London Fire: Londoners Held Protest

By Wan A. Hulaimi LONDON, June 17 (Bernama) – London took to the streets today in an expression of grief and anger at the fire that left the 24-storey Grenfell Tower a charred smouldering stump in its western skyline. The fire that happened early Wednesday morning engulfed almost the entire building in under half an hour. No figures have been given for the number of lives lost or families displaced but the death toll is now put at 17 and still rising. The demonstration, organised through social media, went in two directions with one part going to the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street while another headed for the Kensington Town Hall to express anger at councilors of the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Scuffles broke in the latter place when security guards prevented demonstrators from entering the council building. They took to the streets in the thousands at the end of the working day, snarling up traffic and filling the air with chants of “We want justice”. Some asked for Prime Minister Theresa May to go. The anger was palpable, many participants wept openly when they gathered later in the vicinity of Grenfell Tower. The charred building is still a no-go area. What started as a raging fire in a 1970s social housing block in the early morning has now become part of the political narrative of the hour and has added to the woes of a minority government that is still looking for a foothold. The debates at today’s gathering at the Tower went further than just lives lost in Grenfell or the inadequacy of council maintenance and care. A doctor spoke about the many more people “they” have killed because of government cuts. The poor riled against the rich, immigrants complained against being marginalised in a rich society, people who knew tenants of the tower merely walked silently bearing pictures of missing people. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where the tower stands riddled with holes that once were windows in a now blackened high-riser, is the richest in the country. Many spoke about the number of complaints that had fallen to the Council’s deaf ears. “They have no money for the poor,” a Caribbean gentleman shouted intermittently. Prime Minister May came again today after heavy criticisms that she neglected local residents when she dropped in yesterday to consult with emergency services personnel. Today she chose to visit hospitalised Tower residents and heard shouts of “coward” when she left a local church that serves as one of the relief centres. This was in contrast to visits by the Queen, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and London’s mayor Sadiq Khan who all met the people. There are more being planned, organisers of today’s demonstrations say. -- BERNAMA