Angela Rayner denies being ‘aggressive’ in meeting with Grenfell survivors – City AM

Sunday 09 February 2025 3:10 pm

Angela Rayner has denied being “aggressive” throughout a gathering of the Grenfell bereaved and survivors when informing them concerning the determination to dismantle the tower.

The deputy prime minister stated it’s “not a chance” for Grenfell tower to stay in its present state.

The tower will likely be introduced all the way down to floor stage, with some components returned the place potential to be included in a memorial “if the neighborhood needs”.

The federal government has formally introduced the west London block’s future, having been met with criticism from some bereaved and survivors of the 2017 fireplace following a personal assembly earlier this week.

It was put to Rayner that the BBC was informed the assembly was a “automotive crash” and {that a} survivor prompt the deputy prime minister was “defensive, even aggressive”.

“Effectively, I definitely don’t really feel like I used to be aggressive, and if anybody felt that approach, then I might be sincerely upset about that,” she informed the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“I feel what I attempted to do is take a very tough assembly and clarify to individuals, and be sure that people who have been bereaved had that data, and the survivors had that data earlier than the choice was made public.”

She added: “Now I do know that some individuals in that room felt that they hadn’t been given the chance earlier than then.

“I listened to what they stated and my conclusion was nonetheless that there was, there may be not a chance, actually, for that tower to stay as it’s going into the long run.

“And I attempted to ship that message as sensitively as I probably might, figuring out full properly that it was going to be actually upsetting for individuals to listen to that.”

Some expressed upset and shock after the assembly with Rayner on Wednesday, saying they felt they’d not had their views thought-about earlier than the choice was taken.

Grenfell United, which represents some bereaved and survivors, stated it appeared from the assembly room that “no-one supported” the federal government’s determination.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook stated it was not “honest” to recommend Ms Rayner’s method made survivors and bereaved “really feel that she wasn’t actually being attentive to them”.

He informed Sky Information’s Sunday morning with Trevor Phillips programme: “I perceive why the bereaved, survivors, the neighborhood are pissed off concerning the tempo of change on this space, the shortage of justice that they’ve been given.

“There’s a variety of frustration locally. It’s an extremely delicate matter.

“The prime minister and the constructing security minister have engaged extensively with the neighborhood. They’ve had an ongoing dialogue. They’ve had a number of avenues to feed in.

“It’s a delicate problem, and I feel the crux of the problem is there’s no consensus on what ought to occur to the tower, some individuals wish to see that tower stay.”

What’s left of the tower has stood in place within the years because the fireplace, with a masking on the constructing that includes a big inexperienced coronary heart accompanied by the phrases “without end in our hearts”.

The June 2017 catastrophe claimed the lives of 72 individuals.

Pennycook added: “We’re going to carry it down as a result of by way of impartial knowledgeable recommendation we’ve been informed that it’s unsafe, that it’s degrading. We’re going to carry it down, although, I feel importantly in a delicate approach.”

The Grenfell Tower Memorial Fee has been consulting on plans for a everlasting memorial within the space of the tower, with suggestions together with a “sacred area”, designed to be a “peaceable place for remembering and reflecting”.

It’s anticipated a planning software for a memorial might be submitted in late 2026.

By Claudia Savage and Helen Corbett, PA