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PM U-turns on expanding Grenfell Inquiry to represent survivors
Theresa May will appoint two extra panel members to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to represent survivors of the fire.
The prime minister turned down a request from survivors to recruit extra panel members in December last year, but reversed her decision today ahead of Monday’s Grenfell debate in Parliament.
The inquiry is to be divided into two phases, the first focusing on the cause and spread of the fire and the second on how the tower “came to be seriously exposed to the risk of a disastrous fire”.
In a letter to Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the judge leading the inquiry, Ms May wrote: “To ensure that the Inquiry panel itself also has the necessary breadth of skills and diversity of expertise relevant to the broad range of issues to be considered in Phase Two, and to best serve the increasing scale and complexity of the work going forwards, I have decided to appoint an additional two panel members to support your chairmanship for phase two of the inquiry’s work.”
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The decision comes after a petition started by survivors group, Grenfell United, calling for panel members to be appointed with “relevant background, expertise, experience and a real understanding of the issues facing those affected” was signed by over 156,000 people.
In response to the prime minister’s decision, Adel Chaoui, the member of Grenfell United who started the petition, said: “This is a huge step for all of us who are desperate to make sure the Inquiry delivers truth and justice for the loved ones we lost in the fire and those that survived.”
He added: “This panel means that the Inquiry will have the expertise it needs to get to the truth of why our community was not listened to when we raised concerns, why such a dangerous refurbishment could be allowed to go ahead and all the issues that led up to that awful night.”
Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and Chelsea, said: “Parliament will debate the Inquiry and the appointment of panel members on Monday. I will seek clarification regarding the way that both phases will operate in the inquiry.
“We must know how the final inquiry report will be impacted given that panel members will only serve alongside the judge in one part of the inquiry and not the other.”
