes F1 team over tower insulation firm sponsorship

Mercedes and Kingspan defend their relationship as the F1 team faces criticism of its decision to take financial backing from a firm at the centre of the Grenfell investigation.

James Sillars
Business reporter @SkyNewsBiz
Friday 3 December 2021

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is cheered by fans at the British Grand Prix in July

The Mercedes Formula One team, which includes Britain's Lewis Hamilton in its driver line-up, is facing a backlash for a sponsorship deal from a company which made some of the insulation used on Grenfell Tower.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, added his voice last night to condemnation from relatives of the 72 people killed in the devastating 2017 fire of the team's decision to add Kingspan to its financial backers.

The survivors' group Grenfell United, in a letter to the Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, demanded the relationship was severed, saying: "Kingspan played a central role in inflicting the pain and suffering that we feel today, and there must be a degree of public censure for Kingspan's recklessness and carelessness for human life."

Mr Gove tweeted: "Deeply disappointed that @MercedesAMGF1 are accepting sponsorship from cladding firm Kingspan while the Grenfell Inquiry is ongoing.

"I will be writing to Mercedes to ask them to reconsider. The Grenfell community deserves better."

Later writing a letter to Mr Wolff, Mr Gove warned that ministers could rewrite the rules on advertising on racing cars if it presses ahead with its sponsorship deal with Kingspan.

"My cabinet colleagues and I will keep this system under constant and close review to ensure that the advertising regime remains fit for purpose and reflects the public interest," he wrote.

"I am conscious that there are very real questions about whether parliament would support a statutory regime that enabled a core participant in a public inquiry in to how 72 people lost their lives to advertise its products publicly to millions of families across the country.

"The achievements of Mercedes and Sir Lewis Hamilton in recent years represent a British success story of which we are all proud. I hope you will reconsider this commercial partnership which threatens to undermine all the good work the company and sport has done."

Mr Gove warned ministers could rewrite the rules on advertising on racing cars if Mercedes presses ahead with its sponsorship deal with Kingspan

The inquiry has raised questions over the safety of Kingspan's plastic foam boards - used in a small quantity on Grenfell's cladding.

It has heard that the composition of the Kooltherm K15 insulation was combustible and not properly tested.

Kingspan told The Guardian newspaper: "Kingspan played no role in the design of the cladding system on Grenfell Tower, where its K15 product constituted approximately 5% of the insulation and was used as a substitute product without Kingspan's knowledge in a system that was not compliant with the building regulations.

"The new partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team reflects the ambitious sustainability targets of both organisations."

Lewis Hamilton has added his voice to criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record while in the country

The row threatens to overshadow Lewis Hamilton's bid for a record 8th World Championship title, which continues this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

The British star, who has campaigned vigorously on issues including racism and LGBTQ+ rights, admitted on Thursday he was uncomfortable about racing in a country with "terrifying" human rights laws.

He has not commented on the Kingspan sponsorship row.

Mercedes has stressed that drivers are not involved in sponsorship decisions.

The team said in a statement: "Our partner Kingspan has supported, and continues to support, the vitally important work of the inquiry to determine what went wrong and why in the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

"Our new partnership announced this week is centred on sustainability, and will support us in achieving our targets in this area."

GRENFELL TOWER FIRE INSULATION FAILED

Grenfell Tower inquiry 'failing to deliver' as survivors and bereaved families 'lose faith', lawyers warn

Law firms accuse probe of showing 'complete disregard' for victims and their relatives and warn that, without urgent action, it will be 'shrouded in secrecy'

May BulmanSocial Affairs Correspondent @maybulman

The Independent

Lawyers representing those who survived the disaster and relatives of the deceased accused the probe of showing 'complete disregard' for their clients ( PA )

The Grenfell Tower inquiry is “failing to deliver” on promises it made to traumatised survivors and the families of victims, who have “lost faith” in the process, lawyers have warned.

Law firms representing those who survived the disaster and relatives of the deceased accused the probe of showing “complete disregard” for their clients and warned that, without urgent action, it would be “shrouded in secrecy”.

Despite assurances that chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick was expecting to deliver his interim report on the inquiry’s first phase by spring, the Grenfell community still does not have a date for its release.

And while Sir Martin initially said he was aiming for the second part of the inquiry to start at the end of 2019, it will now be early 2020 before hearings resume.

The inquiry team has been aiming to produce the report, based on the first phase of the inquiry, before 14 June – the second anniversary of the fire.

Millionaire ‘filmed friends laughing as they burned Grenfell effigy’

40,000 people still living in deadly Grenfell-style tower blocks

Grenfell Tower ‘was ticking time bomb after fire inspector cuts’

But less than a quarter of the 200,000 documents relevant to this phase, which will examine the wider issues surrounding the fire, have been disclosed.

The delays will exacerbate concerns about delays to any charges being brought, as the Metropolitan Police have said they must take the final report of the public inquiry into account before submitting a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Isabel Bathurst, who is representing a number of victims’ families for Slater and Gordon, one of the firms in the group of 11, said: “The families have lost faith in the inquiry and believe the process shows no humanity or fundamental interest in what they are fighting for.

“They collectively feel it is failing to deliver on its intended purpose and those in charge do not comprehend the extent of the trauma the victims and the victims’ families are still suffering every day.

“They deserve answers and to simply move the goal posts of when these will be provided is not acceptable.

“It is of their view that this inquiry has complete disregard for their voices and a total lack of respect for their loved ones who lost their lives, and therefore, their ability to fight for justice themselves.

“Unless these concerns are taken seriously now, there is a real belief that it will still be shrouded in secrecy by the time we reach the second anniversary –a situation we are not willing to accept.”
Watch more

Grenfell Tower fire charges ‘unlikely before 2021’

The group of lawyers, which represents more than 90 core participants, has written to the inquiry pushing for the chair to make urgent fire safety recommendations for residents across the country.

A spokesperson for the inquiry said teams were in regular contact with families, with monthly public updates, drop-ins and written and face-to-face contact with groups and legal representatives.

“We recognise that publication of the phase one report is important for the bereaved, survivors and residents and all core participants,” she said.

“The drafting of the report is a very substantial exercise in which accuracy and thoroughness is key. The inquiry will update all core participants on the timing of publication of the phase one report in due course.”

Maria Chiejina, the sister of 60-year-old Vincent Chiejina, who died on the 17th floor of the tower, said the probe had “not delivered what an inquiry should deliver” and that the process “needs to be human”.

Grenfell United, a campaigning group representing survivors and the bereaved, added: “It’s May and we still don’t know what the schedule for the inquiry is for this year, never mind what the new venue will be or when to expect the phase one report.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began
Show all 18





“As we get closer to the second anniversary with no useful information people are increasingly frustrated and anxious. They need to put survivors and bereaved back at the heart of this process.”

Deborah Coles, the executive director of the charity Inquest, which has been supporting Grenfell families, said: “Getting to the truth of what happened is of benefit to us all.

“However, a lack of transparency and clear timeframes from the inquiry are causing unnecessary anxiety and anguish among bereaved families and survivors.”

Additional reporting by PA

 Bryan T. Grenfell’s lecture available online: the 2022 Kyoto Prize laureate in Basic Sciences

Grant and Award Announcement

INAMORI FOUNDATION

 

IMAGE: BRYAN T. GRENFELL’S LECTURE "EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF PATHOGENS IN TIME AND SPACE" IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE 2022 KYOTO PRIZE SPECIAL WEBSITE. view more 

CREDIT: INAMORI FOUNDATION

Why do many pathogens persist? What mechanism underlies the long-lasting wax and wane of pathogen-host interactions? 

Bryan T. Grenfell, a population biologist, aka father of “phylodynamics,” received the 2022 Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences for his development of an innovative approach for integrative analysis of pathogen evolution and epidemics.

Grenfell’s Commemorative Lecture, “Epidemiological and Evolutionary Dynamics of Pathogens in Time and Space” is now available on the 2022 Kyoto Prize Special Website.

In his lecture, Grenfell presents a big picture of infectious disease epidemics using mathematical models that addresses how pathogens and hosts interact through viral evolution and host immunity in time and space.  

“Biology is often extremely complex, but sometimes, simple models can explain some of the complexity.”, says Grenfell, summarizing his achievements. He is still eagerly investigating COVID-19 using his methodology, and steadily providing guidance on infectious disease control.

To learn more about his science, passion, and wisdom, click here.

Bryan T. Grenfell
Population biologist, Kathryn Briger and Sarah Fenton Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs, Princeton University

Grenfell and the other two 2022 Kyoto Prize laureates are featured on the 2022 Kyoto Prize Special Website with information about their work, personal profiles, and five-minute introductory videos.

Carver Mead’s lecture available online: the 2022 Kyoto Prize laureate in Advanced Technology

Grant and Award Announcement

INAMORI FOUNDATION

 

IMAGE: CARVER MEAD’S LECTURE "A PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION" IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE 2022 KYOTO PRIZE SPECIAL WEBSITE. view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF INAMORI FOUNDATION

Carver Mead, an electronics engineer and applied physicist, has been awarded the 2022 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology for leading contributions to the establishment of guiding principles for very large-scale integration (VLSI) systems design. Mead’s Commemorative Lecture, “A Personal Journey Through the Information Revolution” is now available on the 2022 Kyoto Prize Special Website.

In his lecture, Mead reveals a number of innovations that were foundational to permitting practical design of complex integrated circuits containing millions of transistors and creation of mask patterns for their production.

How did he arrive at the guiding principles for VLSI system design using billions of transistors? How did he create a unified view of the physical integrated circuit and incorporate it in an academic course? Click here to learn more.

Carver Mead
Gordon and Betty Moore Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus, California Institute of Technology

Mead and the other two 2022 Kyoto Prize laureates are featured on the 2022 Kyoto Prize Special Website with information about their work, personal profiles, and five-minute introductory videos. 

• Zakir Hussain (Tabla Player)

About the Kyoto Prize

The Kyoto Prize is an international award of Japanese origin presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the progress of science, the advancement of civilization, and the enrichment and elevation of the human spirit. The Prize is granted in the three categories of advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy. Each category comprises four fields, representing a total of 12 fields. Every year, one Prize for each of the three categories is awarded with prize money of 100 million yen per category.

One of the distinctive features of the Kyoto Prize is that it recognizes both “science” and “arts and philosophy” fields. This is because its founder, Kazuo Inamori, held the conviction that the future of humanity can be assured only when there is a balance between scientific development and enrichment of the human spirit.

Construction professionals believe fire safety training remains 'inadequate' post-Grenfell

by Birmingham City University

Credit: Birmingham City University

A third of construction professionals believe the industry still has 'inadequate' knowledge and training around fire safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, new research has found.

A study carried out by Iman Farah Mohamed, a Quantity Surveying student at Birmingham City University, looked at industry views on fire safety following the tragic incident in June 2017, which saw 72 people lose their lives and more than 70 others injured.

It found that most professionals think "knowledge surrounding fire safety in the construction industry" is inadequate, while the majority also believe higher education institutions need to do more to educate construction students on fire safety before they enter the sector.

The research, which surveyed dozens of people working in construction professions and interviewed one expert directly involved with the Grenfell inquiry, also raised concerns around fire evacuation procedures in UK hospitals.

One respondent said:

"Current building regulations are compliant but I'm not sure if they're good enough. Interestingly there are no specific building regulations for mass evacuations and having spoken to fire services, they are frightened about hospital fires as the patients are not always mobile, making evacuation difficult."

The paper, which has been published in the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, suggests that specific roles should be created dedicated to fire safety, or that existing staff members are given the issue as a key responsibility.

It also recommends that higher education institutions encompass fire safety training in their courses, to ensure the next generation of construction professionals have the skills needed to prevent future disasters from happening.

The report also found that:

• There has been an increased awareness of fire safety concerns in the profession since the Grenfell fire
• There are concerns that the UK hospitals may struggle to evacuate immobile patients in the event of a fire
• Many believe the current fire safety regulations are 'not fit for purpose'
• 37 percent of those surveyed believe industry knowledge on fire safety is 'inadequate'
• Only 28 percent of respondents believe university curricula provide sufficient education on fire-proofing buildings
• 50 percent thought communication between residents and constructors around fire safety should be formalized
• New roles should be created to prioritise fire safety or this responsibility should be a requirement of existing jobs such as facilities managers
• Respondents were conflicted on whether race and class played a role in allowing the neglect which led to the tragedy at Grenfell.

Responders to the research highlighted concerns with the sector's approach to fire safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire with one saying:

"It is not expected that fire could spread externally as there is a mind-set that fire risk is unlikely outside the facade of the building."

One respondent also challenged higher education institutions to do more and said a focus on driving profits was currently taking precedent over developing the skills needed to keep residents safe:

"Educational institutions have drifted from equipping students with detailed knowledge and they now just focus on making money. Standards of education are now severely compromised as there many students entering the industry without knowledge. This explains the poor selection and compromise on building materials. Gone are the years of durability and safety. It's all money."

Iman Farah Mohamed who wrote the paper said: "The research showed that there remains some concern in the construction industry around the knowledge and training provided in relation to fire safety.

"Grenfell was a major incident which brought the issue to the front of people's minds, but while the awareness in the industry has increased, most professionals want to see more from the sector and higher education providers to prioritize fire safety.

"The recommendations suggest how we can make sure professionals of the future are equipped with the knowledge they need to prevent a tragedy like this in the future, and that regulations and guidelines are updated to add a much needed extra layer of protection."

Recommendations:

• Specialist training be made available to workers across the sector
• Visiting lecturers and specialist practitioners, such as fire safety engineers, should form part of higher education construction courses
• New regulations should be introduced to protect against future disasters based on building materials or practices
• Funding should be made available to ensure professionals are equipped with the knowledge they need

Combating combustible cladding hazards

---

More information: Iman Farah Mohamed et al. An investigation into the construction industry's view on fire prevention in high-rise buildings post Grenfell, International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation (2019). DOI: 10.1108/IJBPA-05-2019-0048

 

UK

GRENFELL Victims' fury as Tory MPs block fire reforms

Kensington MP Felicity Buchan among Conservatives who stopped push for swifter action

THE RESULT OF FORTY YEARS OF AUSTERITY

Grenfell Tower continues to burn the day after the fire claimed the lives of 72 people on June 14, 2017

GRENFELL campaign groups and the Labour Party slammed the Tories today for voting against proposals to implement safety recommendations from the inquiry into the blaze.

On Monday night, 318 Tory MPs, including Felicity Buchan, MP for Kensington, where the tower’s remains stand, voted against acting on the recommendations proposed by Labour in an amendment to the Fire Safety Bill.

The amendment was tabled after it emerged that over 80 per cent of private-sector accommodation and nearly 50 per cent of social-sector buildings with Grenfell-style flammable cladding have not had the dangerous material removed.

It sought to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower inquiry’s phase one report published last October, which states that the removal of aluminium composite material cladding “should be pursued as vigorously as possible.”

Ms Buchan was elected in 2019, succeeding Kensington’s first-ever Labour MP Emma Dent Coad. She won by 150 votes after the vote was split by Lib Dem candidate Sam Gyimah.

In the Conservative manifesto on which Ms Buchan was elected, it says: “We have already committed to implementing and legislating for all the recommendations of the Hackitt Review and the first phase of the independent inquiry.”

Grenfell United said it was “outraged” by Ms Buchan’s vote against the Labour amendment.

“It’s no surprise as the government continues to fail the country — almost a year since the recommendations and so little has been done. Thousands still in dangerous homes.”

Justice4Grenfell urged Ms Buchan to state why she voted against Labour’s amendment.

Ms Dent Coad described the Tories’ actions as “just despicable.”

“Why bother with the inquiry when they disdain findings?” she added.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said that Ms Buchan had “let the victims and their families down.”

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner pointed to promises made by Downing Street on the third anniversary of the fire.

On June 14, Downing Street was lit up green in memory of the 72 people who lost their lives in the west London blaze.

Downing Street’s tweet accompanying the photo said at the time: “We remain committed to uncovering the causes of this tragedy and ensuring it is never repeated.”

Ms Rayner said: “So why did Tory MPs, including the Tory MP for Kensington, vote down an amendment to implement the recommendations of Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower inquiry last night?

“You should be ashamed of yourself Boris Johnson, if you were capable of it.”

The Fire Brigades Union tweeted: “Every single Tory MP who voted against this amendment should hang their heads in shame.”

Ms Buchan claimed that Labour was “trying to play politics with this tragedy” and was “misrepresenting the vote in the House of Commons.”

She said that the Tories’ vote was based on concerns regarding “sequencing for the legislation to be properly enacted.”

She added that she and the government were “absolutely committed to implementing the first phase recommendations of the Grenfell inquiry.”

UK

Grenfell Tower firefighters win £20m damages in out-of-court settlement


Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent
Thu, 1 February 2024 

Some firefighters who tackled the blaze at Grenfell Tower in west London have been unable to work again due to severe trauma.

Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower fire have secured up to £1.1m each in compensation after they sued construction companies, the landlord of the council block and the London fire commissioner.

Payouts to 114 firefighters will vary from £10,000 to £1.1m and total £20m. The out-of-court settlement follows a £150m payout last year in a similar civil claim brought by nearly 900 bereaved, survivors and residents of the disaster in west London that killed 72 people.

Lawyers for a smaller group of residents of the tower, senior fire officers and police officers are understood to be in negotiations.

Some of the firefighters were unable to work again because of severe trauma, and the claims were brought for personal injury and loss caused by alleged negligence and breach of statutory duty when they attended the blaze on 14 June 2017.

Vincent Reynolds, a lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors, which represented the firefighters through the Fire Brigades Union, said the blaze exposed them to “unimaginable scenes”.

“We hope this settlement brings closure of a sort for these firefighters, although we know that for many, the injuries will be for a lifetime,” he said.

If the case had gone to trial the firefighters were likely to have argued that the London fire brigade was partly responsible because of a lack of training and preparedness for high-rise fires and the way the stay-put policy, which instructed residents to remain in their flats, was handled.

Reynolds said the organisations that settled were Arconic, the US firm which made the combustible cladding; Celotex, the arm of the multinational company Saint Gobain which made the combustible insulation; Rydon, the main contractor, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its tenants management organisation. The companies have been approached for comment.

A spokesperson for the London fire brigade, which was part of the settlement, said: “We’re committed to doing all we can to make sure this tragedy is never repeated again and have been working hard to transform and improve our ways of working. Support remains available to those who attended the Grenfell Tower fire, and all our staff.”

The government is facing growing pressure to commit funding to the multimillion-pound Grenfell Tower memorial, with leading community members demanding “greater budgetary certainty”. Sandra Ruiz, a member of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission who lost her 12-year-old niece Jessica Urbano Ramirez in the fire, last week confronted government officials on the issue at the Grenfell Testimony Week event.

The government has estimated that the costs of looking after the Grenfell Tower site and funding the memorial will eventually reach £340m, but it remains unclear what the budget for the memorial and its upkeep will be.

“Promises are made quickly,” Ruiz said. “Action is slow to follow. And the pain of not having somewhere to remember grows, as does the feeling of injustice. Are we being delayed so that people forget?”

On Wednesday the commission, which is chaired by Paul Boateng, a Labour peer who is a former minister, and Thelma Stober, the solicitor and mediator, also issued a statement which said that issuing a design brief to architects for the memorial was not possible without “greater certainty around the budgetary framework and about what the commitments made by government will mean in practice”.

The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities has been approached for comment.

ON THIS DAY THE GRENFELL TOWER FIRE

A 24-story building containing more than 120 flats lies in ruins after catching fire in the early hours of June 14, 2017, killing nearly 80 people. File Photo Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

Grenfell Tower: What happened - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com › news

Just before 01:00 on 14 June, fire broke out in the kitchen of a fourth floor flat at the 23 storey tower block in North Kensington, West London. Within minutes, the ...

Grenfell Tower: Survivors say 'nothing has changed' - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com › news › uk-england-london-53040194

   mins ago - The survivors of Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people, have said "nothing has changed" three years after the disaster. Those who escaped ...

UK marks anniversary of Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 ...

https://www.aljazeera.com › news › 2020/06 › uk-marks-anniversary-gren...

2 hours ago - UK commemorates the 2017 blaze in a public-housing block that turned into the worst domestic blaze since World War II.

Combustible cladding on London's Grenfell Tower key to ...

https://www.cbc.ca › news › world › combustible-cladding-on-london-s-gr...

Oct 30, 2019 - "In its origin, the fire at Grenfell Tower was no more than a typical kitchen fire," the retired High Court judge wrote. Having broken out late at night ...

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=GRENFELL

Survivors of London's Grenfell fire denounce 'sabotage' of public inquiry

Estelle Shirbon


LONDON (Reuters) - Bereaved families and survivors of London’s 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people, on Monday accused those responsible for wrapping the building in combustible materials of trying to sabotage a public inquiry into the disaster.



FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with a serious fire in the Grenfell Tower apartment block at Latimer Road in West London, Britain June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

The blaze that destroyed the 23-storey social housing block, owned by the wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was Britain’s worst in a residential building since World War Two.

The public inquiry has established that a flammable cladding system fitted to external walls during a recent refurbishment was the key factor in the unstoppable spread of the fire.

Contractors involved in the refurbishment had been due to start giving evidence on Monday, but that was postponed after some made a last-minute request for guarantees that they would not be prosecuted over anything they told the inquiry.

“The timing of this application appears disingenuous and an attempt at sabotage,” Stephanie Barwise, a lawyer representing some of the survivors and bereaved families, told the inquiry on Monday, describing her clients as outraged.

Many in the Grenfell community have called for those responsible for the condition of the building to face criminal prosecution.

Police conducting a separate investigation have said they are considering charges including gross negligence manslaughter and corporate manslaughter but will not announce any decision until the public inquiry has ended.

Begun in September 2017, the inquiry aims to establish exactly what went wrong at Grenfell Tower, why it happened and who was responsible. Previously, the contractors and officials involved in the refurbishment had indicated they would cooperate fully in the interest of uncovering the truth.


Instead, Barwise and other lawyers argued, they had waited until the 11th hour to throw a curve ball, inflicting new anguish on the families just as the long-awaited moment of accountability was supposed to arrive.

DIFFICULT CHOICE

The inquiry chairman, retired judge Martin Moore-Bick, now faces a difficult choice. If he agrees to the contractors’ request, he risks alienating the Grenfell community. If he rejects it, he faces the prospect of key witnesses refusing to answer questions, citing their right not to self-incriminate.

Richard Millett, a lawyer representing the inquiry itself, condemned the timing of the request, but said that on balance, it was in the inquiry’s interest to grant it.

“Without it, you will not get the truth,” he told the chairman.

A lawyer representing the Metropolitan Police said the force would not give a view because it did not want to be seen to be trying to influence the gathering of evidence.

Barwise said it was impossible to know how any guarantee regarding evidence to the inquiry, if given, might affect subsequent prosecutions, which was one of the reasons why her clients were so upset about the request.

After hearing submissions from all the lawyers, Moore-Bick adjourned the hearing indefinitely to consider what to do.

The request came from current and former employees of Rydon Maintenance Ltd, the main contractor in charge of the refurbishment, as well as from Harley Facades Ltd, a sub-contractor that dealt with the cladding.

The same request was also made by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization, which used to manage social housing in the borough and was stripped of its responsibilities after the fire.

Certain survivors have alleged that official neglect of their ethnically mixed, largely low-income community had played a part in the tragedy, and that warnings from residents that there were fire hazards in the tower had been ignored.
Editing by Catherine Evans
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Empty table laid for 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire

Empty table with 72 seats laid out for Jubilee street party nobody will attend

Harrison Jones

Monday 30 May 2022

Empty places were set around the table (Picture: PA/Jeff Moore)

Grenfell campaigners have held an emotional Jubilee street party attended by nobody.

Poignant images show a table set with 72 empty seats, for each of the victims in the 2017 fire.

Special plates were also laid out alongside name cards at the event in west London today, overlooked by the remains of the tower.

They read: ’72 dead. And still no arrests? How come?’


Justice 4 Grenfell put on the gathering as Brits prepare to attend street parties in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this week.

The community activism group, which campaigns for justice for the victims of the tragedy, put out bunting, paper plates, cups and Grenfell flags, with a green theme associated with the disaster.

Following the tragedy on June 14, 2017, the Queen visited the area to meet locals affected by the blaze in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Campaigners are calling for arrests over the disaster (Picture: PA)

The tower overlooks the ‘party’ (Picture: Jeff Moore)

Nabil Choucair, who lost six family members, to the fire, sits at the otherwise empty table (Picture: PA)

Located in foot of the tower on Grenfell Road, organisers say the table will never be sat upon ‘as a chilling reminder that the 72 dead are still without justice, despite a public inquiry’.

Nabil Choucair, who lost six family members, said: ‘I miss my family so much; we enjoyed many good times together, but they were taken from us in the worst of circumstances.

‘I can almost picture them seated at the table today, joining in the celebration.

‘But they are not with us today.

Grenfell flags with a heart also adorned the party (Picture: Jeff Moore)

The tragedy happened in 2017 in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (Picture: PA)

Campaigners branded the public inquiry ‘toothless’ (Picture: Jeff Moore)

‘The pain is indescribable, but they are always with us in our hearts.’

Justice 4 Grenfell group organiser Yvette Williams added: ‘Five years on, a toothless public inquiry and millions still trapped in their homes by flammable cladding – and still no justice.

‘There have been no lessons learned and little action taken.

‘As people up and down the country enjoy street parties – as they quite rightly should, we want to let the powers that be know that our community will always remember the 72 who died needlessly here that night.’

  

 

Lothian Pension Fund invests in US firm behind Grenfell cladding panels

Billy Briggs
February 13, 2022

Scotland’s second largest council pension fund has shares worth £847,000 in a firm that made the cladding panels found to be the main cause of the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people.

Lothian Pension Fund (LPF) – which has 79,000 members and £7.5bn in assets – invests in a US engineering corporation called Arconic based in the city of Pittsburgh.

Arconic manufactured the cladding panels for London’s Grenfell Tower in France and its product was never put through the standard test widely used in the UK construction industry.

A campaign group established after Grenfell – End Our Cladding Scandal – said it was “shocked” to learn that LPF has shares in the American firm and called on the fund to review its investment.

The Ferret can also reveal that LPF invested in five major housebuilders accused of failing to resolve fire safety risks at other tower blocks across the UK, in the wake of the devastating fire.

The fund holds shares in Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Crest Nicholson and Persimmon. These firms have been under mounting pressure recently to address urgent safety problems.

Will LPF ensure it lives up to its stated approach of responsible investment and ensure those developers in which it is invested, such as Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Crest Nicholson and Persimmon, cease playing games with our lives and now, finally act to do the right thing?Spokesperson for End Our Cladding Scandal

In response LPF said it had engaged with housebuilders post-Grenfell to “ensure that problematic cladding is removed/replaced and lessons learned for the future”.

The aftermath of the tower block fire in 2017, due to flammable cladding, led to the discovery of safety defects in buildings across the country, leaving leaseholders facing thousands of pounds worth of fire safety costs. Many people cannot afford the massive bills they now face.

Removing cladding can cost millions of pounds per block. The cost has often been passed on to flat owners under the leasehold system in England and Wales.

Many leaseholders have also seen sharply increasing service charges, and some have had to pay for so-called “waking watch” fire wardens.

In Scotland, it emerged last year that almost 400 buildings, including tower blocks, have a potentially deadly type of cladding. But the Scottish Government has not made public the sites of those buildings, arguing it was not in the public interest to reveal them.

The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, set up to support people affected by the crisis, has been calling on the UK Government to lead an urgent, national effort to fix building safety issues.

A spokesperson for the campaign questioned LPF’s investments, pointing out it emerged during phase one of the Grenfell Tower inquiry that Arconic’s cladding panels were found to be the “primary cause” of the fire.

“We are shocked that Lothian Pension Fund has chosen to invest in Arconic,” the spokerson added.

Part of the top floors of the Grenfell Tower block of council flats in which at least 80 people are thought to have been killed following a fire in Kensington, West London. Photo Credit: iStock/Amanda Lewis

Pointing to LPF’s website, which states the fund has a responsibility to take environmental, social and governance issues seriously, the spokesperson questioned how this “noble statement sits alongside the disgraceful behaviour of Arconic” They also questioned whether LPF has “pursued its policy of ‘constructive engagement’ with Arconic?”

Arconic initially refused to hand over documentation to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and only did so after a European Investigation Order was served by the Metropolitan Police, the spokesman pointed out.

Regarding firms under pressure to resolve fire safety risks in the UK, End Our Cladding Scandal accused them of “PR spin” and continuing to “hide behind vague statements of meeting regulations at time of construction or saying they are doing the right thing”.

The spokesperson continued: “Will LPF ensure it lives up to its stated approach of responsible investment and ensure those developers in which it is invested, such as Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Crest Nicholson and Persimmon, cease playing games with our lives and now, finally act to do the right thing?”

“The time for passing the buck is over – this was a collective state and industry failure and both must play their part in ensuring this living nightmare is finally brought to an end.”

In reply LPF said its policy on responsible investment is “informed by a fiduciary duty owed to members and employers”, set out in law, to invest for the best returns and to ensure pension benefits can be paid when they fall due.

The fund added it has a “transparent approach” and publishes all investments on its website along with information on how it invests. This includes information on how its investment team integrates environmental, social and governance into its decision-making to “ensure that both the financial and non-financial factors are taken into account”.

LPF’s spokesperson added: “We are as horrified by the Grenfell Tower tragedy as everyone else, and we fully support the view that individuals and companies should be held to account for wrongdoing.

“Responsible investment is about assessing the future prospects of companies and influencing positive change, and we focus our efforts on working with our investee companies to improve business practices.

“Over the past 12 months, we and our engagement provider have engaged directly on this issue with companies we hold within the UK housebuilder and construction industry to ensure that problematic cladding is removed/replaced and lessons learned for the future.”

Last month Michael Gove MP, secretary of state for housing, sent a letter to the development community urging them to work with him to deliver a lasting solution to this crisis. He asked companies to make financial contributions to a fund to “cover the full outstanding cost to remediate unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings, currently estimated to be £4bn”.

Arconic did not reply to our requests for a comment, but a statement on its website details the firm’s policy on social responsibility.

It says: “We value human life above all else and are committed to operating worldwide in a safe, responsible manner which respects the environment and the health of our employees, our customers and the communities where we operate.


“Our focus on safety also includes an ongoing commitment to maintaining a secure work environment that respects the dignity and worth of every employee, which drives our continuous improvement approach in our robust safety programs.”

A spokesperson for Barratt said: “We do not believe that leaseholders should have to pay for necessary remediation work at their developments and we are working with managing agents and building owners to find suitable solutions to support leaseholders and residents in buildings we built.”

A spokesperson for Bellway said: “Bellway takes fire safety of our developments extremely seriously, and we have invested significant resources into tackling fire and building safety issues head on.

“We fully appreciate at the heart of the issue is the need to ensure leaseholders and residents feel safe in their homes, which is why since 2017, Bellway has committed £164.7m to make fire safety improvements where we are responsible, or to put in place interim fire safety measures at no cost to leaseholders.”

Crest Nicholson did not reply to our requests for a comment but a statement on its website details its policy on “community engagement”. It says: “We always aim to deliver positive impacts in the communities in which we operate. We engage with local communities to listen and understand any concerns they may have over new development.

“We are committed to bilding (sic) the right infrastructure and community spaces for the benefit of new and existing residents. We are proud to deliver many initiatives which provide increased social value and deliver a positive outcome for all those involved.”

Berkeley did not reply to our requests for a comment but its website states: “Berkeley has always been driven by a clear purpose – to build quality homes, strengthen communities and improve people’s lives. We have established a unique culture, and strong values that shape the way we work, and haven’t changed since our inception.

Persimmon declined to comment but its website says: “Building homes our customers love and happily live in for many years is at the heart of our entire business.

“Customer care is fully embedded into our ethos, with growing customer satisfaction ratings reflecting the hard work and effort that our colleagues put in every day. Our work continues to ensure every customer has an excellent experience of engaging with our business.”

Norway’s state investment fund, NBIM, has also been asked to pressure cladding firms and builders to fix fire safety issues, by the campaign. NBIM is an investor in three companies that were involved in producing materials used on Grenfell Tower including Arconic.

Last month End Our Cladding Scandal called on Norges Bank to pull £5.7bn of funds from companies if they fail to do so.

Photo Credit: iStock/Amanda Lewis