Horrific Fire Engulfs London Apartment Tower

[Scot Dutchy]

What do the expect! The richest and the poorest areas side by side.

[Brian Peacock]

Theresa May has sidestepped questions over her response to the Grenfell Tower disaster after facing renewed criticism of her reaction to the tragedy.

In an interview on BBC’s newsnight on Friday, the prime minister said the fire which has claimed the lives of at least 30 people with dozens more missing was “absolutely horrifying” and had been a “terrifying experience” for those affected.

But she sidestepped questions over whether she had failed to judge the public mood.

The interviewer, Emily Maitlis, suggested that there was a need for the public to hear her say something had gone badly wrong and that the government accepted responsibility, but May said: “Something terrible has happened.

“This is an absolutely awful fire that took place. People have lost their lives, people have had their homes destroyed, they have fled for their lives with absolutely nothing.”

Asked if she had misread the public anger, she replied: “What I have done since this incident took place is, first of all, ensure that the public services had the support they need in order to be able to do the job they were doing in the immediate aftermath.”...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... l-disaster (+video)

What she said was not unreasonable in itself, but what Mrs May is having to deal with now is a constructed narrative about her personality, about her being cold, heartless, uncaring, aloof, distant, ambivalent etc. She's been eager to deploy those kinds narratives as a political weapon and now is reaping exactly what she has sown. If you're going practice politics as a form of organised trolling then expect to be trolled Mrs May. That said, having a regulatory bonfire, not implementing recommendations after similar incidents and, importantly, systematically reducing local authorities statutory obligations while slashing their budgets by a third was always going to encourage councils to do the barest minimum re the oversight of housing safety and maintenance etc. In this regard I think her party do have to take responsibility for their choices, and if they don't their ownership of those choices has to be clearly and unequivocally explained to them.

[cronus]

Government spending five million in readies on lawyers to keep the Government out of it. Who won't be nobbled by the government offering five of the big ones? tax free and all above board you understand? Is that a bribe in Mays pocket or is she just pleased to see you?

[Scot Dutchy]

I just wonder how are they going to divide it and what will it be spent on. When you have no records of who was living there I sense I nice bit of fraud coming up.

[Tyrannical]

What do the expect! The richest and the poorest areas side by side.

How can the poor even afford to live in London, it's such an expensive city?

[Brian Peacock]

...When you have no records of who was living there...

What do you mean?

[Scot Dutchy]

...When you have no records of who was living there...

What do you mean?

Well were all the residents registered as living there? The landlord has only the names of tenants but not of everyone who was living there. No requirement in Britain which is why you have illegal subletting. So if someone came along and claimed he lived there nobody could prove to the contrary and expect to get some money. Plus how about the story; all my documents went up in flames.

[Alan B]

The Guardian - 12 Jan 2016

Tories reject move to ensure rented homes fit for human habitation

Where most of the Tory majority was about 70 landlord MPs...
It would be interesting if Corbyn could attempt to re-introduce this amendment to see the Tory reaction.

But I don't think he would. He is a man of integrity and not likely to make political capital out of others distress.

[Rum]

...When you have no records of who was living there...

What do you mean?

Well were all the residents registered as living there? The landlord has only the names of tenants but not of everyone who was living there. No requirement in Britain which is why you have illegal subletting. So if someone came along and claimed he lived there nobody could prove to the contrary and expect to get some money. Plus how about the story; all my documents went up in flames.

Council tax records.

[Rum]

What do the expect! The richest and the poorest areas side by side.

How can the poor even afford to live in London, it's such an expensive city?

A very good point and one I have often pondered when I visit and more or less open my pockets so that money can fall out as I walk about. Everything costs a lot!

Social housing - no doubt anathema to yourself, is however subsidised.

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-4031653 ... -town-hall

BBC reporter genuinely puzzled why no council staff turned up at the council offices today...

[Brian Peacock]

...When you have no records of who was living there...

What do you mean?

Well were all the residents registered as living there? The landlord has only the names of tenants but not of everyone who was living there. No requirement in Britain which is why you have illegal subletting. So if someone came along and claimed he lived there nobody could prove to the contrary and expect to get some money. Plus how about the story; all my documents went up in flames.

There's many ways to establish who is living at a certain address: council tax records, school records, utility, phone and ISP records, employment records and benefits records, GP and hospital records, etc. The problem here is not identifying who lived there, but who died where.

[Alan B]

And also consider that there may have been visitors staying overnight or other 'non-registered persons'...

[Brian Peacock]

The extent to which government ministers failed to act on expert warnings about inadequate fire safety rules before the Grenfell Tower disaster in London can be revealed by the Observer.

As public outrage mounted and political pressure grew on Theresa May over the tragedy, former chief fire officer Ronnie King – who is secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on fire safety – said urgent requests for meetings with ministers and action to tighten rules were stonewalled.

King also revealed that ministers had failed to insist that life-saving sprinkler systems were mandatory in the design of new schools in England, despite clear recommendations in reports commissioned by the government itself, which advocated their use...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... _clipboard

[Scot Dutchy]

...When you have no records of who was living there...

What do you mean?

Well were all the residents registered as living there? The landlord has only the names of tenants but not of everyone who was living there. No requirement in Britain which is why you have illegal subletting. So if someone came along and claimed he lived there nobody could prove to the contrary and expect to get some money. Plus how about the story; all my documents went up in flames.

Council tax records.

Who pays them in England?