Grenfell fire justice call

Unite delegate Kingsley Abrams gave a moving speech calling for justice for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire on Sunday (September 8) at TUC Congress.

Kingsley highlighted that 72 people died in the fire and more than 70 people were seriously injured.

“50 of the 72 people who died that night were Unite members,” Kingsley said. “Many of the survivors were re-housed in unsafe and squalid conditions in cheap accommodation.”

Kingsley noted that Unite’s London and Eastern region raised and donated money to help the survivors, and that the union’s Community members worked tirelessly with local groups to provide cash, clothing and other necessities to the families.

“Congress, the truth is Grenfell was a disaster waiting to happen,” he continued. “The final inquiry took 1,700 pages to at last confirm what we have always known: Grenfell was not some act of God – a tragedy which couldn’t have been prevented or foreseen.

Rather, Kingsley added, “It was the result of decisions taken by people in authority, who let others shoulder the risks of austerity, deregulation and greed.

“It was the fault of people whose ‘systemic dishonesty’ has finally been exposed.”

Kingsley called on those responsible to “be dragged from the shadows into the light of justice”.

He went on to say that the Grenfell tragedy “shows what can happen when working class people’s voices are ignored and their concerns dismissed, by those in power.

“The warnings of the Grenfell residents were ignored before the fire – and now we must make sure the lessons of the report do not go unheeded.”

“For justice to be done the people of Grenfell must be able to hold to account each and every individual in the chain of responsibility – from former Ministers down,” Kingsley warned.

“Seven years may have passed – but we will never forget.”

Calling on Congress to support the motion on investment in fire and rescue services, he said that doing so would “show our eternal, collective solidarity with the heroes and the victims of Grenfell”.

By Hajera Blagg

Photo by Mark Thomas

You can watch TUC Congress live here. You can follow UniteLive’s coverage of Congress here.