Edinburgh stages rally and vigil to mark 6th anniversary of Grenfell Tower fire tragedy

Edinburgh campaigners say frustration turning to anger over lack of action following disaster
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A rally and vigil to mark the sixth anniversary of the Grenfell disaster will be held in Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon, June 14, at the Mound precinct.

Seventy-two people died and more than 70 were injured when fire ripped through the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, London, on June 14, 2017. The external cladding was quickly identified as a major reason why the flames spread so quickly. A public inquiry delivered its first batch of recommendations in 2019, but its final report is not expected until next year.

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Edinburgh Trade Union Council, which has organised today’s rally and vigil, said it was an act of solidarity. Starting at 5.30pm the rally is due to last around 30 minutes and will hear speakers from the Fire Brigade Union and housing campaign group Living Rent as well as songs from the Protest in Harmony choir and the reading of a statement from the Justice4Grenfell Campaign.

Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster on June 14, 2017.  Picture: David Mirzoeff/PA WireSeventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster on June 14, 2017.  Picture: David Mirzoeff/PA Wire
Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster on June 14, 2017. Picture: David Mirzoeff/PA Wire

The rally will be followed at 6pm by a silent vigil facing Princes Street, which will include a display of photo placards of all those who died in the disaster. The vigil and the event will finish at about 6.30pm.

A leading Grenfell campaigner has said frustration at a lack of change six years on from the tragedy is turning to anger within the community. Former tower resident Edward Daffarn said what should have been a "catalyst for societal change" had instead been seen "incompetence and indifference and inaction". Mr Daffarn, who lived on the 16th floor, had long campaigned on safety issues at the tower, and warned of the fire risk in a blog post seven months before it happened.

He said: "The kind of frustration that we felt at the lack of change since Grenfell is beginning to really kind of manifest and ferment into kind of anger. In the days after the fire as I was standing underneath the wreck of Grenfell I was pretty convinced that Grenfell would become the catalyst for societal change, that things would not be the same as they were before Grenfell, as a result of Grenfell.

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"To date there hasn't been a single arrest. Not a single clink of handcuffs for any of the perpetrators of the fire. We can't go on for much longer without people being held to account. And it feels very abusive, it feels very unsatisfactory." He said the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry had been pushed back to next year and recommendations from the phase one report had still not been enacted by the Government.

Last year's Edinburgh vigil to mark the Grenfell anniversary.  Picture: Craig Maclean.Last year's Edinburgh vigil to mark the Grenfell anniversary.  Picture: Craig Maclean.
Last year's Edinburgh vigil to mark the Grenfell anniversary. Picture: Craig Maclean.

"Disabled people are still living in high-rise buildings facing exactly the same danger as they were before the fire. And six years after Grenfell that is just totally unacceptable." He said big companies that "were responsible or had a part to play in Grenfell" continued to make huge profits, something which was "very difficult to understand and for us to live with".