London Fire - BBC host asks if 'well-to-do in power' did not care about Grenfell 'poor'
Speaking on Newsnight, the broadcaster spoke of the “utter horror” and “hard to bear” scenes after the block of flats in west London went up in flames, killing at least 17 people. He said: “The poorest housing in one of the richest boroughs in the country, it’s been a day of utter horror and disbelief at the fire in west London earlier this morning. “I suspect most of us had complacently thought we’d overcome the problem of huge scale fires of this kind through building codes and regulations, alarms and fire drills.” He then touched on the plastic cladding around the building which has since come under criticism.
GETTY•BBC Evan Davis said suggestions the blaze was a result of “wilful carelessness” would divide the country
The potential that it is wilful carelessness of those in power plays into the divisions and debates that this country has been having Evan Davis
“Newsnight has found that the cladding used in the renovation of the building was of a type that is less fire retardant than some others and it has been associated with fires elsewhere,” he said. He then claimed suggestions the blaze was a result of “willful carelessness” would divide the country even further. Davis said: “The fact is that this fire occurred in a building occupied by the relatively poor. Is this a case where the well-to-do in positions of power didn’t care enough about the lives of the less well off because they don’t live in those blocks? “Or was it a ghastly unfortunate accident? The potential that it is willful carelessness of those in power plays into the divisions and debates that this country has been having.”
London fire: Grenfell aftermath latest images Thu, June 15, 2017 At least twelve people have been confirmed dead and dozens missing, after the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road was engulfed in flames in the early hours of June 14. The number of fatalities are expected to rise Play slideshow PA 1 of 45 Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building