:00:00. > :00:00.and other observations on BBC Two. That is underway on BBC Two.
:00:00. > :00:10.Now on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
:00:11. > :00:17.The Grenfell fire disaster has led to much public fury vented
:00:18. > :00:23.Tonight, it planned to hold a meeting in private
:00:24. > :00:28.But things didn't go according to plan, for them
:00:29. > :00:34.And they're using you guys as an excuse.
:00:35. > :00:37.You should be allowed in there, so should everyone else,
:00:38. > :00:41.The council had wanted it to be a private meeting,
:00:42. > :00:46.because they were concerned about this order.
:00:47. > :00:49.because they were concerned about disorder.
:00:50. > :00:52.The public was banned, but the press were allowed in after a judge
:00:53. > :00:55.Inside, things had descended into what one
:00:56. > :00:58.The leader of the council had left the meeting
:00:59. > :01:00.after reading a statement, and saying following legal advice
:01:01. > :01:09.there could be no open discussion, because the press was present.
:01:10. > :01:11.Once outside, there was more anger from opposition councillors,
:01:12. > :01:15.who said residents had been let down once again.
:01:16. > :01:21.I decided half an hour ago, before the meeting,
:01:22. > :01:26.because I was in two minds whether to come here or not,
:01:27. > :01:29.because my child is clinging on to me since this has happened,
:01:30. > :01:32.he doesn't want to let go of me because he saw the fire
:01:33. > :01:34.and his friends died and my friends have
:01:35. > :01:38.So I decided half an hour before this started to leave my child
:01:39. > :01:41.and come here to try and get some answers, and I've come
:01:42. > :01:43.here and they've just cancelled the meeting without giving
:01:44. > :01:46.The lives of the people of North Kensington have been
:01:47. > :01:50.changed in a way that can never be put back the way it was,
:01:51. > :01:53.and they should be allowed to look to the political leadership of this
:01:54. > :01:56.council to lead them, to comfort them and to support them,
:01:57. > :02:01.and this council is just not doing it.
:02:02. > :02:04.I am looking to the Conservative group to sack the leader
:02:05. > :02:06.of the council, to certainly sack the deputy leader of the council
:02:07. > :02:09.who did have responsibility for housing, and who has not been
:02:10. > :02:13.seen in public in the last ten days, and I would call on the government
:02:14. > :02:20.But not everyone wants to see resignations.
:02:21. > :02:23.One resident told me she wanted to see accountability.
:02:24. > :02:25.When they're coming out calling for his resignation,
:02:26. > :02:32.So if he resigns, Paget-Brown, Robert Black will resign,
:02:33. > :02:36.the rest of them will resign, they will no longer be accountable
:02:37. > :02:39.and can't be brought into the case in an inquiry,
:02:40. > :02:42.where they are held possibly for criminal charges.
:02:43. > :02:45.We haven't been able to speak to any Conservative councillors,
:02:46. > :02:46.but the anger from Labour councillors and local
:02:47. > :02:55.There will be a council meeting in July, which will be open
:02:56. > :03:02.to the public and people will expect answers.
:03:03. > :03:05.So, the Grenfell fire has led to much public fury vented
:03:06. > :03:10.And tonight its leader told this programme that
:03:11. > :03:13.their response was as good as it could have been,
:03:14. > :03:15.although he recognises more could have been done.
:03:16. > :03:16.Nicholas Paget-Brown also insists he still has
:03:17. > :03:21.He spoke to our Political Editor, Tim Donovan.
:03:22. > :03:25.A fortnight on, a leader under pressure wants to remind
:03:26. > :03:28.people of the sheer scale of what faced him.
:03:29. > :03:31.The events of Grenfell Tower two weeks ago, I think is probably
:03:32. > :03:34.the biggest tragedy to have hit in London since the end
:03:35. > :03:38.The fact that it's in our borough and that it's in part
:03:39. > :03:41.of the community that we know well means that this is one
:03:42. > :03:45.of the most difficult periods in the council's history.
:03:46. > :03:48.The key thing has been to try to ensure that everybody gets
:03:49. > :03:50.some form of accommodation immediately and some financial
:03:51. > :03:57.He has met traumatised survivors, he says,
:03:58. > :04:02.Have you apologised to any of these survivors personally?
:04:03. > :04:07.I need to apologise if the response on the ground to the tragedy has not
:04:08. > :04:10.been quick enough or appropriate enough or on the scale
:04:11. > :04:22.Not in person, but I do apologise here to you if anybody feels that
:04:23. > :04:26.Kensington and Chelsea Council should have been doing more.
:04:27. > :04:34.Where was that council help visible on the ground
:04:35. > :04:39.The Prime Minister acknowledges that right across, both
:04:40. > :04:42.at national and local level, the response was not good enough
:04:43. > :04:45.and we acknowledge that and we need to see what could have been done
:04:46. > :04:48.quicker and better, and we will learn from this.
:04:49. > :04:50.The public inquiry will throw up issues about communication and how
:04:51. > :04:53.quickly other boroughs can come to our aid and whether we should
:04:54. > :05:00.Early on, it was hard to contain the anger.
:05:01. > :05:12.The demonstrator community had long felt neglected.
:05:13. > :05:14.We will need to look at this over the longer term.
:05:15. > :05:17.There are many people in the community in north Kensington
:05:18. > :05:19.who do recognise that the council has played an important
:05:20. > :05:21.part in community life, supporting the voluntary sector.
:05:22. > :05:24.So you don't accept that this has shown you to have
:05:25. > :05:27.I am trying to avoid getting into a political dogfight.
:05:28. > :05:33.Is it political, though, or is it just about a community
:05:34. > :05:35.says, we have wanted more attention from you.
:05:36. > :05:38.We haven't got that and this is what happens.
:05:39. > :05:39.I understand and hear that allegation.
:05:40. > :05:42.It is not one I am going to respond to at the moment.
:05:43. > :05:45.I think we have a good story to tell about our record
:05:46. > :05:47.in north Kensington, but clearly, some relationships
:05:48. > :05:49.There are concerns about what happened
:05:50. > :05:51.with the refurbishment of this tower.
:05:52. > :06:00.We were trying to refurbish and improve the quality of housing in
:06:01. > :06:02.Grenfell Tower. The most senior paid
:06:03. > :06:04.official at the Council, Should it have been the unelected
:06:05. > :06:11.head of this council rather That is something we will
:06:12. > :06:17.look at in due course. My job at the moment is to make sure
:06:18. > :06:20.the council has a head I am the public face of the council
:06:21. > :06:25.and I need to be seen to be making sure that the proper response
:06:26. > :06:28.to people's lives that have been so devastated by this
:06:29. > :06:30.tragedy is in place. Would you expect to be the leader
:06:31. > :06:33.in six months' time? That is not a matter I am
:06:34. > :06:35.able to discuss now. I am asking whether you have lost
:06:36. > :06:45.the right to be heard. Whether or not that is fair,
:06:46. > :06:47.to restore confidence... No, I don't think I have lost
:06:48. > :06:50.the right to be heard. But there is a time and a place
:06:51. > :06:53.and at the moment, people don't They want to feel that
:06:54. > :06:58.as leader of the council, I am putting in place a range
:06:59. > :07:01.of services that will support them and their vulnerable
:07:02. > :07:13.neighbours as best we can. BBC London has seen emails
:07:14. > :07:15.showing how residents in Camden flagged up serious concerns over
:07:16. > :07:17.fire safety in their tower They were assured by the council
:07:18. > :07:22.and contractors that the work would be put right,
:07:23. > :07:24.but ten years on, the Fire Brigade has declared
:07:25. > :07:26.the building "unsafe". Homeless, desperate,
:07:27. > :07:32.still they come, but could, In 2007, the Chalcots Estate
:07:33. > :07:43.underwent a massive ?153 million
:07:44. > :07:45.refurbishment. Rydon, which also worked
:07:46. > :07:47.on Grenfell Tower, was the main As well as adding cladding,
:07:48. > :07:50.windows were upgraded, The gas and electrics
:07:51. > :07:58.were overhauled. These pictures, residents say,
:07:59. > :08:01.were sent around of a show flat, But this is what they say
:08:02. > :08:04.they were faced with. These pictures were taken
:08:05. > :08:06.by various residents after work was carried out,
:08:07. > :08:09.showing a raft of problems, the worst of which -
:08:10. > :08:12.exposed gas pipes not boxed in or properly sealed
:08:13. > :08:14.through firewalls. I mean, that's how they
:08:15. > :08:21.were doing the work. This wasn't temporary work,
:08:22. > :08:23.this was literally proper pipes for water and gas,
:08:24. > :08:26.but we're more concerned with the gas pipes
:08:27. > :08:28.literally just being bashed We've seen emails to Camden
:08:29. > :08:32.and Rydon, in which tenants In September 2007, they got a reply
:08:33. > :08:51.from a Camden official. A month later, a senior
:08:52. > :09:05.manager at Rydon added... Work was then carried
:09:06. > :09:08.out to fix things and, as far as residents knew,
:09:09. > :09:10.it was all signed off After Grenfell, the fire brigade
:09:11. > :09:17.was called in and declared these buildings were unsafe to live in -
:09:18. > :09:20.ten years after the refurbishment It's no surprise to me
:09:21. > :09:28.that the residents identified these problems years ago,
:09:29. > :09:33.and the disgusting part about that is that nothing was done,
:09:34. > :09:39.which I'm also not surprised about. We don't know what would have
:09:40. > :09:42.happened, if there had been a big fire, I think we were living
:09:43. > :09:46.probably on borrowed time. Rydon said they were not responsible
:09:47. > :09:49.for gas rises or wiring in Chalcots, so complaints would have been passed
:09:50. > :09:52.onto those responsible. They maintain all their works met
:09:53. > :09:54.required building regulations. Camden told us the UK needs
:09:55. > :09:59.a whole new safety regime. Years of cutting so-called red tape
:10:00. > :10:01.and discrediting of health and safety have taken their toll,
:10:02. > :10:19.change is needed. Scotland has been topping up on the
:10:20. > :10:23.rental today. It has been a wet month here. For us, it has been dull
:10:24. > :10:27.and cloudy for much of the day. We are beginning to see a few breaks in
:10:28. > :10:31.the cloud moving across from Kent. Overnight, those breaks will
:10:32. > :10:38.continue to migrate across south-east England. There will still
:10:39. > :10:41.be a lot of cloud around. Looking at the forecast tomorrow, early on
:10:42. > :10:44.there will be bright sunny spells getting through this area of cloud.
:10:45. > :10:48.And although for the majority of us, it is a dry day, it might be worth
:10:49. > :10:56.taking the umbrella because there is a chance of showers. Looking ahead
:10:57. > :10:59.to the weekend, we are looking at a dry prospect weather-wise, with some
:11:00. > :11:10.sunshine and it should turn a bit warmer.
:11:11. > :11:22.June has been a crazy month, with quite literally extremes. Last week
:11:23. > :11:23.was about the heat, the hottest days since 79. This week