As each anniversary comes round, the reality of what happened and what’s not changed as a result consumes my headspace. The night we lost our family, friends and neighbours. Eighteen children’s lives cut short. The violence of the night will never be forgotten.
Wednesday’s anniversary feels significant, it marks 72 months since the fire. 72 months ago, 72 people died, a month for every life lost.
Six years on, we now know that every single death at Grenfell could and should have been avoided. That 72 innocent men, women and children died at the hands of corruption and greed. And not a single person has been held accountable.
You can’t heal from something like this. Losing loved ones in the way we did is unfathomable. But knowing this broken justice system will not bring those responsible to justice is another layer of suffering we’re burdened with.
It prevents those with money and power from being brought to justice. They are protected, untouchable. Allowed to walk free, their lives continuing as they did before. Whilst we pay the price.
Anyone who witnessed fire that night would think that Grenfell would have been the catalyst for change. But we have all been fooled.
Six years since the fire, we know who is responsible, but not a single person has been brought to justice.
Deadly cladding remains on buildings. People stuck in death traps. Disabled residents are still waiting to hear the outcome of the Personal Evacuation Emergency Plan judicial review. Their lives hang in the balance. The Social Housing Regulation Bill is still awaiting royal assent whilst residents are forced to live in uninhabitable conditions.
We’ve worked tirelessly to ensure our loved ones are remembered not for what happened, but for what changed. But so little has.
We’ve fought for homes to be safe, for everyone to be able to evacuate safely in an emergency, for social housing tenants to be listened to and problems righted. These are the basics. It’s what we should all have access to. But yet, it’s a fight. A fight to hold those responsible to the proper standards and to do the right thing.
The stark reality is, that for six years we’ve been dealing with a Government who simply doesn’t care.
The Phase Two report of the Grenfell Inquiry has been pushed back, whilst we’re still waiting for Government to deliver on the Phase One recommendations. There’s a long list of Inquiry reports gathering dust in Government offices. The Covid Inquiry has just begun and I don’t hold out much hope it will bring about the necessary changes because our Inquiry has proved no one cares.
The corporate companies responsible have sought to bury Grenfell and ensure their profits did not suffer. We’ve had to watch the bosses of these companies lap up their luxurious lifestyles, raking in more profits than ever before.
A local government reverting back to its old ways. A health system which denied us and our children of proper monitoring and checks. Lawyers whose only interest was to profit from our misery. The list goes on.
As time goes on, we’re getting more and more angry. What was the point of dragging us through the painful process of finding the truth, if justice is not delivered? If the fundamental changes are not made?
Millions of pounds spent on a public inquiry for what? So that we are left to grapple with the truth? The truth is unbearable. But worse is the knowledge that 72 people died, and no lessons have been learnt. No meaningful change. History could quite easily repeat itself and another Grenfell could happen again.
Those responsible want to bury Grenfell.
But, despite the long, unrelenting road ahead of us, we will continue to stand united, for the 72 no longer with us and for the families before and after us, battling to seek justice for those we lost.
Join us at the annual Silent Walk at Notting Hill Methodist Church from 6pm on Wednesday to give the Government and those responsible a message: we won’t stop fighting until justice is served.
