Grenfell Tower fire: Pressure grows on council boss to quit

Pressure is increasing on the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council to resign in the wake of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire.

Campaigners have welcomed the departure of chief executive Nicholas Holgate, who was forced to quit by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, but say Nicholas Paget-Brown should also go.

The authority’s handling of the disaster, in which 79 people died, has been slammed as chaotic and inadequate.

:: 600 buildings have similar cladding to Grenfell

In Parliament, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn questioned why political leaders of the council were not "taking responsibility" along with Mr Holgate for "this whole dreadful event".

In his statement, Mr Holgate said there is a "huge amount" still to do for the victims "in very challenging circumstances" and remaining in post would have been a "distraction".

Mr Paget-Brown said he accepted the resignation "with great regret" and added that "the council will now need to work in a new way with different partners to take this forward".

:: Toxic gases released during Grenfell Tower fire may have caused deaths

Campaigners have welcomed Mr Holgate’s departure, saying it was overdue, but are now calling on Mr Javid to ratchet up the pressure on Mr Paget-Brown.

Justice4Grenfell spokeswoman Yvette Williams told the Press Association: "He (Mr Holgate) wasn’t left with any alternative, I think it was the right thing for him to do, the community had been completely abandoned by the local authority.

"We thought after the first 24 hours they would just go anyway, we have been abandoned, we are almost living in the People’s Republic of Ladbroke Grove.

"This represents the structure dominating society; Nick Paget-Brown comes from a political structure, the other Nick is an officer in the hierarchy, somebody’s got to take the drop and it is usually the lower down person."

Asked if she would like to see Mr Javid force the departure of Mr Paget-Brown, she agreed, adding: "It has to come from central Government, everything has to come from state level."

Mr Corbyn said Grenfell residents were "let down both in the immediate aftermath and so cruelly beforehand".

He said the public inquiry "must establish the extent and by who".

Mr Corbyn told MPs: "At least 79 people are dead. It is both a tragedy and an outrage because every single one of those deaths could and should have been avoided."

Referring to warnings about safety from Grenfell residents before the tragedy, he added: "From Hillsborough, to the child sex abuse scandal, to Grenfell Tower – the pattern is consistent: working-class people’s voices are ignored, their concerns dismissed by those in power.

"The Grenfell Tower residents and North Kensington community deserve answers and thousands and thousands of people living in tower blocks around the country need very urgent reassurance."

On Wednesday, Theresa May apologised for the failures by local and national government in reacting to the tragedy.

Addressing the House of Commons on Thursday, the Prime Minister said "no stone will be left unturned" in the inquiry.

She also said: "For any guilty parties there will be nowhere to hide."

The PM told MPs she expects an interim report to be produced as "early as possible" by the chair of the inquiry.

She also announced that an investigation into whether cladding at Grenfell met fire safety regulations will be published in the next 48 hours.

(c) Sky News 2017: Grenfell Tower fire: Pressure grows on council boss to quit