Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali, made a statement in the House of Commons on 14th July criticising the government for failing to properly address the remediation of flammable cladding across UK tower blocks. 3 years and a month on from Grenfell, Ali opened her speech by paying her respects to the survivors and bereaved. She also shared her concern for those still living in blocks with combustible cladding. She stated 'There are an estimated 60,000 people living in homes with similar ACM cladding on the outside of their buildings, and many more living in buildings that are dangerous.' Highlighting the inordinate amount of time the government has taken to address the issue,
Leslie Thomas QC - the lawyer representing the families of the Grenfell fire victims today made a powerful statement highlighting that the Grenfell disaster is 'inextricably linked with race.' Quoting novelist James Baldwin, Thomas stated 'If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country - one doesn’t question the policeman, the lawyers, the judges or the protected members of the middle classes. One goes to the unprotected, those precisely who need the laws’ protection the most, and listens to their testimony. Ask any black man, any poor person. Ask the wretched how they fare in the hall of justice and then you will know, not just whether a country is just, but whether o
