Huge west London tower block inferno – Grenfell Tower fire

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

The officials are still holding to the number of 79 people killed in the Grenfell Tower blaze. As for the eviction of the other five Towers last Friday, they have extended the time from 3-4 weeks to 4-6 weeks in the on going inspections.

At least 60 high-rise buildings across the UK failed safety tests in the wake of the catastrophic fire that swept through Grenfell Tower in West London on June 14.

60 UK High-Rise Buildings Fail Fire Safety Tests after Grenfell Disaster
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960405000389

The tower blocks are among 600 buildings across the country being tested for potentially dangerous cladding, or siding, in light of the blaze that left the apartment block a charred shell, CNN reported.

The inferno killed 79 people and has exposed a rift between rich and the poor in Britain, with many of the buildings at issue social housing blocks.

All 60 high-rise buildings that have been tested so far have failed, a UK government spokesman announced on Sunday.

On Friday, 800 households were ordered at short notice to evacuate five apartment towers in the London district of Camden while external cladding on the buildings is removed.

However, the Local Government Association said that residents of the other tower blocks that have failed the fire safety tests would not necessarily need to be evacuated.

"Where cladding fails the test, this will not necessarily mean moving residents from tower blocks. In Camden, the decision to evacuate was based on fire inspectors' concerns about a combination of other fire safety concerns together with the cladding," the association, which represents local government councils, said.

"Working with fire service experts to assess risks, a number of councils have already introduced other fire safety measures in buildings, such as 24-hour a day warden patrols, when advice from the fire service is clear that this will mitigate against fire risks ahead of the removal of cladding," it added.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said "a particular set of circumstances" on the Chalcots Estate made the evacuation necessary.

Camden Councilor Georgia Gould announced last week that residents' safety could not be guaranteed and those living in buildings deemed unsafe by fire officials "must leave," the Camden Council said in a statement.

"By remaining in the blocks, these residents risk delaying the work that is required and that we are undertaking to make these homes safe," the statement said, adding that "It is not safe to remain in these blocks, and our residents' safety will continue to be the Council's number one priority."

Residents of these five buildings will have to live elsewhere for four to six weeks while external cladding on those buildings is removed. They will be moved to temporary housing, which includes hotels and homes of friends and family.

In the Grenfell Tower investigation, police said they are considering manslaughter charges among the criminal offenses that may have been committed at the high-rise building.

A fridge has been identified as the source of the fire, which spread quickly up the exterior of the building.

While emergency responders won plaudits in the wake of the fire, politicians have faced tough questions and vocal protests.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has week apologized for the authorities' "failure" in the initial aftermath and promised more help. The local council's chief executive resigned amid the angry public backlash.

May said Saturday that the government is working with Camden Council and others to address fire safety in residential blocks nationwide.

"We're making sure that the resources are there to ensure that what is needed to keep people safe is being done," she added.

 

[Ca.]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

Real Grenfell Tower death toll ‘covered up to prevent riots’ – Labour MP
Published time: 27 Jun, 2017 09:24
https://www.rt.com/uk/394220-grenfell-death-toll-riots/
Snip Last Paragraph:

Lammy added that there was a “gap” between what residents said they had seen and what the official figures showed.

“In one flat alone, people say there were up to 40 people gathering, because they gathered in the flat, it was Ramadan.”

Lammy has called on May and the Metropolitan Police to seize all relevant documents to prevent the possibility of organizations avoiding responsibility.

“When you have tragedies of this kind that could have been prevented, we know from Hillsborough and other affairs in our national life that governments, local authorities, big corporations, companies, the contractors – they cover their backs. That’s why I raised issues around the documentation.”

Damn, I forgot about Ramadan.

Independent
Release date Unknown:
In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire (1/51) Interior and Exterior Devastation
_http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/grenfell-tower-lakanal-house-why-we-need-an-inquest-a7808536.html#gallery

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

Real Grenfell Tower death toll ‘covered up to prevent riots’ – Labour MP

Damn, I forgot about Ramadan.

You know, Ramadan never crossed my mind, either! And a month long fast leading up to a major Holy Day. Makes this fire even more devastating.

I bet, they are using all the donations that came in from all the different charities - to house the few survivors? Including the other residents that got kicked out of the other five Towers?

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

There are events in world history that lead to a fundamental change in consciousness and create the basis for developing a socialist political orientation among broad masses of workers. The June 14 Grenfell Tower inferno is such an event.

The political implications of the Grenfell Tower fire
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/06/27/pers-j27.html

In years to come it will be necessary to refer to the political life of Britain in terms of “before” and “after” Grenfell. This is because the tragedy has so cruelly exposed the underlying reality of social relations between the classes—and it did so in London, one of the richest cities in the world, and in London’s richest constituency.

Grenfell is a national disaster. Thirteen days after Britain’s deadliest fire for over 100 years, there is still no official acknowledgement of the numbers killed— either because the powers-that-be dare not admit to the death toll or they are so indifferent to the lives of Grenfell’s residents that they simply do not know.

Every day brings fresh accounts of the unprecedented scale of the disaster—of residents perishing without hope of rescue, firefighters describing scenes of an apocalypse, the anguish of survivors, relatives and local residents.

Hundreds of thousands have had their lives and those of their children placed in danger. There are 600 residential council tower blocks with the same cladding and insulation that turned a small fire into an all-consuming conflagration. Every single sample from 75 tower blocks thus far examined has proven unsafe.

Now 30,000 schools are under investigation, as well as hospitals, student residence halls, hotels and a football stadium. There is yet to be a serious investigation of offices, shopping centres or other commercial properties.

Grenfell has assumed international dimensions. The fire was anticipated by similar but, by chance alone, less tragic blazes involving cladding in at least 20 major high rises all over the world. The US producer of the cladding, Arconic, formerly known as Alcoa, marketed products to the UK that have been banned in America for almost two decades and are prohibited in Europe. Fire experts are warning that UK building regulations are used as a template in the Middle East and in ex-British Commonwealth countries.

Little wonder that people not only in Britain, but around the world are in a state of shock at what has occurred. So vast is the tragedy and so overwhelming are its implications. Many are still trying to assimilate all that has occurred and all that has been exposed.

But the shock the tragedy has produced is mixed with outrage. Millions understand that Grenfell was not an accident, but a crime. It was the entirely predictable result of four decades of deregulation by successive Conservative and Labour governments and their local representatives, all of whom are culpable in mass murder.

One hundred—and perhaps many more—people have burned to death solely because they are poor and working class in a society in which the only people deemed to matter are the super-rich.

The horrifying loss of life epitomises the devastation capitalism has wrought on generations of working people. It is the outcome of a vast and ongoing transfer of society’s wealth from the poor to the rich.

The burnt-out husk of the tower points an accusing finger at the criminality of the political sociopath Margaret Thatcher and all those who followed her—Blair, Brown, Cameron, May—in an orgy of social vandalism designed to line the pockets and fill the coffers of the global elite.

In this cause, they contrived to slash essential services—including the decimation of London’s fire service by former mayor, now foreign secretary, Boris Johnson—junk safety regulations, and ignore warnings from investigations into similar UK fires beginning in 1999, including Lakanal House in 2009.

Repeated efforts by Grenfell residents to raise the alarm over the dangerous conditions in the tower—especially regarding the supposed “refurbishment” carried out by a Tory council and the companies it hired—were not only ignored, but those who made them were threatened with legal action.

Grenfell has exposed the absurdities of politics based on race, gender and sexual orientation. In the universal reaction of sympathy and solidarity the fire has engendered and the hatred expressed towards the guilty, we see the reassertion of class as the fundamental division in society.

The countless statements by local people who blame Grenfell on the treatment of the poor and the working class express a growing recognition that the struggle against social inequality demands a unified response by all working people against their common enemy.

It is the bitter experience of previous decades that has given rise to what appears as an explosive leap in the political consciousness of working people.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the 1905 revolution in Russia, the class struggle there was pushed back for several years and political reaction appeared triumphant. This all changed following the 1912 massacre of 250 striking workers in the Lena goldfield. The massacre had a catalytic impact, arousing the latent, suppressed hostility of the Russian masses to the existing order and sparking a wave of mass strikes and a re-eruption of revolutionary sentiment.

Workers in the UK and throughout the world have lived through a far more extended period during which the socialist consciousness of workers and the class struggle itself were suppressed. Millions of people paid the price for this in the decimation of their jobs, wages and living conditions and by suffering a quarter century of uninterrupted war in one country after another.

But this too is coming to an end. A new historical stage is opening in which workers and youth are being reminded just why it was necessary for the Bolshevik party to lead the masses in the revolutionary overthrow of capitalist reaction in October 1917—and why this heroic struggle won the support of so many in the UK.

This weekend, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke before 200,000 people at Glastonbury. In his speech he asked, “Is it right that so many people are frightened of where they live at the moment, having seen the horrors of what happened at Grenfell Tower?”

Corbyn cited Shelley’s famous injunction to workers, made in response to the 1819 Peterloo Massacre: “Rise like lions after slumber.”

But he wants the working class to lie down like lambs. His aim is to stifle popular outrage and restore social peace, as epitomised by his priestly call for the “unity” of “intelligent human beings.” That is why he supports the efforts of Prime Minister Theresa May to direct anger over Grenfell into the safe channels of a public inquiry—out of which, he maintains, several years from now some carefully costed and insignificant reforms will emerge.

In reality, there can be no answer to the vast social catastrophe exposed by Grenfell other than by means of a political offensive to end the domination of the financial oligarchy and its political parties over society. How can millions of homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings be made safe other than through the seizure of the wealth and assets of the super-rich? How else can so many criminals in high places be brought to justice?

The spirit of opposition to the entire existing social order so falsely invoked by Corbyn is genuinely embodied only in the revolutionary perspective advanced by the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International. It is to this party that the working class must now turn.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

The detective leading the investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire which killed at least 79 people in London, has revealed that her team has listened to 999 calls from 23 apartments where nobody survived. Many of the calls were routed through a call center in Northern Ireland.

Grenfell Tower: London Detectives Listen to 999 Calls From 23 Doomed Apartments
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201706291055082315-grenfell-tower-999-trauma/

The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the tower block in north Kensington shortly after midnight on June 14 and spread rapidly up the side of the building as people screamed for help.

Many residents were trapped on the upper floors of the 24-story building and at least 79 died, although the final death toll is expected to rise above 100.

A team of detectives from the Metropolitan Police, London are still trying to identify who lived in the building at the time of the fire.

One of those who died was 65-year-old Tony Disson. "Tony was the heart and soul of our family, of whom he was extremely proud. He leaves behind four sons, five grandchildren with a sixth due in September, and three great grandchildren; losing him has left a void that can never be filled," said his family in a statement released on Thursday (June 29).

Detective Chief Superintendent Fiona McCormack, who is leading the investigation, said on Wednesday (June 28) that they had spoken to residents of 106 of the 129 apartments, which led them to believe the residents of the other 23 apartments had failed to get out.

"We have listened to 26, 999 calls to the London Fire Brigade from people who said they were inside one of those 23 flats," she said.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

Grenfell Tower fire survivors have been banned from attending the first meeting of senior local councillors since the tragedy – because there is a “risk of disruption.”

Survivors of Grenfell fire barred from Kensington council meeting, ‘risk disruption’ (Video)
https://www.rt.com/uk/394622-grenfell-fire-kensington-council/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNykTGY-3k (1:07 min.)

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea cabinet is meeting privately on Thursday, where its controversial Conservative leader, Nicholas Paget-Brown, will lead the council’s business.

Residents were told the meeting was held behind closed doors because of “security and public safety concerns” following the storming of the Town Hall a fortnight ago. Protesters occupied the council building on the Friday following the tragedy in anger at the council’s response.

According to the local authority’s website, councillors will discuss the fire with support officers and “invited guests (if any).”

The press is also not allowed in the meeting.

There will be no written reports other than minutes for the meeting, which is described as an “oral item.”

As an official document, the minutes might only be made available to the public much later.

“The Labour group believe it is a grave mistake to exclude representatives of the Grenfell survivors, others who have been affected by the fire and also the media. We believe this will only give credence to the view that there is a cover-up in progress and we do not accept the excuse that there may be violence,” Labour councillor Judith Blakeman said.

“The Labour group have already called for the resignation of the entire cabinet,” Blakeman, who also sits on the Tenant Management Organization, which runs the borough’s housing provisions, added.

A council spokesperson told the Guardian that all third parties were barred from the meeting because of “recent real threats and assaults on council staff and damage to one of the office buildings.”

“Such risks remain and we have had to take the decision to hold the meeting in private as to do otherwise would likely result in disorder,” they added.

“Kensington and Chelsea really don’t get it, do they?” Guardian columnist Dawn Foster tweeted.

“There should be protests tonight about this really,” ‘i’ newspaper editor Barbara Speed wrote over an image of the meeting’s notice.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

Is someone trying to tap into the dead victims bank accounts, including the evacuated residents in the other five Towers?

Grenfell Tower residents 'still having rent payments taken out of bank accounts'
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-residents-rent-taken-out-bank-accounts-yvette-williams-catherine-faulks-council-north-a7817881.html

Tory local councilor Catherine Faulks calls erroneous rent deduction a ‘tiny thing’ before quickly backtracking and insisting council is providing residents with sufficient support.

Former residents of Grenfell Tower are still having rent taken out of their bank account for the burnt-out property in north Kensington, according to a campaign director representing survivors.

An unknown number of tenants who managed to escape the blaze discovered earlier this week that rent installments had been deducted for their flat in the 24-story block.

Tory councilor Catherine Faulks called the erroneous rent deduction a "tiny thing", before quickly tracking back on her words and insisting that Kensington and Chelsea Council had provided affected residents with social workers to deal with such matters.

Yvette Williams, coordinator of Justice4Grenfell, told Radio 4's Today programme a resident had approached her on Friday saying they'd "just got their bank card and things back, and seen that their rent has been deducted." Her claim was backed up by Pilgrim Tucker, a community organizer working with the Grenfell Action Group, who tweeted on Saturday: "All bar one of the evacuated residents from uninhabitable blocks around Grenfell I spoke to this morning are having rent deducted by council."

During an interview on the Today programme moments after Ms Williams raised the concern, Ms Faulkes, when asked about the rent payments, said she was "very sorry to hear that" and could "understand its very distressing".

But when then asked why the council had allowed it to happen she responded: “Oh come on, that’s a tiny thing — I mean it’s not a tiny thing for them it’s a huge thing and it’s very upsetting.

"But the council are in the process of trying to house 400 people. They’ve got people in hotels, they’ve got a social worker for every single family who is triaging them into a wraparound service.

"I’m very sorry to hear that’s happened, but that person to whom that has happened will have one person connection they can go to to sort it out."

She continued: “I know you’re hearing a lot of noise about nothing happening but actually, on the ground there is a lot of hand-holding going on and I haven’t heard anyone in the media speak to someone who is receiving that help.”

In response to the reports that residents were being charged rent, the Radical Housing Network, which has been campaigning for the rights of survivors, demanded that the council release financial information on all rental income they have collected and refunds any rent collected.

“We know that hundreds of residents, evacuated because their homes are uninhabitable, with no gas or hot water, are staying in unsuitable hotel accommodation still having to pay their council rent," a spokesperson said.

“Residents of Lancaster West estate must have urgent clarification on this issue. We demand refunds for any rent collected, and reassurances that no other Grenfell survivors are affected.

Confidence in Kensington and Chelsea Council is at rock bottom – for reassurance and clarity, the council must release financial information on all rental income they have collected."

It comes after the Tory leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nick Paget-Brown, resigned in the wake of the fire, saying he accepted a “share of responsibility” for the “perceived failings”.

Two other senior officials involved in the Grenfell tragedy earlier said they were standing down, following criticism of the council’s response to the disaster, which officials say claimed the lives of at least 80 people.

The Labour Party meanwhile launched a drive for the council to relinquish its handling of affairs until the crisis was brought under control.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who welcomed Mr Paget-Brown's resignation, said the Government had “no option” but to appoint “untainted” commissioners who had “a genuine empathy for local people and the situation they face” to take over running the authority.

Shadow housing secretary John Healey said the move would amount to “specific, immediate, obvious and necessary action”, while shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne added the powers should be used to “get a grip on what has gone dreadfully wrong”.

Jeremy Corbyn said he had written to Prime Minister Theresa May urging her to widen the scope of the public inquiry ito the disaster.

The Labour leader said he asked for a two-part inquiry, the first looking at specific issues around the fire in at the building and reporting back soon, and an additional second part “looking at the national issues”.

 

[SocietyoftheSpectacle]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

They’ve got people in hotels, they’ve got a social worker for every single family who is triaging them into a wraparound service.

Not what the Lady in this video says.

She also states that the Red Cross were taking donations and selling them on.

Recording of a Council meeting , Skip to 1 minute 10, for the good part,

https://youtu.be/aNNNzPSmnQQ

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

They’ve got people in hotels, they’ve got a social worker for every single family who is triaging them into a wraparound service.

Not what the Lady in this video says.

She also states that the Red Cross were taking donations and selling them on.

Recording of a Council meeting , Skip to 1 minute 10, for the good part,

https://youtu.be/aNNNzPSmnQQ

A really great find, SocietyoftheSpectacle !!! If you come across any more like that, please Post it. I don't know who the woman is that took to the floor in that meeting and basically told the "hard facts" that these survivors are facing. And she's right about the actions of the Red Cross refusing essential donations like clothing and supplies. Red Cross is only there to collect "cash donations" for it's own nefarious activities. They have a long history of pulling off that stunt!

The woman also voiced a complaint, and rightly so, "You don't put Documents in front of someone to sign - who is in a state of distress and shock - who has just lost everything and who has been shuffled to temporary housing, that offers little support of basic needs like food/meals and a supporting mechanism that can offer guidance and help with financial assistance. There are some earlier reports of survivors of the Grenfell fire being refused help because they couldn't provide proper ID??? (What the HELL - they just ran out of a burning building???) Yet, someone didn't have any problems with identifying victims (some deceased) and electronically subtracting from their bank accounts?

I'm leaning more towards the opinion, certain individuals were aware of the safety hazards in many of these residential Towers that housed mainly lower to medium income families in a rich neighborhood. That complaints were purposely ignored, to advance an agenda in relocating a large portion of the lower income population - to more rural locations, so the properties could be reclaimed, leveled and redevelopment purposed to enhance the needs of the affluent homeowners who own multi-million dollar estates? It was only a matter of time, that an accident would happen, that would help start the process?
Why purposely evacuate residents from five other residential Towers in the same proximity, 800 families or more for a duration of 6+ weeks (until Inspections are completed) when it's been reported - Inspections done on 120 other Towers outfitted with the same exterior cladding have also failed safety regulations? Why - just clear these five residential Towers - that just so happen to be in the same neighborhood?

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Huge west London tower block inferno – reports RT

All individuals directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire in London will be allowed to stay in the United Kingdom for 12 months regardless of their current immigration status, the UK Home Office said on Wednesday.

All Victims of Grenfell Tower Fire to Be Granted 12 Month Leave in UK
https://sputniknews.com/society/201707061055269845-grenfell-victims-leave-granted/

"The leave granted will be temporary (for 12 months) and granted on an exceptional basis to allow those directly affected by the fire… time to deal with the immediate aftermath of these terrible events, and to consider their future options," the policy guidance released by the Home Office said.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has stated in June, that the UK law enforcement agencies "will not use this tragic incident as a reason to carry out immigration checks on those involved or on those providing vital information to identify victims or those assisting the criminal investigation."

"Everyone affected by this tragedy needs reassurance that the Government is there for them at this terrible time and we will continue to provide the support they need to help them through the difficult days, weeks and months to come," Brandon Lewis, the Minister of State for Immigration, said on Wednesday in a written statement to the Parliament introducing the policy of the Home Office.

The announcement was criticized by the Labour Party, some members of which demanded from the government to grant full "amnesty" for those affected by the fire.

 

[angelburst29]

Firefighters who responded to the Grenfell Tower fire in London say a lack of suitable equipment and a series of other failings hindered the rescue operation.

Firefighters Lacked Equipment During Grenfell Tower Inferno
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001212

Fire crews have told the BBC that low water pressure, radio problems and equipment that was either lacking or did not arrive before the fire got out of control. A 30-metre-high “aerial ladder” did not arrive at the scene until more than half an hour after the first fire engines were dispatched, some firefighters who were present have revealed.

By the time the ladder arrived, the fire had reached the higher floors of the 67-meter-tall building.

The general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Matt Wrack, said he had spoken to firefighters “who attended that incident, who think that having that on the first attendance might have made a difference”.

A taller 70-meter-high aerial ladder, needed for the operation, arrived at the scene of the fire several hours after the building was burning.

Also, vital radio messages would not relay because of signal difficulty due to concrete walls and overuse of the radio system, they said.

On June 14, a massive fire erupted at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, west London.

Cheap materials used to refurbish the tower was cited as the reason for the Grenfell inferno, according to a report published in The Times.

The 24-story building block with 120 apartments was home to some 600 Muslim residents.

 

[Ant22]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put it but there was another fire in London, this time in the Camden Lock Market.

After Grenfell Tower followed by fire in an East London residential building block I agree with one of the commenters under the article: London has been burning a lot recently.

https://www.rt.com/uk/395826-london-camden-market-fire/

It took over three hours for dozens of firefighters and at least ten trucks to control the fire that erupted in the Camden Lock area of London at the busy tourist market.

According to the latest information, ten fire engines and 70 firefighters have been sent to tackle the flames at the Camden Lock Market, London Fire Brigade said in a Tweet.

Authorities have cordoned off part of Camden Market, a popular tourist destination. Firefighters are urging the public to avoid the Camden Lock area.

London's fire department said floors 1-3 of the building, located "within the market," as well as the roof were alight.

London Ambulance Service said that it has not treated any patients after being called in at 12.07 am.

“We sent a clinical team leader and our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) to the scene," it said in a statement, the Independent quotes. “We have not treated any patients, and we remain at the scene.”

The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

Shortly after 3:00 am, the London Fire Brigade announced that the "fire is now under control" adding that the crew "will be damping down into the morning."

The blaze comes less than a month after a horrific fire at a 24-story building in West London in which at least 80 people were killed. Grenfell Tower, which was home to around 600 people, burned to the ground after flammable cladding contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

 

[angelburst29]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put it but there was another fire in London, this time in the Camden Lock Market.

After Grenfell Tower followed by fire in an East London residential building block I agree with one of the commenters under the article: London has been burning a lot recently.

https://www.rt.com/uk/395826-london-camden-market-fire/

Thanks for finding and Posting that article, Ant22. Actually, I think it's a significant piece of information and in a round about way, may tie in with the Grenfell Tower fire? Notice - at the end of the article, it states this:

London’s Camden Market is one of Britain’s most famous attractions, with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

Now put that together with this statement from a recent article on the Grenfell Tower:

The 24-story building block with 120 apartments was home to some 600 Muslim residents.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001212

Although the "official" count on those who perished in the fire is stated publically to be set at "79" - I'm thinking the opposite - that 79 might have survived the fire and over 500 perished, with a large percentage being Muslim?

Now add:

The inferno killed 79 people and has exposed a rift between rich and the poor in Britain, with many of the buildings at issue social housing blocks.

On Friday, 800 households were ordered at short notice to evacuate five apartment towers in the London district of Camden while external cladding on the buildings is removed.

However, the Local Government Association said that residents of the other tower blocks that have failed the fire safety tests would not necessarily need to be evacuated.

In Camden, the decision to evacuate was based on fire inspectors' concerns about a combination of other fire safety concerns together with the cladding," the association, which represents local government councils, said.

Residents of these five buildings will have to live elsewhere for four to six weeks while external cladding on those buildings is removed. They will be moved to temporary housing, which includes hotels and homes of friends and family.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960403001121

Now add - a 'huge' fire at Camden Market with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

First, the Grenfell Tower fire, then evacuation and displacement of 800 households/residents from another five Towers in the Camden area (until further notice) and now - the Camden Market fire (with over 1,000 shops and stalls)?

Could the above be reduced to - "subtracting permanent residence and stripping away a means of financial support and employment"?

Is someone(s) purposely and with intent - "house cleaning" the Camden area?

 

[Ant22]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put it but there was another fire in London, this time in the Camden Lock Market.

After Grenfell Tower followed by fire in an East London residential building block I agree with one of the commenters under the article: London has been burning a lot recently.

https://www.rt.com/uk/395826-london-camden-market-fire/

Thanks for finding and Posting that article, Ant22. Actually, I think it's a significant piece of information and in a round about way, may tie in with the Grenfell Tower fire? Notice - at the end of the article, it states this:

London’s Camden Market is one of Britain’s most famous attractions, with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

Now put that together with this statement from a recent article on the Grenfell Tower:

The 24-story building block with 120 apartments was home to some 600 Muslim residents.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001212

Although the "official" count on those who perished in the fire is stated publically to be set at "79" - I'm thinking the opposite - that 79 might have survived the fire and over 500 perished, with a large percentage being Muslim?

Now add:

The inferno killed 79 people and has exposed a rift between rich and the poor in Britain, with many of the buildings at issue social housing blocks.

On Friday, 800 households were ordered at short notice to evacuate five apartment towers in the London district of Camden while external cladding on the buildings is removed.

However, the Local Government Association said that residents of the other tower blocks that have failed the fire safety tests would not necessarily need to be evacuated.

In Camden, the decision to evacuate was based on fire inspectors' concerns about a combination of other fire safety concerns together with the cladding," the association, which represents local government councils, said.

Residents of these five buildings will have to live elsewhere for four to six weeks while external cladding on those buildings is removed. They will be moved to temporary housing, which includes hotels and homes of friends and family.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960403001121

Now add - a 'huge' fire at Camden Market with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

First, the Grenfell Tower fire, then evacuation and displacement of 800 households/residents from another five Towers in the Camden area (until further notice) and now - the Camden Market fire (with over 1,000 shops and stalls)?

Could the above be reduced to - "subtracting permanent residence and stripping away a means of financial support and employment"?

Is someone(s) purposely and with intent - "house cleaning" the Camden area?

Hmmm...now that's interesting angelburst29! There certainly has been quite a lot of push to remove council tenants from London, especially the city centre. Not to mention the ridiculous renting prices that fewer and fewer private tenants can afford.

If you add the bedroom tax to the mix you get a pretty interesting picture: http://uk.businessinsider.com/london-is-seeing-an-exodus-of-poor-people-because-they-cant-afford-to-have-spare-bedrooms-2015-4

London is seeing an exodus of poor people because they are unable to afford the reduction in housing welfare that comes with having a spare bedroom in their government subsidised property.

According to a report by The Independent newspaper, around 50,000 families were "quietly shipped" out of Britain's capital since 2012, after the governing Conservative party implemented a radical change to how much people receive in housing related welfare if they lived in a property with spare rooms.

In Britain, people can apply and receive a place to live anywhere in the country if they are either homeless, jobless, or earn too little to afford to pay rent on the private market. In 2012, the government placed a limit on how much a local council would pay towards a property for a working-age council or housing association tenant, if it decides you have 'spare' bedrooms.

The act is dubbed the "Bedroom Tax" but it is actually an under-occupancy charge and a reduction in benefit payments. It touted to alleviate the housing shortage in Britain and cut the total spend on welfare on the UK's balance sheet.

(...)

The Independent newspaper's report said that between July 2011 and July 2014, councils relocated 49,789 families from London. Some 2,707 families were moved out of Greater London to locations scattered across Britain, including Manchester, Bradford, Dover and Plymouth. The remainder were relocated to areas that are not in central London, and could take at least over an hour to commute into London.

(...)

However, there is a divide over the necessity or the consequence of the Bedroom Tax when it comes to London. The average cost of renting a property in London is £1,413 ($2,179) per month, according to Homelets data, for a private occupant with no subsidies. Some people have pointed out that relocation is not necessary a negative result of the Bedroom Tax.

Some info on benefits from the government website:
https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit/what-youll-get

 

[Chad]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put it but there was another fire in London, this time in the Camden Lock Market.

After Grenfell Tower followed by fire in an East London residential building block I agree with one of the commenters under the article: London has been burning a lot recently.

https://www.rt.com/uk/395826-london-camden-market-fire/

Thanks for finding and Posting that article, Ant22. Actually, I think it's a significant piece of information and in a round about way, may tie in with the Grenfell Tower fire? Notice - at the end of the article, it states this:

London’s Camden Market is one of Britain’s most famous attractions, with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

Now put that together with this statement from a recent article on the Grenfell Tower:

The 24-story building block with 120 apartments was home to some 600 Muslim residents.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001212

Although the "official" count on those who perished in the fire is stated publically to be set at "79" - I'm thinking the opposite - that 79 might have survived the fire and over 500 perished, with a large percentage being Muslim?

Now add:

The inferno killed 79 people and has exposed a rift between rich and the poor in Britain, with many of the buildings at issue social housing blocks.

On Friday, 800 households were ordered at short notice to evacuate five apartment towers in the London district of Camden while external cladding on the buildings is removed.

However, the Local Government Association said that residents of the other tower blocks that have failed the fire safety tests would not necessarily need to be evacuated.

In Camden, the decision to evacuate was based on fire inspectors' concerns about a combination of other fire safety concerns together with the cladding," the association, which represents local government councils, said.

Residents of these five buildings will have to live elsewhere for four to six weeks while external cladding on those buildings is removed. They will be moved to temporary housing, which includes hotels and homes of friends and family.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960403001121

Now add - a 'huge' fire at Camden Market with over 1,000 shops and stalls that sell anything from fashion apparel and music to art and food.

First, the Grenfell Tower fire, then evacuation and displacement of 800 households/residents from another five Towers in the Camden area (until further notice) and now - the Camden Market fire (with over 1,000 shops and stalls)?

Could the above be reduced to - "subtracting permanent residence and stripping away a means of financial support and employment"?

Is someone(s) purposely and with intent - "house cleaning" the Camden area?

There's been a push to gentrify Camden for a long time; initially it was under guise of cleaning up the 'drugs and prostitution', and to some extent they did do this and it was a good thing for the area; it's also very close to more affluent areas and is central so in the process they tried to drive out the market traders, council residents, and basically anyone they consider unprofitable to the establishment. And they've already succeeded that for the most part, it's now swamped with highstreet brand shopping, swankier bars and nightclubs and is now highly controlled by the council and big business. In some ways it's like many areas of London, they use the 'creative' cache of the area, sanitise it and then make money from highstreet retail and the local property market.

This has been going on since at least a few years before the fire in 2008:

It is the second time in recent years that the north London market has been hit by a serious blaze.

In February 2008 the Camden Canal Market was destroyed by an inferno that wrecked several local landmarks and put the waterside market out of action for 15 months.

The area sees an estimated 28 million visitors a year, with crowds drawn to the area by the shopping, entertainment and nightlife on offer.

[/quote]

Camden was known for it's quirky market, hippie stores, bars and alternative music scene. But generally there's no doubt a LOT of money to be made from redeveloping the area, which like much of London is dotted with council properties alongside million pound properties for middle class families.

Hmmm...now that's interesting angelburst29! There certainly has been quite a lot of push to remove council tenants from London, especially the city centre. Not to mention the ridiculous renting prices that fewer and fewer private tenants can afford.

If you add the bedroom tax to the mix you get a pretty interesting picture: http://uk.businessinsider.com/london-is-seeing-an-exodus-of-poor-people-because-they-cant-afford-to-have-spare-bedrooms-2015-4

London is seeing an exodus of poor people because they are unable to afford the reduction in housing welfare that comes with having a spare bedroom in their government subsidised property.

According to a report by The Independent newspaper, around 50,000 families were "quietly shipped" out of Britain's capital since 2012, after the governing Conservative party implemented a radical change to how much people receive in housing related welfare if they lived in a property with spare rooms.

In Britain, people can apply and receive a place to live anywhere in the country if they are either homeless, jobless, or earn too little to afford to pay rent on the private market. In 2012, the government placed a limit on how much a local council would pay towards a property for a working-age council or housing association tenant, if it decides you have 'spare' bedrooms.

The act is dubbed the "Bedroom Tax" but it is actually an under-occupancy charge and a reduction in benefit payments. It touted to alleviate the housing shortage in Britain and cut the total spend on welfare on the UK's balance sheet.
[...]

The bedroom tax came alongside a multi-pronged attack on the poor: reduction or freezing of housing benefit payments, thus making the amount given well below rising house prices; scrapping of certain disability payments to people unable to work and complete overhaul of those disabled and bringing them in for reassessment (which meant people with terminal illnesses, paraplegics adn so on, were asked to go for interviews to see if they'd be able to work); increase of jobseeker requirements and sanctions (stopping of benefits) for being unable to meet these conditions; lowering or reduction of tax credits; a stagnation oin wages in general, particularly the lower income jobs, in relation to inflation and other expenses. The bedroom tax really was quite symbolic of how regressive the country is becoming and reminded many people of the window tax:

Window Tax

This tax was first imposed in England in 1696.

This principle generally worked when applied to the rural poor, but failed to alleviate the tax burden on the urban poor. In towns and cities it was unusual for the working classes to live in individual homes. They would usually live in large tenement buildings which, however they had been subdivided, where considered to be one dwelling house under the terms of the tax, and therefore subject to heavy window tax assessments.

As it was the landlord, as the property owner, who was subject to the tax, windows in tenement buildings were often boarded up, and new buildings were constructed without sufficient window accommodation.

The negative impact of the tax on health was well known from the early eighteenth century and was written about in pamphlets and popular ballads. Those living in accommodation without sufficient light and ventilation were more subject to epidemics of typhus, smallpox and cholera. According to Dr D B Reid’s report on the sanitary report of Sunderland, published in 1845, the local Health Committee have ‘...witnessed the very evil effect and operation of the window tax; and they do not hesitate to declare that it is their unanimous opinion that the blocking up of the numerous windows caused by the anxiety of their owners to escape the payment of the tax, has, in very many instances, greatly aggravated, and has even...in some cases been the primary cause of much sickness and mortality.’

Although deeply unpopular, the tax survived until the mid nineteenth century.