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Cities Light Up Green in Support for Grenfell - One Year On
Today is the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell fire in North Kensington, West London, and support and remembrance for the victims are taking place across the country. In total, 71 people lost their lives to the fire in North Kensington last year, and many more were injured.
Buildings, monuments and town halls from London to Manchester have lit up green in solidarity with the Grenfell United organisation, a campaign group set up to “provide a strong, unified, independent and dignified voice for all those that survived or lost loved ones in the fire”.
We're lighting up green at 00:54am tonight as a mark of respect to the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy one year on. #greenforgrenfell pic.twitter.com/17UinsKThd
— The London Eye (@TheLondonEye) June 13, 2018
This show of support comes after the remnants of Grenfell Tower lit up green last night, and so far the London Eye, Manchester Town Hall, and Swansea Castle are amongst the structures turning green today or tonight.
On the Grenfell United Twitter page yesterday, the group encouraged people to join them at a remembrance at the Tower, saying “Tomorrow marks a year since the tragic events that turned our world upside down. The Grenfell community will be gathering at the Tower near the Methodist church, Silchester Road, W11 from 11 am to observe the national silence together. We welcome all to join us.”
However, Karen Buck, Labour MP for Kensington North, has expressed her disappointment that one year after the tragedy, and in light of the Hackitt review, very little has been done by the government to ensure that this will not happen again.
The Hackitt review, led by Dame Judith Hackitt, was an inquiry set up to assess the extent of regulatory failure that led to Grenfell.
In her report, Hackitt asserts that “As the review has progressed, it has become clear that the whole system of regulation, covering what is written down and the way in which it is enacted in practice, is not fit for purpose, leaving room for those who want to take shortcuts to do so.”
Karen Buck has urged ministers to “take another decisive step. Ban the use of combustible materials and let that important step be just the start of a fundamental and lasting change to building safety.”
