16/06/2017 BBC News at Ten

The Grenfell Tower fire - the BBC understands the total

of people dead or missing now is around 70 - and anger about why

Protestors storm Kensington Town Hall, crowds are demonstrating

in central London and on the streets around the tower block.

Protestors storm Kensington Town hall, crowds are demonstrating

We are sent from hospital to hospital, to shelters.

Why is there not a community house for family

Why do we have to go out there and actively look for them?

Theresa May is jeered as she visits displaced residents and promises

Government is making money available.

We are ensuring we get to the bottom of what happened,

we will ensure people are rehoused, but we need to make sure

The Queen and Prince William visit one of the relief centres to talk

And new footage of the moments after the fire broke out

Angry protests are being held in London as residents demand

support for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

People have stormed Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall and marched

Earlier Theresa May made her first visit to the area to meet survivors

and she announced a ?5 million emergency fund to help the victims.

Police say at least 30 people are now confirmed

The BBC understands the total number of people who are dead or missing

Our first report tonight on the latest on the tower block

fire is from our correspondent Jeremy Cooke.

This is what happens when grief turned to anger. The target is

Kensington Town Hall, the offices of the Council that owns Grenfell

Tower. They are demanding answers. We need to be heard! We need to be

heard! We all have things to say. We are in pain. I understand that the

response we got from the council is not satisfactory. They want to hear

from the local authority officials whom they hold responsible.

How could this tragedy have happened on this scale

We are sent from hospital to hospital, to shelters.

Why is there not a community house for family members?

Why do we have to go out there and look

actively for them, and then be told misled information?

They make us call family members, and every someone else telling us,

no, that is not made by themselves, but by someone on their behalf. It

is the modern world. Why is it carried out like this? It doesn't

make sense. It is an overwhelming

community tragedy with an If we get all the

missing people on the A continuing grassroots

mobilisation, doing all You guys did a brilliant job

in unprecedented circumstances. But the Queen and Prince

William left in no doubt of the agony

and the grief here. William, Harry, come on

here, please. Could you tell us who they are?

Family, friends. It is my family's friends. All of them that died in

their are my families and friends and children. When the Queen turned

up, everyone came. Go to the media, show the Queen you are nice. Sorry

to the police man and the fire man, but you are not doing the right job.

The rescue crews are still making their way through the

It's hard to imagine a more challenging task.

Dangerous and slow work, it is why the official

death toll remains so much lower than what the people here expect,

The building itself is in a very hazardous state.

It is going to take a period of time for

our specialists, both from the police and the London Fire Brigade,

to fully search that building to make sure we locate and recover

everybody that has sadly perished in that fire.

We will be doing that as swiftly as we can.

I completely understand the need for those who have lost loved ones, that

as quick as we can, we are able to announce that.

There are people here looking for their family and their friends.

There is no one here to organise anything at all. I have friends who

died in there, but no one is telling us. Do you know what I am saying?

What do you think it is? They are not bringing out the truth. They

need to talk the truth and get real. Theresa May doesn't come to see none

of us. In the Manchester thing, she was all about the place. You know,

no truth. The investigations

and the inquests, the enquiries, will take months,

perhaps years, to complete, but the people here believe

they already have a fundamental understanding of this

tragedy, that the fire swept through the building at breathtaking pace,

and that so many people from this Where are the children? The general

belief here tonight, the hardest of truths, is that the dozens missing

are among the dead. Three days later, the fire is out, London

rumbles on, and Grenfell Tower, 127 homes, stands monument to the lives,

to the families who had been lost. Jeremy Cooke, BBC News, North

Kensington. Politicians from all parties,

the Prime Minister in particular, are facing a barrage of criticism

from local people over how they've Many feel their voices have

been ignored for years. Today, the Local Government

Secretary Sajid Javid promised that whatever recommendations are made

by safety experts, including rehousing people living

in other tower blocks, Our deputy political editor

John Pienaar reports on the political questions that need

to be answered. All but hidden from view, the crowd

of police protection told you this was Theresa May. She had been

meeting people from the neighbourhood, meeting volunteers

inside this local church. As she was ushered into her car afterwards,

rage boiled over in the street outside as she left. The Government

failed. Her coming over here, trying to speak to... To whom? Who do you

want to speak to? You had your chance. Everyone is angry. It is a

PR stunt and it is a shame it has come to this. More residents would

have come if she knew she was there to protest. It is very cold not to

meet with any victims. Early today, unlike yesterday, the Prime Minister

met casualties, people touched by the disaster. Yesterday, she only

met members of the emergency services, which went down badly in

the area. The Government is making ?5 million available for people who

need just to get money to buy the normal things of everyday life. This

morning, I was in one of the hospitals meeting some of the

victims there, and one of the women said to me, basically, she ran out

of this Grenfell Tower, basically, with a T-shirt and a pair of

knickers. She has nothing. That is why the Government is putting that

funding in. There are other things we will do to provide support to

ensure they are rehoused within three weeks. The people shouted

coward that you this afternoon. We have made sure the public have the

support they need in order to do -- the emergency services have the

support they need in order to do the job they need to do in the

aftermath. Thousands of blocks must now be inspected, millions of pounds

in work, who knows how many moved to safety. Today, the Government

pledged action. We will do whatever it takes, take the expert advice,

make those building safe and make those people safe. Whatever it

takes, we have to be led by the experts, but there can be no short

cuts to this. Donations of clothing had been pouring in today. London's

Mayor demanded help, answers and justice for those hit by the

tragedy. It is really important that we are not left waiting for years

before we get answers. We need answers now. I'm asking for an

interim response to the enquiry this summer. Tonight, anti-government

protesters took up the issue and took to the streets. More anger on

the streets tonight, hundreds of demonstrators marching past Downing

Street sent into central London. The chant: Theresa May must go. The

Prime Minister's authority was weakened by the general election,

and now she is facing another defining test that has come much

sooner than Theresa May could have imagined. Expect more of these

demonstrations and this disruption. This tragedy has become a cause, and

another reason for the Government's enemies to turn up the volume.

John Pienaar is in Westminster for us now.

Theresa May has been weakened by the general election and this test, some

of her opponents are saying she is failing.

Theresa May has been running to catch up. I was in the area myself

earlier on and was struck by the sight of hundreds of people of all

communities and classes coming together to help, to offer more

donations than volunteers on the ground could cope with. Everyone I

spoke to spoke of the need for answers and help in the future. They

wanted justice. It would be wrong to suggest that the seeds of this were

planted on Theresa May's watch. It stretches back to Labour's time in

office, but the buck. With the Prime Minister in number ten, the serving

leader. John, what are the likely

consequences of what is happening here, not just for the Government

but in terms of the divisions in society it has exposed?

In the past, we have seen occasions where terrible advances have led to

advances in standards of safety and improved regulation and the like,

and the hope must be that that will follow from this awful tragedy. Time

will tell, but be enquiry could turn out to be a very significant event.

In some ways, you could argue that it will put on trial the balance

between profit and safety in the provision of housing, the treatment

of less advantaged people could be put to the test in that enquiry, and

for Theresa May, a severe political test is underway. Her colleagues are

deeply disappointed. They will be watching her performance very

carefully and critically indeed. Her enemies and political opponents will

be watching like hawks for evidence of vulnerability and weakness.

John Pienaar at Westminster, thank you. You can see more of that

interview with Theresa May on Newsnight this evening at 10:30pm.

Theresa May has pledged to rehouse all those affect I -- affected by

the Grenfell Tower tragedy within three weeks. Kensington has a

substantial housing waiting list and the highest rates of people living

in temporary accommodation in London. Clive Mhairi looks at what

happens next to the residents of Grenfell Tower.

It dominates the horizon, a blackened tomb in the sky. The shell

that is Grenfell Tower has raised uncomfortable questions about our

society, about poverty and helplessness. The housing around

here is very poor. Shoddy work, inferior materials, building

materials. That is what it's about. I think people are just fed up with

the situation. They want to know what happened, they want an answer.

Especially those who have lost everything. What now for them beyond

the nightmares? Sabha Abdullah lost his wife in the fire. Holmes, the

council put him up in a hotel and then inexplicably moved into this

old people's home, far from the life he knew. We have found you a good

flat, so you don't need to stay in the hotel. I said, I'm happy here,

happy in the hotel. They said, no, this is a good one. You might lose

it. This is for elderly people. What on earth am I doing here? In fact,

he is the only resident from Grenfell Tower living here. Most of

the places here are empty. And it is half empty? That doesn't make sense,

does it? You tell me. Summer there is confusion in the

council's attempts to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy. But the

long-standing shortage of social housing in the area is making

matters worse. Kensington and Chelsea is wealthy, with stunning

homes and handsome facade is. Some argue empty terraces should be

requisitioned for the homeless of Grenfell Tower is, because of years

of neglect in building council housing. This borough has one of the

highest levels of households living in temporary accommodation, yet it

is one of the richest in London. Last year, more than 2700 people

were on the social housing waiting list. Meanwhile, more than 1800

people are living in temporary accommodation. That's more than a

much poorer borough like Lewisham. Today, Theresa May made a

commitment, that those who lost their homes in the fire would be

rehoused in three weeks, and as close as possible to Grenfell Tower.

The local MP says that as a pipe dream. How much of a problem is

social housing in what is probably one of the richest boroughs in the

country? Yeah, it's chronic. I have been a councillor for 11 years, and

some of the cases I have seen over that time have just been horrific.

She agrees, empty luxury apartments should be taken over. The idea that

there are empty flats there and people sleeping on church floors I

find obscene. In a statement, the council said...

This man is now living in a hotel. He says the council has no option

but to follow through. If the councils don't rehouse people, there

would be a riot, there would be a genuine riot. If you think, that

would make everybody unite more than they have and stand up and stand

together. And as dusk began to fall, we could feel the tension rise in a

determined community. Police said today there was nothing

to suggest that the fire, which broke out in the early hours

of Wednesday morning, Investigators are still trying

to piece together what happened and how the blaze spread so quickly

throughout the building. There are now three inquiries -

by the police, by the fire brigade, Our home affairs correspondent

Tom Symonds now, on the questions the public inquiry will have

to consider. It is the first obvious question.

And it will be for the fire brigade to answer. The accounts of the

residents will be important. This video was shot 20 minutes or so

after a fridge caught light on the fourth floor. The Guy's fridge was

by his kitchen window. The fire had already gone on the outside, and the

wind has helped it, and then all of a sudden, the cladding has fallen.

He said the cladding court. And that leads to question number two. It

shouldn't have. The building was retard with aluminium panels in

2016. The work was signed off by the council. So far there is no evidence

standards were breached, but... The minimum safety standards which is

expected for a building to keep it reasonably safe. If you're using

materials, or in a circumstance which you know are more dangerous,

then you have to mitigate that, make a risk assessment and engineer out

at risk. In this test, the fire is contained by flameproof walls.

Experts say good fire safety results from good design. Was the redesigned

Grenfell Tower safe? And were there other factors? After the work was

completed, has pipes were moved to public areas in the tower. Residents

were furious. The job of finding out who might be to blame has now been

taken over by the police. We will get to the answer of what has

happened and why. That's why the police are taking the lead for the

investigation. And if criminal offences have been committed, it is

who will investigate that. Examining the wreckage will just be the start.

They will have to look at the role of the council, building managers,

contractors, subcontractors - a huge job. But are tell blocks safe? The

Government is now identifying similar blocks for extra checks, a

string of councils are doing their own assessments to reassure

residents. At fatal fires in tower blocks are incredibly rare. This

week Sheila is unprecedented. This is something the public inquiry is

likely to consider. There have been plenty of warnings in the past. In

another fire in Southwark in 2009, Harding was also a factor. A coroner

demanded a review of fire safety in towers, suggesting more sprinters

systems might be the answer. But introducing them widely might mean a

new approach to fire safety. Grenfell Tower's design should have

contained the fire - so-called passive safety. Could all blocks

have active measures to prevent fire? One of these modern

developments will have fire detection systems and sprinklers,

and bringing those older blocks up to this sort of standard would not

be cheap, and it would certainly best be disruptive for the

residents. But what price should we put on a life, especially on the

lives of those living in towers, often the poorest in society? This

disaster has triggered a national debate which could last year's.

Just some of the issues there thrown up by the terrible loss of life in

the building behind me. Here, the streets are crowded, there are

protests taking place but there is also married in front you soup

kitchen which has sprung up very close to me now, where dozens and

dozens of people are being fed here in the street.

We'll bring you more from West London later

in the programme, but for now, back to Jane in the studio.

A brief look at some of the day's other other news.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has said that protecting jobs,

growth and prosperity should be the priority in the talks

with the European Union, which begin on Monday.

Speaking before a meeting in Luxembourg, Mr Hammond said

the Government would take a pragmatic approach.

His comments appeared to strike a different tone to the Prime

Minister, who has argued that no deal is better than a bad deal.

A man has been arrested outside the Houses of Parliament

Officers used a Taser when they detained him -

The incident happened by the main Carriage Gates entrance -

close to where Constable Keith Palmer was stabbed and killed during

The two soldiers who died in an incident involving a tank

at an army firing range in Pembrokeshire have been named.

Corporal Matthew Hatfield and Corporal Darren Neilson served

Two others were injured at the Castlemartin Range on Wednesday.

Live tank firing exercises have been suspended

British Airways cabin crew are to stage a two-week strike

in a long-running dispute about pay and travel concessions.

Members of the Unite union will walk out between Saturday 1st July

and Sunday 16th July - during the peak holiday season.

BA said the proposed action is "extreme,

US president Donald Trump appears to have acknowledged

that he is personally under investigation as part

of the inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016

In an early morning tweet, the President said he's now

being examined in connection with the sacking of the FBI

Our North America editor, Jon Sopel, is at the White House for us now.

What is so extraordinary is that with every public utterance, with

every tweet, with every interview, Donald Trump is seeming to make life

much, much more complicated for himself. If you cast your mind back,

this started as an investigation by the FBI into the Trump campaign's

relations with Russia. It was all quite straightforward. And then it

got more complicated when the FBI director was fired as in the reasons

given by the White House, and by the Attorney-General and deputy

Attorney-General, were directly contradicted by Donald Trump, who

said it was the washer thing. And apparently when he met Sergei

Lavrov, he said, I was under huge pressure over Russia, that has been

relieved now... As a direct consequence of that, the president

it seems is being investigated for lunar possible obstruction of

justice, and he seems to confirm as much this morning, with a tweet

saying, I am being investigated for firing the FBI director. Of course,

this is all draining away attention from the subjects that the president

wants to talk about. The focus this week was meant to be all about jobs.

Well, the only big growth area in jobs is for lawyers to represent the

people around Donald Trump in connection with the Russia inquiry.

The vice president has taken on counsel, and even Donald Trump's own

lawyer ... Has taken on a lawyer. The former German Chancellor Helmut

Kohl, who presided over German re-unification at the end

of the Cold War, has died. Helmut Kohl led the country for 16

years and was a driving force behind Our correspondent Paul Adams

looks back at his life. As the Cold War ended, Helmut Kohl

seemed to tower quite literally over everyone and everything around him.

As a child, he had witnessed the destruction of his country, the

Second World War inspiring his lifelong desire to unify Germany -

and Europe. He rose through the ranks of the Christian democratic

union, becoming Chancellor in 1982. His provincial manners were

frequently mocked. He was tough and he knew how to wield power. And when

history came calling, he was ready. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the

moment of euphoria, and for Helmut Kohl, a chance to put his fractured

country back together. But unity didn't stop there, with France's

president Francois metre run, he pursued is the big idea, the new

European Union, with its own currency, the euro. Did not always

agree with his political protege, and his career ended in scandal. But

today, she says his legacy is not in doubt. TRANSLATION: We can all be

grateful for what Helmut Kohl did for us and our country in the long

years he was in office. And he will live on in our memory as the great

European and Chancellor of unity. I bow down in his remembrance. In

Brussels tonight, a gesture of respect the headquarters of the

European Union. One of its founders and champions is dead. The EU may

not be as confident as it once was, but Helmut Kohl's of a cherished

union, Germany, is stronger than ever.

Helmut Kohl, who has died at the age of 87.

The online retailer Amazon is making its biggest push so far into

high-street shopping by attempting to buy a whole foods grocery chain.

The deal worth ?11 billion is expected to be completed later in

the year. Investors called the deal game changing for the industry,

sending shares in rival grocers plunging.

Tennis world number one Sir Andy Murray has admitted

that at 30 years old, he may have only two

more years at the top, and plans to savour every moment.

Next month, he'll aim to emulate Fred Perry and win

He's been speaking exclusively to our sports editor, Dan Roan.

He's world number one and Wimbledon champion.

No wonder Sir Andy Murray's now seen as a true sporting superhero.

I'm certainly not that strong, unfortunately, but...

The tennis star telling me how he feels about being portrayed

in comic book form as part of a new billboard campaign.

It's the first time I've seen it. One for the kitchen wall?

Ha-ha! I don't know about that!

I'm not sure my wife would let me away with having something

Murray's preparing to defend his Wimbledon title,

but having turned 30 this year, he's determined to

Maybe these next couple of years are the last few where I'll

have a chance to compete for the Majors, and the biggest

tournaments, so I do want to make most of them.

I wish I'd enjoyed my career more when I was younger.

I certainly wasn't prepared for the attention that came with,

you know, becoming a professional athlete or a top tennis player.

And if you do the business to win it for a third time,

you'd match what Fred Perry achieved - just how remarkable

I never expected to win it once, never mind twice.

So, I'll prepare as best I can, and if I play

well, then I definitely have a chance of winning.

After recent events, Wimbledon is preparing

for the biggest security crackdown in its history.

So, how does Murray feel about the safety of sports events?

Walking around the grounds, and there's huge amounts of people.

But we do also see the security that goes into the events.

It's been fine throughout my career, but it's something that is

Having recently recovered form and fitness, Murray starts his grass

court season here at Queen's Club next week, where he's

But it's Wimbledon where Britain's top sports star will be

Well, as we've been hearing, dozens of people are still missing.

Many families are searching for information, trying to find out

24 people remain in hospital ? 12 of them are critically ill.

Our health editor, Hugh Pym, reports now on the victims,

and speaks to the NHS staff who have been helping them.

Pictures which tell their own tragic stories. Those who have lost their

lives or who are feared to have died. It was confirmed today that

Khadija Saye, who was 24, was one of those who perished. She was a

promising young artist, and former colleagues feared the worst after

reading her final tweets from the tower. Khadija was the whole

package, she was a beautiful soul, a kind person, she was always

volunteering, always looking out for young people, birdieing young

people, very passionate about her own community and a hugely talented,

creative artist Kirkuk for family and friends of those who are

missing, the agonising wait gets longer. Spending much of today

putting up edges of his uncle was Mo Khalil. We don't know. It is a

pretty empty sort of feeling that we've all got. We've got no answers.

All just looking at each other, just kind of hoping that we find him,

really. Or find something. Those who made it to hospital on Wednesday are

in good hands. This doctor was one of those at King's College hospital

who had to work fast to clear the air waves of victims of smoke

inhalation, and then their lungs. I found lots and lots of soot which

was lining the lungs, and some of that was obviously quite hot when it

got into the lungs, and so there were some burns underneath. And we

washed out as much of that sucked as we possibly could to remove it. The

emotion at the end of a punishing week is raw. -- as much of that

soot. It's... Sorry. On a professional level, I feel immensely

proud. But there is something so enormous about what's happened that

it's impossible to comprehend. For most staff at the hospital, there

was a need to care for families in distress as well as the patients

themselves. Added you feel at the end of your shift? Erm, it's really

tough. When you're working, you just power through a little bit, and it's

only when you step back at the end of the day that you realise how

upsetting it can be, sorry, dealing with so these things. It's really

tough. Tonight, local churches organised the service of remembrance

for those who died. The Bishop of Kensington reflecting the mood of

the community. He said there was now a cry for justice and real, lasting

change. That is all from us here on the BBC

News at ten, by the skeleton of Grenfell Tower. As we all tried to

take in the immensity and horror of what has happened, we will leave you

with some of the messages written on a wall near the tower, including

tributes to those who never made it out.

The children, the families, the mothers.

Everybody wants answers, because everybody's

I will keep going on anger and adrenaline for as long as I can.

Because frankly, I'd rather not sit down and actually contemplate what's