Theresa May announces full public inquiry into Grenfell Tower tragedy

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Theresa May today announced a judge-led public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

The Prime Minister visited the scene this morning where she met firefighter chiefs who explained the scale of the inferno and how it had swept through the tower block.

Speaking after her return to No10, she said: “Rightly, people want answers. That is why I am today ordering a full public inquiry into this disaster. We need to know what happened.

“We owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends and the homes in which they lived.”

The fire is believed to have risen through the building but also to have gone downwards, raising new fears over how blazes can race through tower blocks.

Grenfell Tower aftermath - In pictures

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Mrs May spoke of the “heart-breaking” stories of people caught up in the tragedy and promised that residents whose homes were destroyed would be rehoused in London, and as close as possible to the local area.

Anger grew today over the fire safety failures, with the Government itself facing questions over why measures proposed following a fire in Camberwell, south London, in 2009 where not fully implemented.

Pressed over this, Mrs May said: “What we need to do is to ensure this terrible tragedy is properly investigated.”

She also praised firefighters who ran into the building, being protected by police with their riot shields from burning, falling debris.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who visited local people, and community and church leaders, at the scene, said that the “truth has got to come out”.

Visting an evacuation centre, the Labour leader said: “We have to get to the bottom of this.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visits the scene
Neil Hall/Reuters

As anger grew over the failures over fire safety, Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy said “arrests” should be made over what he branded “corporate manslaughter”.

He is searching for close family friend, 24-year-old artist Khadija Saye, who lived on the tower’s 20th floor.

“This is the richest borough in our country treating its citizens in this way,” he said.

“It’s corporate manslaughter. There should be arrests made frankly.”

There was also a warning that up to one in five fire safety checks on tower blocks may be inadequate and that some fire risk assessors may not be properly qualified.

Police and fire minister Nick Hurd was due to update MPs this afternoon during a special meeting in Parliament, as Labour claimed “paralysis in Downing Street” was hampering the Government’s response.

On a public inquiry, Kensington Labour MP Emma Dent Coad said: “I would absolutely back it.”

Hammersmith Labour MP Andy Slaughter said: “A full public inquiry would seem to be a suitable route.

“But we also need rapid action to identify causes and risks and give assurances to those 100,000s of people who live in high rise blocks.”

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