LOCAL residents, students, supporters and youth ended their Justice for Grenfell 9th Anniversary Silent Walk around the tower in North Kensington on Sunday evening with the whole 5,000-strong crowd facing the Tower and repeatedly and angrily chanting: ‘JUSTICE, JUSTICE, JUSTICE!’
The dignified demonstration commemorated the 72 Grenfell Tower tenants who died in the massive fire on 14th June 2017.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry opened in September 2017, lasted for six years and only published its final report in 2024, which revealed that the highly flammable cladding, which had recently been put on and around the building had been organised and authorised by the local Kensington & Chelsea Council.
The inquiry report admitted that ‘a chain of failures across government and the private sector led to Grenfell Tower becoming a death trap’.
The rally was addressed by disabled residents Emma O’Connor and Adam Gabsbi who said: ‘15 out of the 37 disabled residents of Grenfell died in the fire. The deaths were preventable.
‘The government’s disabled regulations are not good enough and we are calling on the government to provide stronger regulations. Grenfell showed that a fire doesn’t respect disability. Never again must we be left without a safe way out. The deaf and the disabled must be protected.’
The demonstration was led by the Grenfell United banner and was followed by lots of home-made placards, including numerous ones declaring: ‘This much evidence, Still no charges!’
The Hammersmith and Fulham Unison banner was on the march as was the ‘North Kensington Young Socialists, Prosecute Now, No More Grenfells’ banner.
The Young Socialists banner was held by two local youths, Terrell Jacob and Illias Baba, who said: ‘We were in the building when it happened and we are so angry that no-one has been held to account.’
As the march passed Ladbroke Grove Tube Station it went through a Guard of Honour of about 40 uniformed Firefighters, members of the Fire Brigades Union, many of whom were embraced by the locals as they went by.
Local resident Tia, who was holding a placard saying: ‘Justice Delayed is Justice Denied – Rotten Borough Kills our Community’, told News Line: ‘I lost eight friends in the fire. I’m very worried about Starmer and Burnham’s links to the dodgy housebuilding lobby.’
Brian Edwards, a photographer from Hackney, told News Line: ‘I’m here to pay my respects. The private companies and the local councillors that were responsible must be held to account.
‘There’s been no acceptance of responsibility which is a disgrace, but it doesn’t surprise me unfortunately.
‘The establishment parties just look after the people who fund them.’
Bhavna Sen, a psychologist from Hayes, West London, said: ‘There must be justice for Grenfell. That means criminal prosecutions of the companies, certain politicians and the council.
‘What we see is that there has been delay and cover-up for nine years. There must be prosecutions before the 10th anniversary, as well as an apology.’
Calvin Benson, a London Underground inspector, said: ‘Thirteen years ago today I marched with the Fire Brigades Union to stop the cuts to the fire service. Exactly four years later Grenfell happened.
‘I blame successive governments for Grenfell. The corruption within the building industry is mammoth, also the councils and government, right up to the top.’
Bose Akinleye, a local lawyer, said: ‘The system is broken. It is systematically decaying so the flaws there are endemic. They are structural and institutional.
‘Grenfell Tower is a scandal but the real scandal is what precipitated the deaths and devastation – the maladministration, the delay in addressing genuine and legitimate concerns.
‘There was a complete disregard for health and safety, incompetence and regulatory failures, despite repeated requests to avoid a future tragedy.
‘Those 72 victims were ignored, we have failed them. There should be many charges of corporate manslaughter.’
Miriam Amancay Colque, a local resident, said: ‘Today was another year of the painful remembrance of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, when in 2017 the worst fire since the 2nd World War happened in Britain, killing 72 people, a tragedy which could have been prevented.
‘Nine years on of this tragic incident, and despite being so much evidence no one has been prosecuted, leaving a trail of pain and sorrow for the families of the victims and with it, impunity.
‘The inquiry revealed that the main motivation was to save money, which has been put above the safety of the residents, where the cheapest and the worst materials have been used.
‘And all this happened in the United Kingdom, the fifth richest country in the world, and in Kensington and Chelsea, the richest borough in Britain.
‘They were victims of institutional neglect and corporate greed. This is the result of Britain’s housing policy for the poor and the working class who are treated with contempt and as second class citizens. ‘The fight must go on for Justice for the Grenfell victims.’
Jacqui Haynes, North Kensington community leader, told News Line: ‘It’s been nine years of the criminals policing themselves.
‘We’re going to make them accountable. We’re not going to let them delay the prosecutions any longer.
‘And we’re not going to let them make the prosecutions just another whitewash like the inquiry.
‘We have been fighting for true justice and we won’t settle for anything less.
‘We have not spent nine years fighting for nothing.
‘We have a cause and it’s not about us, it’s about everybody in social housing now and in the future and for all working class people.’
