The Grenfell Tower fire happened 1 year ago. This is an almost uniformly excellent article/edition of the LRB about it.
You don't need me to tell you that the fire itself was awful. I didn't read all of the sad bits towards the beginning of the piece. Maybe you can.
I found the account of the aftermath both less emotionally wearing and also more interesting. There are interesting echoes of the Sharon Shoesmith affair in the cavalier, panicky, headline-grabbing treatment of local government by central government. K&C and various Tory councillors come out of it well; central government comes out much less well.
But for this blog post, I want to show you some bits about the aftermath that I found most shocking.
"‘Nobody said “no” to anybody,’ one of the department heads told me. One survivor said he needed a pram for his one-year-old. ‘We said: “No problem: dozens have been donated.”
“No,” he said, “I want a new one.” The one he wanted cost £900. We bought it.’"
Well, that's just a pram, you say. Yes, it is - but it's also an example of a wider pattern of behaviour.
"‘But the council as a whole,’ I asked. ‘Did they help you?’
‘Yes, they did,’ she said. ‘Any time we needed money – for a PlayStation, an Xbox, they bought them for us. They sent keyworkers. I read this stuff, people are unpleasant with what the council did, but for me they did it all.’ Karen and her boys lived in a local hotel for four months, paid for by the council, before accepting a brand new flat off High Street Kensington. Though she had rented privately in the tower, after the fire she was made a permanent social housing tenant. Her flat cost £1.2 million on the open market. She won’t have to begin paying rent or utility bills until July 2019. ‘It’s a relief,’ she said.
‘If this had happened in another country,’ I asked her, ‘do you think the response from the authorities would have been better?’
‘Well, if it happened in my country, in Lebanon,’ Karen said, ‘we would have been thrown on the streets, for the dogs.’"
‘Yes, they did,’ she said. ‘Any time we needed money – for a PlayStation, an Xbox, they bought them for us. They sent keyworkers. I read this stuff, people are unpleasant with what the council did, but for me they did it all.’ Karen and her boys lived in a local hotel for four months, paid for by the council, before accepting a brand new flat off High Street Kensington. Though she had rented privately in the tower, after the fire she was made a permanent social housing tenant. Her flat cost £1.2 million on the open market. She won’t have to begin paying rent or utility bills until July 2019. ‘It’s a relief,’ she said.
‘If this had happened in another country,’ I asked her, ‘do you think the response from the authorities would have been better?’
‘Well, if it happened in my country, in Lebanon,’ Karen said, ‘we would have been thrown on the streets, for the dogs.’"
Of course I am glad that this country is rich enough and generous enough to provide more lavishly for Karen than what she describes as her own country. But does something not strike you as odd about all this? Let me put it this way. The article also quotes the Daily Mail reporting that "The wealthy Tory councillor who was in charge of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment has fled his £1.3 million home after allegedly receiving threats from angry residents". The "wealthy" live in (or flee) £1.3m homes (Daily Mail valuation) while the "poor" live in £1.2m homes (open market valuation): and the poor also get free PlayStations, Xboxes and a couple of years with no rent. If this is what Tory Kensington & Chelsea is like, who do you vote for if you want austerity and inequality?
Well, that's just £1.2m, you say. Yes, it is - but ...
"‘So, with this particular family,’ a senior housing officer said, ‘the government got itself into such a situation that the government itself had to find a two million pound property for the family. They live there now. And of course when other families heard the story they were like, “Where’s my two million pound house?” ... Almost all the residents I spoke to brought this up with me. One of them printed off a list from Zoopla of four properties near Westbourne Grove at two to three million pounds each, and she wrote ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, and ‘four’ beside them in order of preference. She gave it to her keyworker and imagined the council would go ahead and buy one."
"‘So, with this particular family,’ a senior housing officer said, ‘the government got itself into such a situation that the government itself had to find a two million pound property for the family. They live there now. And of course when other families heard the story they were like, “Where’s my two million pound house?” ... Almost all the residents I spoke to brought this up with me. One of them printed off a list from Zoopla of four properties near Westbourne Grove at two to three million pounds each, and she wrote ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, and ‘four’ beside them in order of preference. She gave it to her keyworker and imagined the council would go ahead and buy one."
Read it and weep.
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