‘Disgraceful and Unforgivable': The Government's announcement of Grenfell's demolition receives heartbreaking backlash

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On the 7th of February, the Government confirmed that West London’s Grenfell Tower was set to be demolished. After the tragic fire broke out in the early hours of 14th June 2017 and spread to over 100 flats within 99 minutes, seventy-two people were killed, with more than seventy injured. And now, just short of ten years later, with zero individuals prosecuted for its occurrence, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner expressed difficulty in the decision to dismantle the ruins of one of London’s most heartbreaking moments of history. 

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report concluded that the fire was the fault of “decades of failure”, given the utilisation of ACM cladding. Not only did the specific form of cladding fail international testing 12 years before the disaster at Grenfell, but the inquiry described professionals having predicted the use of such a material with the potential to kill 60 to 70 persons in an instant occasion.

Yet, the current discourse surrounds the sentimental complications that arise from the question of what to do with the tower block. Grenfell United, an organisation striving for justice on behalf of the local community, survivors and those who lost loved ones in the fire, stated that the government’s decision to demolish the block is ‘disgraceful and unforgivable’. Denoting the negation of their wishes to keep the building as a memorial, the collective expressed discontent as they said their wishes were not respected. Yet, Rayner acknowledged the opposing community view, which recognises the painful memories assigned to the building that are continuously uprooted when they see the tower. 

However, despite close community and greater public discourse, the dismantling of North Kensington’s Grenfell Tower will be a slow process, estimated its completion to be in two years’. After this, the government have committed to establishing a long-lasting and sentimental memorial to remember those who were lost, which is being led by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission.