Will the victims of Grenfell ever get justice?
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2024
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A scathing report from the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire has concluded that all 72 deaths were avoidable – but were the result of a chain of failures by governments, "dishonest" companies and a lack of strategy by the fire service.
Nick assesses whether anyone will now be held accountable – and whether this might be the moment that substandard social housing becomes a major political issue.
He’s joined by Emma Dent Coad, the former Labour MP for Kensington who had just been elected to represent Grenfell constituents at the time of the fire, to reflect on that morning and the subsequent campaign for justice.
And Nick and Amol also speak to Today sports presenter Garry Richardson ahead of his final programme, fifty years to the day he joined the BBC.
If you have a question you’d like to Amol and Nick to answer, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of The Today Podcast land first on BBC Sounds. Get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme.
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
You can listen to the latest episode of The Today Podcast any time on your smart speaker by saying “Smart Speaker, ask BBC Sounds to play The Today Podcast.”
The editor is Tom Smithard, the producer is Hatty Nash, research and digital production from Joe Wilkinson. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Hannah Montgomery.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We get it. Life is busy. You want to keep up with the news, but there's just too much going on. |
| 0:06.9 | Which is where Newscast comes in. We do the work, and when you're ready to dig deeper into the day's news, you just pop us into your ears. |
| 0:14.8 | It does mean we have to put in the hard work, though. |
| 0:17.5 | Listen to Newscast every day on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:21.4 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:24.8 | I remember it so well, June the 14th, 2017. |
| 0:30.7 | I walked into the Today Programme office just after four in the morning and looked, as I always do, |
| 0:39.6 | at what was on the television screens. |
| 0:48.6 | A tower block was in flames. At that time we had no idea, so many would die. No idea that the blackened remains of Grenfell Tower would stand as a rebuke to all those who let it, who made it happen. More than seven years |
| 0:58.5 | on, we finally have the verdict about what went wrong that morning and what went wrong in the |
| 1:06.2 | months, the years, the decades that led up to it. And that verdict is utterly damning. |
| 1:13.7 | The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, |
| 1:19.5 | and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years |
| 1:23.6 | and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants. |
| 1:33.3 | That was the chair of the Grenfell Inquiry, Sir Martin Morebigh, in his calm, measured tones, spending 30 minutes, eviscerating all those whose collective failure led to this disaster. |
| 1:48.0 | Not long after he spoke, the Prime Minister stood up in a quiet House of Commons and made this declaration. |
| 1:57.0 | It should never have happened. |
| 2:00.0 | The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty |
| 2:03.9 | to protect you and your loved ones. The people that we are here to serve. And I am deeply sorry. |
| 2:13.1 | We're recording this podcast hours after those judgments were issued. |
| 2:19.1 | 27,000 pieces of evidence were combed through by police officers, |
| 2:24.4 | a web of 19 different organisations and 58 individuals involved in the refurbishment |
... |
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