The extent of the physical and emotional suffering caused by 2017’s Grenfell Tower fire could not be more painfully clear than it has been at the hearings held this week as part of the settlement of a damages claim. The civil case brought by 900 of those who were bereaved, or who survived the fire, concluded in April last year with a £150m payment by the companies and public authorities responsible for the disastrous refurbishment of the building and the failures on the night of the fire. At Church House in London, as part of a package mediated by Lord Neuberger, a former president of the supreme court, survivors had the chance to address 24 executives face to face.
A combination of live and videoed speeches conveyed the full range of difficult emotions, from the deepest sorrow to rage and a longing for revenge. The details of the settlement – which companies paid what, how much individuals are to receive – are private, as in other civil litigation. But the grief, disillusion and illness that are Grenfell’s living legacy were eloquently described. Overhanging it all was the enormous frustration of the tower’s residents, and their families, that six and a half years after the tragedy, no one has been charged for their role in causing 72 deaths.
