Grenfell Community Campaigners protest outside Celotex Factory in Hadleigh, Ipswich, in fight for justice for victims, survivors and bereaved.
Celotex executives were complicit in the murder of 72 people, including 18 children, in the fire at Grenfell Fire that broke out four and a half years today
Grenfell Community Campaigners are today at Celotex Factory, causing disruptive protest and demanding justice. Justice means jail time for those who are culpable
Celotex manufactured the highly flammable insulation, which was a primary factor in the atrocious fire at Grenfell Tower
We are the Grenfell Community Campaigners and we are at the Celotex factory in Ipswich this morning on the 4 and a half year anniversary, where Celotex are complicit in the murder of 72 people, of which 18 are children, in the most atrocious fire in Grenfell Tower, North Kensington. We will be here for two hours protesting. Anyone in the Ipswich area who is able to join us, please do so.
Celotex are one of the main culprits of the fire. They produced the foam insulation which was one of the major products which led to the fire spread, the release of toxic gases including hydrogen cyanide and subsequent death of 72 people, including 18 children.
The Public Inquiry into the fire revealed that Celotex rigged fire tests and therefore the fire certification. One of the executives, it was shared in the recent inquiry, said by email that he “didn;t give a f***” that they knew Celotex was highly flammable and toxic, and letting off cyanide fumes.
The Grenfell Community campaigners believe that the time is now to prosecute those responsible for the murder of those who needlessly perished in Grenfell Tower. We want justice.
Justice for the Grenfell community means that those who are responsible for the 72 deaths are charged and spend time in jail, not just fined. There must be jail time, for those that knew the insulation was highly flammable and did nothing about it.
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Protest location: Celotex, Lady Lane Industrial Estate, Hadleigh, Ipswich IP7 6BA
Protest in June 2021 at Bellway development in Chelmsford
Bellway is the first developer to cave in the battle to make developers pay for the building safety crisis. This comes as no surprise since the main organisers of Action for Fire Safety Justice, the group responsible for a series of high impact showroom protests, have been relentlessly targeting Bellway for over six months.
The biggest lesson from this victory is that protest works, particularly protests that directly hit the developers’ pockets and put off potential new buyers. This has been a key feature of the campaign, which has also targeted government with a rally at Downing Street. Homes for All has been proud to support this campaign, which has sought to unite tenants, leaseholders, trade unions and Grenfell campaigners in a struggle that fights for safety before profit.
Bellway Homes have agreed to fully fund the fire safety remediation of Caspian Quarter not only removes the financial burden from Caspian Quarter leaseholders, but provides a degree of peace of mind for the future in view of the incoming fire safety regimes such as the new standard PAS8890. This comes shortly after the win for leaseholders at Bellway’s Chelmsford development, where the developer confirmed it will step in to fund works that will remove unsafe Grenfell style cladding from their homes. https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/essex-housing-bellway-homes-replace-6210489
Bellway Homes confirmed in a letter to Barking Leaseholders:
In this instance and due to the unique set of circumstances, Bellway will step in, set aside legal responsibility, and wholly fund and deliver the removal and replacement of the balcony decking, check and rectify cavity barriers and install those considered missing behind the cladding, as well as replace the cladding with an A1/A2 rated alternative.
AFSJ issued a press statement saying:
This victory comes after a concerted effort from Caspian Quarter and other leaseholders, support from the active Barking Reach Residents Association, housing groups such as Homes4All, other campaign groups such as UK Cladding Action Group, End Our Cladding Scandal, and National Leasehold Campaign, Polluter Pays Bill team, Grenfell campaigners, Fire Brigade Union and other trades unions. The campaign included multiple local and national protests, meetings, emails, media coverage and was also supported by the MP for Barking Dame Margaret Hodge, Councillor Cameron Geddes and the Barking & Dagenham Council, and the Bishop of Barking.
Joanna, the co-founder of Action of Fire Safety Justice, said:
I am over the moon and cannot describe the feeling of relief upon hearing the news of Bellway finally doing the right thing for Caspian Quarter, after they had agreed to do the same for our friends at the Marconi development in Chelmsford. The building safety crisis has so many facets and consequences – in addition to safety and financial worries, it is a tremendous pressure on leaseholders’ and their families’ mental health.
Action for Fire Safety Justice will continue to fight for and with all leaseholders affected by this horrendous scandal.We call upon Bellway to remediate the rest of their defective buildings, and on other developers to follow suit, so that we may all sleep soundly, not having to worry for our lives or livelihoods.
AFSJ are keen to share their learnings with others who are facing the same thing and they will host a public meeting on 7th December where they will talk about how the victory was won and answer questions. Homes for All congratulates all who had a role in winning this concession from Bellway. We are excited to continue supporting any housing struggle that fights for homes for people, not for profit.
Public Meeting: TUESDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2021 FROM 19:00-20:30
Action for Fire Safety Justice Update: How We Beat Bellway & How to Keep Going?
Join us as we share the campaigning tactics that forced Bellway to pay full remediation costs for our blocks. Hear from six Fire Safety Justice campaigners and join us in an open discussion as we reflect on successes and challenges in 2021 and decide together, where do we go from here?
Agenda
*How We Beat Bellway (and how you can too)* Chloe, Joanna & Kelly, ASFJ crew & Bellway Must Pay co-founders
Action for Fire Safety Justice protest at City Hall 30 October 2021
The Tories re-announced their ‘solution’ to the building safety crisis in the Budget last week, a £5bn fund to tackle fire safety remediation. Of course this money is a fraction of the £5 – £50bn that remediation is expected to cost. This was accompanied, as usual, by warm words about how leaseholders should not have to pay. If they thought they could put a dampener on the planned protests on Saturday, they were very wrong. There were eight protests and seven of them were live streamed into the Building Safety Crisis rally online. We were delighted to support the protests in person and by providing the tech support.
We heard, a couple of days before the day of action that Michael Gove had called leaseholders in for a meeting. Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Levelling Up (sic), Housing and Communities. We think there is little doubt that the publicity around the upcoming protests played a role in his decision to meet leaseholders. Following the protests we are reliably informed that there is more interest in the press and parliament for a real solution – the Polluter Pays Bill.
We demanded that the Government makes Developers pay! The costs to fix fire safety issues should not fall on tenants or leaseholders. Speakers were: Chloe Waite, Action for Fire Safety Justice Tanya Murat, Homes For All Jenni Garrett, End Our Cladding Scandal Matt Wrack, FBU Georgie Hume, CLADDAG Chair, Moyra Samuels, Grenfell Campaigner Protests featured at the online rally were: ⁕ London City Hal l⁕ Abbey Quays Barking ⁕ Upton Park ⁕ Ipswich Waterfront ⁕ Stotfold ⁕ Bristol City Hall ⁕ Strasbourg European Court of Human Rights
REPORT: This ITV report is a good example of the coverage we received.
Barking – Weston HomesBristol City HallLondon City HallLondon City HallIpswich WaterfrontMilton Keynes – Crest NicholsonStotfold – Linden HomesUpton Park – BarrattHow one leasholder re-imagined Michael Gove
Agenda 1. #EndOurCladdingScandal showroom protest day report (5 June) and next steps 2. Grenfell 4th anniversary actions Monday14th June 3. Campaign Against Empty Homes Day of Action (2nd October) and local reports on empty homes 4. Evictions (moratorium ended 31 May?) 5. Cllr Diarmaid Ward will attend to discuss requisitioning 6. AOB
On Monday 14th June, Homes for All is calling for supporters to remember the 72 lives lost and to stand in solidarity with the survivors and bereaved of the Grenfell fire. This must never happen again.
We are asking people to join their friends, workmates, family and neighbours. Make a placard using the slogans below and bring a candle.
Where? Your protest or vigil could be at work, after college, at a developers’ showroom or town hall. It’s up to you.
The important thing is to come together, discuss how we can achieve our demands for justice and have a visible show of solidarity. Take photos and post them on social media.
PRESS RELEASE from Homes for All – 02/06/2021 for immediate release
Housing Campaign condemns the government’s heartless decision to end the eviction ban, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of homelessness
The Government’s announcement to end the ban on evictions on May 31st 2021 is now on course to plunge hundreds of thousands of private renters into homelessness
The pandemic has shown the extent to which extreme inequality in the UK can be measured through the indicators of insecure, unaffordable and unsafe housing. Shelter and other leading organisations have revealed that the wellbeing of many families has already been compromised in order to pay their rent.
It is essential that the government reverses its decision to end the eviction ban immediately if it is to avoid a massive crisis of homelessness over the coming months and over 100 organizations, campaigns, union representatives and leading spokespeople have signed a letter by the national housing campaign Homes for All calling for this.
John, Lord Bird, founder of The Big Issue, said:
“With the Eviction Ban ending, I fear what the coming months will bring. This is about making sure we don’t condemn hundreds of thousands of people to homelessness.
“It is key that the Government supports decent landlords by getting them back to profitability, whilst preventing mass evictions.
“Those who privately rent will have felt the brunt of Covid-inflicted job losses, falling incomes and rising debts in the past year. The government urgently needs a Covid Rent Debt Fund to clear these debts, get tenants back on their feet, and allow landlords to claim the income they’ve lost.
The Big Issue set up the Ride Out Recession Alliance in Spring 2020 to prevent mass homelessness caused by Covid-19 poverty and called for the Eviction Ban to be upheld. “
John McDonnell MP said:
“The government cannot just stand by and do nothing about the massive wave of evictions that we are now facing. Action is needed urgently to prevent this threatened dramatic rise in homelessness.”
Homes for All is a broad-based coalition campaigning for secure, safe and affordable housing for all and their letter to highlight this issue with nearly 150 signatures from leading union, campaign and political organisations is here: letter here.
£2,300 Average increase in debt and arrears since March 2020 among those who have fallen behind on bills or borrowed for essentials.
-22.4% Change in outstanding credit card balances in year to January 2021.
360,000 Increase in unemployment in the year to January 2021.
6.8% Increase in average first-time buyer house price in the year to January 2021.Every Day in the UK
£25 billion Amount of arrears and debt accumulated by 11.1 million households since March 2020 due to the financial pressures of the pandemic.
460,000 Number of private sector renters who were behind on their rent in January 2021, up from 230,000 in May 2020.
2.3 million Number of people falling behind on their broadband bill in November 2020.
7 in 10 Proportion of Universal Credit claimants seeking advice from Citizens Advice who have not previously made a benefits claim.
Personal Debt in the UK
People in the UK owed £1,700.2 billion at the end of January 2021.
The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £60,999 and per adult was £32,087, around 107.6% of average earnings.
Net mortgage lending rose by £5.17 billion in the month, while net consumer credit lending fell by £2.79 billion.
Citizens Advice Bureaux across England and Wales answered380,283 enquiries in February 2021, 9.5% down from February 2020.Mortgages, Rent & Housing
Outstanding mortgage lending stood at £1,501 billion at the end of January 2021.
The average mortgage interest rate was 2.09% at the end of January 2021. Based on this, households with mortgages would pay an average of £2,854 in mortgage interest over the year.
HM Land Registry reports that the average house price for first-time buyers in Great Britain was £208,336 in January 2021, an annual increase of 6.8% and a monthly change of -0.6%.
According to the Office for National Statistics, private rental prices in the UK rose by 1.4% in the 12 months to February 2021.
(All the above data brought to you by Money Advice Charity)
