A former Tory minister appeared to confuse the victims of Hillsborough and Grenfell after complaining he had had an "extremely busy day".
Eric Pickles was giving evidence at the Grenfell public inquiry on Thursday, April 7, when he appeared to confuse the victims of the two tragedies. At the end of his evidence, he tripped up separately - appearing to mistake the death toll for that of the Hillsborough disaster, which until recently was 96.
The toll from the 1989 disaster rose to 97 last year after a coroner’s ruling on the death of Liverpool fan Andrew Devine.
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The former cabinet minister had already challenged the inquiry not to waste his time while giving evidence, before getting the death toll from the disaster wrong. Sparking anger, he told the inquiry’s senior counsel to “use your time wisely” as he had an extremely busy day.
Lord Pickles was secretary of state at the then Department for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015. Giving evidence to the inquiry into the Grenfell fire, which claimed the lives of 72 residents, Lord Pickles grew angry at the line of questioning about a government document promising to cut red tape in the construction industry.
He said: “By all means sir, feel free to ask me as many questions as you like – but could I respectfully remind you that you did promise that we would be away this morning and I have changed my schedules to fit this in. I do have an extremely busy day.”
Lord Pickles also referred to coroner's recommendations after the 2006 Lakanal House fire in south London, which killed six people and injured 20 more. The first report from the Grenfell Inquiry found lessons from Lakanal fire had not been learned by the time of the Grenfell disaster eight years later.
In his evidence at the Grenfell Inquiry, Mr Pickles said: "Ultimately it comes down to Michelle (Udoaka who died in the Lakanal blaze) and to the nameless I think it was 96 people who were killed in the Grenfell fire."
Dozens of people have hit out at the minister for his 'disregard' at the inquiry.
Laura Marie Brown said: "The Hillsborough families were some of the first to approach the families of Grenfell to extend a hand. Victims of the state realising that all we have for support and community is each other."
Another Twitter user added: "The Hillsborough victims aren't nameless either, are they? What an astoundingly stupid, insensitive thing today."
Grenfell United, a group of the survivors and bereaved families from the Grenfell Tower fire is now calling for Mr Pickles to be removed from Government and the House of Lords.
In a statement, the group said: "Eric Pickles' disrespect at the Inquiry has left us speechless. How dare he refer to our loved ones we lost that night as 'the 96 nameless'.
"72 people died in Grenfell and none of them were nameless. His utter disregard for what happened and to those no longer with us is horrifying, given that he had the ability as Minister of Housing to reform building safety.
"Eric Pickles must be removed from Government and The Lords. Otherwise, Government continues to show the contempt it's always had for people's safety in this country."
