GRENFELL ROW
Grenfell Tower survivors tell judge chairing inquiry they fear he won’t tackle root causes of tragedy
Sir Martin Moore-Bick addressed a three-hour meeting of Grenfell residents last night
THE JUDGE who is chairing the Grenfell Tower inquiry was heckled by residents as he met them for the first time last night.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick held a meeting with survivors of the disaster where he insisted he would investigate the fire to the "very best of his ability".
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But some residents said his words were "not good enough" and suggested that they wanted to see arrests over the tragedy.
A video of the meeting showed him being heckled as he said: "I can't do more than assure you that I know what it is to be impartial.
"I've been a judge for 20 years, and I give you my word that I will look into this matter to the very best of my ability and find the facts as I see them from the evidence.
"That's my job, that's my training, and that's what I intend to do. Now if I can't satisfy you because you have some preconception about me as a person that's up to you."
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At least 80 people were killed in the fire last month, with survivors blaming local politicians for neglecting the high-rise block over past years.
Sir Martin has been appointed to lead a comprehensive inquiry into the disaster.
Last night he denied that he would carry out a "hatchet job", but residents heckled him saying he would not tackle the root causes of the blaze.
Afterwards, local resident Melvyn Akins, 30, said there was "frustration, anger and confusion" in the meeting and people were left with "a lot more questions" about their futures.
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He said: "It is going to be an uphill struggle. People feel abandoned. Now you have got somebody coming in and saying 'I am going to look into it all thoroughly' and it is not good enough.
"People firmly believe that arrests should be made as a result of the outcome of all of this. If arrests are not made, people are going to feel justice may not be being done."
Resident Jacqui Haynes added: "He is trying to rush us so they can give us this document where the devil is in the detail and we will have one week to deal with it."
And Joe Delaney told the BBC that Sir Martin "couldn't even control the crowd" at the three-hour meeting last night.
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He said that the crowd did not boo but that there was "sighing and tutting" as he spoke.
The judge is under pressure to produce an interim report later this year, but there are fears his inquiry will not have a wide enough remit.
The Government is currently investigating the aluminium cladding which has been blamed for the fire and which was used on dozens of other high-rises around the country.
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Today Greg Hands, a local Tory MP, called for the Notting Hill Carnival to be rerouted from its traditional staging ground this year.
He suggested to London Mayor Sadiq Khan that it would be inappropriate to hold the carnival so close to the site of the Grenfell tragedy.
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