this is bbc news live in west london, where police say that at least 30 people are now confirmed to have died in the fire that engulfed grenfell tower. the queen and prince william have been visiting a relief centre which has been helping victims of the fire the bbc understands that as many as 76 people are dead or missing, many of them had been trapped on the upper floors of the building. the mayor of london adds his voice to the growing number of calls for answers, actions and justice, a march of local residents is planned for this afternoon. the prime minister has visited survivors in hospital this morning, and is chairing the so—called grenfell tower recovery taskforce this afternoon. the other main headlines this hour: the archbishop of canterbury will speak at a "service of hope"

at southwark cathedral in honour of first—responders, families and survivors of the london bridge attack. a second soldier has died following the incident involving a tank at an army firing range in pembrokeshire and the british and irish lions prepare for their biggest test yet down under — can they roar against the all blacks in new zealand? good afternoon from west london, where the number of people known to have died in the grenfell tower fire has risen to at least 30. police say they believe the final total will be higher. this morning, the queen and prince william visited

the scene. they went to a relief centre which has been helping victims of the fire. they spent time speaking to local residents, volunteers and members of the emergency services. also this morning, theresa may has been to chelsea and westminster hospital to visit the injured there. richard lister has our first report, and a warning that it contains distressing images. the queen came today to join a community in mourning. many people today have said they felt ignored, both before the grenfell tragedy and after too. this was a royal visit designed in part to show that the nation was sharing the pain. at times it was overwhelming. in the background the queen could hear a woman clearly overcome with grief. prince william described the fire as one of the most terrifying things he'd ever seen,

and he praised those who had to respond to it. you guys did a brilliantjob... in unprecedented circumstances. stung perhaps by criticism she didn't meet survivors yesterday, the prime minister was at chelsea and westminster hospital to meet some of those injured. while it could take weeks to get a final figure, the confirmed number of dead continues to rise. sadly, as i said before, we always knew the number of those that died would increase, and i am able to say at this point in time we know that at least 30 people have died as a result of this fire. sadly, and tragically, that includes one person who was taken to hospital, and despite the very best medical care from the nhs, has now sadly died. this is the flat that i live in... sajar watched the fire destroyed his home that night

and is now among those wondering what the future holds. the council is paying for him and other grenfell tower residents to live in nearby hotels. theirfood is being paid for as well, but this is not home. he still has the keys to his old flat and no idea about what went wrong that night. —— and notes he made about what happened last night. —— that night. they said, stay in your building. is that true? when there is a fire, should you stay in? people stayed home and people died. i saw with my own eyes people jumping out, because they had read that sign and they thought they were safe if they stayed. the only chance they had was to jump out. that is one of the factors to be considered by the public inquiry into this disaster. there are many questions, most urgently about the cladding on this building. getting all the answers will take months at the very least but the government is scrambling to ensure millions of other high—rise residents that

their homes are safe. —— to reassure millions of other high—rise residents. the community support has been almost overwhelming. refuge centres say they no longer need donations of food and clothes. what is really needed for new homes for the hundreds of survivors. the council says finding them temporary accommodation has been hard. finding permanent homes will be even harder. what we are committed to doing is making sure every household from grenfell tower tower can find a permanent new home in the local area, but because of the shortage of housing in london, but in particular in this borough, that will take some time. we could be talking about a couple of years while we get to that end point where every household is back in a permanent new home in the borough. but the trauma of this event will last long beyond the need to find new homes. this has been life changing for all those affected, survivors and also the emergency teams. the conversations i have had, you know, one colleague said he was going in there literally

having to choose who to save and who to leave to die because, you know, you only have two hands and can only take out so many people. my colleagues who went in, to people out, went in again, —— my colleagues who went in, took people out, went in again, to people out, the scenes they would have encountered in the early hours of tuesday morning, it is absolutely unimaginable. as the days pass the need for answers is becoming even stronger and the grief, it seems, is just as raw. i'm joined by sean mendez from a charity called solidarity sport, and you do work in this area and i know you do work in this area and i know you worked with some of the people who are still missing. tell me about them. we are small charity helping children in this area and south kensington. we have known this family forfour years. kensington. we have known this family for four years. we went on holiday with them twice. they

attended many of our after—school clu bs attended many of our after—school clubs and took part in healthy eating projects in the school holidays. we have become like an extended family to the children we support, so it is devastating that they are still missing. we still hope we will find them, but as each day passes, that is getting slimmer. sean, the audience can see pictures of the children you are telling us about. how old were they? he is really fun to be with, the boy. when we went on holiday, we did at sailing, canoeing and things like that. he would ask every day if he could do football. that was his personality, very endearing, a beautiful child. his younger sister was the opposite. she was very responsible, calm and trustworthy.

they were similar in terms of their integrity and personality. they came from a really good family, and their mum and dad were really good people. and you have heard nothing about their whereabouts since this happened? we have a really good group who have been going to many hospitals putting up posters and asking professionals if they had seen these children. we have gone to all the temporary accommodation and askedif all the temporary accommodation and asked if people have seen them. it is unfortunate, but we have not heard anything from the family at the moment. sean, you have worked in this area for some time, and a lot has been said in recent days about the inequality that exists here. from your perspective, how do you see this? it is like a microcosm of

the uk. the difference between wealth and poverty is shocking. the life expectancy between the richest and poorest is 20 years, which should ring alarm bells through the whole country. i think we seriously need to do something about the levels of insecurity, because we know some families that are living on the bread line, going hungry. then you have billionaires who have mansions, notjust then you have billionaires who have mansions, not just here then you have billionaires who have mansions, notjust here but throughout the world, and half of them are not being used. then you have homeless people. the people in charge of this council have a lot to a nswer charge of this council have a lot to answer for. it is absolutely disgraceful, what has been going on. a lot of people in this covered lot we re a lot of people in this covered lot were in social housing. yes, they we re were in social housing. yes, they were the poor people. there was cladding, and people said it went up because of that, and then double the

fire alarms that did not go off. and they were told to stay in their rooms. people survived because they did not listen to those orders and they left. so much needs to be investigated. if this was where millionaires and billionaires live, there is no way that anyone would have died. some cvs self examination need —— some serious self—examination needs to go on. this was completely avoidable. it should not have taken place. it should not have taken place. it should have been contained in that room, and everybody should have escaped, simple as that. how can it go from one room to spread out through the whole of the estate? we are in 2017, and there is no way that should have happened. these are questions that many people will be asking. for the moment, questions that many people will be asking. forthe moment, sean, thank you for your time. there is a lot of anger on the streets. they don't

even have time to grieve. the anger has been simultaneous, so i think people deserve answers, and they are angry at the moment. the levels of inequality are stark. very poor people living cheek byjowl with very rich people. everyone will have heard your message. thank you for your time. the issues raised there by sean mendez on questions of security, the safety of the building, and those are now being examined by police. this tower block that burn down so horrifically was a 19705 building, and one of the main issues was whether the cladding contributed to the blaze taking hold so contributed to the blaze taking hold so quickly. many questions now for the local authority, the builders and the subcontractors. 0ur correspondent now takes a look at the big questions being asked about the big questions being asked about the safety of the building. there is still so much unclear — evidence perhaps destroyed

in the fire — which is now subject to what is bound to be a lengthy investigation and public inquiry, but some worrying claims are emerging. firstly, that the sort of cladding that may have been used at grenfell tower, if the polyethylene or plastic material which might have been inside it wasn't fireproof enough, is banned in high—rise buildings in other countries, included the united states. polyethylene as a material is used as the core of certain composite panels, and it does have the ability to burn. having said that, the panels here on this building, we don't yet know precisely what the make—up was. if they include an element of polyethylene, that could be acceptable if the other materials going with it are noncombustible. it is common among refurbishments of older tower blocks to attach a layer of foam insulation, leave a gap, then fix on a cladding likely to consist of aluminium outer layers and filling that could be plastic, the standard version, or a fire resistant material. there is concern that grenfell tower had the standard cladding, likely to be

around £2 cheaper per panel. it is alleged today fire resistant panels would have costjust £5000 more overall. now other buildings have to be assessed. the first point is obviously to identify those buildings. there are about 4000 high—rise buildings in the country, but not all of them have been re—cladded, but let's not make the assumption it is all about cladding. we need to be led by the experts. as soon as we have more information from the experts, which we expect either later today or certainly over the weekend, i think that is what should be used for these emergency inspections. the six towers at a london estate just a mile from the fire show the challenge now faced by councils up and down the country. you can see the cladding that has put on here recently, as in so many buildings around the country. the local authority says they complied with safety regulations and there is no reason to suppose it is exactly the same material as at grenfell tower, however it does come from the same

supplier and now urgent checks have been ordered into the cladding itself, and the way it has been installed. i do know people there. i have a lot of cousins here living in these buildings, and over there as well, people in both the properties. and if they have done that in a similar way they should do something about it. i know some people who actually went to the housing that live in these towers, and they have told the housing that they do not want to live here any more. and over there as well, people in both the properties. i know some people who actually went to the housing that live in these towers, and they have told the housing that they do not want to live here any more. and that is very stressful for the housing as well. everyone is very upset, scared. families are scared. even young kids are scared. the aim must be notjust to find out why this happened, but to make sure it can never happen again, and allay the growing fears of people living in tower blocks.

simon gompertz, bbc news. let me introduce you to a former resident of grenfell tower. you and yourfamily resident of grenfell tower. you and your family saved yourselves. where did you live? over there, one of the houses there, on the 13th floor. flat 105. tell me what happened to you on that night. my sister was asleep, i was on my computer, and my dad at that moment opened the door and shouted, get ready quick, we need to go, there is a fire in the building. he went and woke my sister. she got dress, and i picked up my sister. she got dress, and i picked up my wallet, keys and phone and headed downstairs. my dad stayed up and knocked on all the doors on the floor, and we try to get everyone —— we try to get everyone out there.

this was quite early on. afterwards, we we re this was quite early on. afterwards, we were downstairs and my sister had a chemistry exam the next morning... her gcse? yes, she is 16. at that time, the fire was contained. she was a bit distressed at the time, but she tried to calm down to do her revision. by the time the fire had almost reached the top of the building, we decided to go to a friend's house who lives nearby. we could see the building burning, and we could see people begging and screaming for help. the feeling of helplessness was absolutely mortifying. i can't imagine the level of distress you must have gone

through watching that. it's something i cannot describe. it was like wanting to help and trying to find any way whatsoever to help and not being able to do anything. we tried... my parents were near the tower at the time, and we were calling my parents and telling them to tell the police that we could see people, on which laws, some of them we knew personally. we contacted them and they were still up there, but they managed to get out. some of them are in hospital. it was absolutely... yeah. so your family got out as quickly as possible and you alerted neighbours and got them out too. some people were saying that the advice was to stay in their flats. yes. the firefighters were telling people early on to remain in their flats. and they did

telling people early on to remain in theirflats. and they did end up telling my mum, who was downstairs, to call us and tell us to stay put in our flat. there was no to call us and tell us to stay put in ourflat. there was no means to call us and tell us to stay put in our flat. there was no means of contact because my dad left his phonein contact because my dad left his phone in the car, so he could not contact us, but we got everyone on our floor out to safety. because that was what made sense to you? you panic, and obviously my dad was panicking, and he just panic, and obviously my dad was panicking, and hejust wanted to panic, and obviously my dad was panicking, and he just wanted to get out of there and make sure that as many people as possible could get out. we thought about going to other floors and trying to do the same thing, but wejust floors and trying to do the same thing, but we just couldn't. you talked about your sister revising for her chemistry exam — did she sit it? she ended up sitting it, yes. we advised her not to. we said there we re advised her not to. we said there were extenuating circumstances. she

was like, i have revised so hard for this, i might as well go. she wants to do chemistry for a level next year. it was something that got her mind off it. an extraordinary girl. iam mind off it. an extraordinary girl. i am proud of her. tell me about your father, because he i am proud of her. tell me about yourfather, because he had concerns about the safety of the building before. at the time of the renovations, he was one of the concerned leaseholders. there were even protests on behalf of the leaseholders, not just even protests on behalf of the leaseholders, notjust here but others, who protested about the whole restoration because of health and safety, not necessarily specifically fire, but health and safety issues all around. you know, seeing this now, maybe it could have been avoided, but we have to wait until the police finish their investigation so we can find out what actually happened. argue aware

of what response your father got when he raised concerns? most of the time, it was through e—mail. he would send e—mails to the tmo, and most of the time, they would receive it but we felt our voices weren't being heard. i'm not sure... sorry... we are standing in the shadow of what was your former home, yourformer shadow of what was your former home, your former estate. you seem shadow of what was your former home, yourformer estate. you seem lucid and articulate about what has happened, but you must be in a state of shock. i was more in a state of shock while it was happening. while i was watching it. because i was there from the beginning and i was picking up on small things because i knew that maybe this could get out

of hand, i try to pick up as many details as i possibly could just in case we could help with the investigation. yeah, because i know a lot of people don't remember exactly what happened because there we re exactly what happened because there were other things going through their mind. at that time, my family was safe, so i was seeing if i could help by remembering as much as i possibly could. very very good to talk to you. each person we speak to has many questions for the authorities, and more questions have been put to theresa may by the mayor of london, sadiq khan, who has written her an open letter listing the things he thinks need to be dealt with. eleanor garnier is in our westminster studio. tell us what

this letter says. sadiq khan has written an open letter to the prime minister in which he says he touches on a number of issues raised by the local community. the first thing he talks about is the issue of the information about the victims and their identities. he says that some people feel their grief has been made worse by the fact that there is, he says, a lack of information about the number of victims and about the number of victims and about some of their identities. he goes on to talk about the relief effo rts goes on to talk about the relief efforts and his concern about the coordination and organisation of those efforts, saying it is a huge task for a local authority to deal with. he also talks about the issue of housing and providing new housing for people who have been affected, and that there was some mix—up in the communication around that overnight. he also raises the issue of people living in similar towers to the one that was affected by the fire, saying that information about

the local area, about the tower was back up currently similar to g re nfell tower, back up currently similar to grenfell tower, saying the issue of safety of residents in those towers needs to be addressed and inspections need to take place, he says, by the end of the day. finally, he welcomes the prime minister's announcement that there will be a public enquiry led by a judge into what happened, but he says that answers need to come sooner says that answers need to come sooner than a few years' time. he asked the prime ministerfor an interim report by the summer. clearly, lots of questions being asked of the incumbent government, and there are layers of responsibility and accountability, yes, at a government level, but also ata yes, at a government level, but also at a local level — a local authority, developers, housing association, and of course, questions that go back over a generation, to win blocks like this one were built in the 19705.

questions for this government, but perhaps also for governments going back over a generation. we know that the prime minister has been visiting some of those who were affected by the fire in hospital this morning. she is now chairing a meeting looking at the recovery of this incident and how victims are being supported. thereafter ministers are meeting across —— ministers are meeting across —— ministers are meeting to discuss these matters. sergei —— the communities secretary has said that similar buildings around the country will be inspected and if need be changes will be made. many thanks. eleanor garnier, our

political correspondent. let's now go back to the police cordoned a little closer to the tower and speak to our correspondent mark lohmann. mark, the police gave a false statement of where they are with the investigation earlier —— a full statement. they say that the investigation is ongoing into what criminal offences may have been committed for the grenfell tower to have gone up in flames. he confirmed that 30 people at least had been killed but the number is expected to rise. there are still many bodies inside the tower, and nobody is expected still to be alive inside. he said that 2a people are in hospital, 12 of them critical. and he said at this stage there is nothing to suggest that the fire was started deliberately. still suspicion on the cladding on the

building. the times reported today that that type of cladding, the cheaper type that was less flame reta rda nt was cheaper type that was less flame retardant was restricted in the us and was chosen here for cost purposes. we are waiting to hear if that was indeed the cause of the fire, but clearly, there are a lot of concerns that have been expressed by sadiq khan and among the residents that similar buildings in this area and around the country have only one staircase, no sprinklers, no central alarm system, that have the same cladding, and they made experience the same fate as grenfell tower. —— they may experience. thank you, mark. stilla experience. thank you, mark. still a great many

questions being asked here in west london of the authorities, of local government, of central government, and pervading it all, a huge sense of grief and an inability to understand really what has happened. you have heard from people who made in some cases miraculous escapes, and others desperately searching for people whom they care for and to whom they don't know what has happened. we will have more from west london throughout the afternoon in. for the time being, west london throughout the afternoon in. forthe time being, back west london throughout the afternoon in. for the time being, back to simon in the studio. —— throughout the afternoon. a service is taking place this afternoon for family members and emergency services involved in the london bridge attack. the dean of southwark cathedral has said that while they were at the centre of

those horrific events on the 3rd of june, today's services and opportunities for southwark cathedral to re—establish itself as a place of reconciliation, healing and community. it is also an opportunity to honour those whose lives were impacted by what happened. almost 50 people were taken to five local hospitals, and eight individuals lost their lives. eight people, who by their own countries of origin are an indication of how london is a multicultural city, coming from australia, france, canada and great britain. the archbishop of canterbury is saying in his sermon, we are here in this building that was built to say that the future that each of us as in christ is one of life, hope and eventually, though ha rd of life, hope and eventually, though hard it may be to see the day, joey. he concludes, —— though it may be

ha rd to he concludes, —— though it may be hard to see today, jov- a second soldier has died after being wounded in an incident involving a tank at an army firing range in pembrokeshire. two other soldiers were injured at castlemartin ranges on wednesday afternoon. sian lloyd reports. flags lowered to half—mast at castlemartin as a mark of respect for the two soldiers died, two others were seriously injured during a training exercise carried out here by the wiltshire —based royal tank regiment on wednesday. inevitably, because they are trying to get as close as possible to the real experience of testing and firing their weaponry, there is a danger element, a risk element attached to that. this serves to remind us that, as i say, these guys put themselves in this position on our behalf on a daily basis. the castlemartin ranges is one

of two training areas in the uk used for tank training, where a live firing exercises can take place. it is understood this incident involved ammunition. what happened here is being investigated by the ministry of defence together with death if powys police ministry of defence together with powys police and the health and safety executive, for the moment, tank live firing at castlemartin has been suspended as a precaution. the ministry of defence has not yet released any information about those who were killed or injured here. 0ne soldier died in hospital, his family by his bedside, they have asked for privacy before any details are made known. the let's take a look at the weather now. a warm afternoon for large swathes of the uk with good spells of

sunshine. away from the north—west where the cloud is thicker, producing rain in scotland. elsewhere it is dry with good spells of sunshine for many areas. 22 in belfast, 23 in london, not farfrom 20 in aberdeenshire. pollen levels high across much of the uk. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. through the evening there will be patchy rain moving into the north of scotland, further dribs and drabs into the western side but elsewhere a dry night, clear spells, that breeze continues to come in from the south—west. it'll be a warm night. 16, 17 the low for many areas. a difficult night for sleeping. a warm start to what will bea sleeping. a warm start to what will be a very warm, sleeping. a warm start to what will be a very warm, even sleeping. a warm start to what will be a very warm, even hot weekend, away from the north—west. it will be breezy. cloudy with outbreaks of rain. most dry, light winds, sunshine and temperatures will respond. 2a in aberdeen is good going. highs of 28 in london. good afternoon.

this is bbc news. the headlines atjust after 2.30pm — the queen and prince william visit a relief centre helping victims of the grenfell tower fire and meet volunteers, local residents and community representatives. police have confirmed that at least 30 people were killed in the tower block fire and that the number of dead is expected to rise. the police have taken the lead in the investigation and if criminal offences have been committed it's us who will investigate that. the prime minister is chairing a task force this afternoon. a second soldier has died after he was wounded in an incident involving a tank at an army firing range in castlemartin in pembrokeshire. the archbishop of canterbury speaks at a "service of hope" at southwark cathedral in honour of first—responders, families and survivors

of the london bridge attack. now time for the sport. good afternoon. in the last few minutes bbc sport has spoken to a course close to ronaldo, to get clarification on rumours he will be leaving real madrid after being accused of tax fraud. accused leaving real madrid after being accused of tax fraud. the source says that ronaldo doesn't want to stay in spain. he signed a fave—year deal last year, china would be one potential destination but we hear his advisors would like him to stay in europe. british number one johanna konta is through to the semi—finals of the nottingham 0pen after a straight—sets victory over australia's ashleigh barty. konta broke her opponent twice in the first set to win it 6-3. and while there was a more competitive second, the briton broke again late on to win it 7—5. konta is aiming to win herfirst wta title on home soil. a busy morning of rugby.

lions' head coach warren gatland looks like he's going to call for re—enforcements for his squad and he's likely to turn to the wales and scotland camps for help. both teams are on tour in the southern hemisphere with wales in action earlier this morning. they beat tonga 211—6 in auckland as alex gulrajani reports. don't forget the dragons with new awash with red and black this summer at eden park it was different teams, same colours. wales' channelling their inner euell black early on. cuthbert‘s elbow just in their inner euell black early on. cuthbert‘s elbowjust in touch, denying him a try within two minutes a positive start for the stand—in coach and one that wales built on. cuthbert instrumental in the opening try. the winger who toured and scored with the lions' four years ago, proving his worth in this wales' team lacking experience. tonga kept in touch with them, not only with the boot but was with

brute strength. the tourists responded in similar fashion. brute strength. the tourists responded in similarfashion. psalm davies found his range to keep them ahead while mcbride could look on in pride as the maul was rewarded with a late penalty try. a win and a performance that mayjust bear fruit for some of the welsh players with the lions' head coach looking to bolster his numbers in new zealand. 0wen farrell's injury has overshadowed the build up to the british and irish lions' biggest match of the tour so far against maori all blacks tomorrow. fly—half farrell may miss the first test against the all blacks a week on saturday after an injury in training. johnny sexton is likely to fill in. 0ur correspondent katie gornall is in rotorua for us. it's been a mixed tour so far with two wins and two defeats. now they come to rotorua to face the maori all blacks. in fleed a win. notjust to give them momentum ahead of the first test but also to give them a

much—needed boost in morale as well. it won't be easy, though, against the maori all blacks, this is traditionally seen as the fourth test, ominous news for the lions who've already found the going tough here in new zealand and this is a side packed with experience. they have nineall blacks in their team but it is the back line that's really eye catching. it is not going to be easy for the lions, they are going to be without their fly—half 0wen farrell who was named on the bench but now has a thigh injury and faces a race against time to be fit for the first test. that does put a bit of pressure onjohnny sexton who'll wear the number 10 shirt. but it is going to be a big game for sean 0'brien who has a chance it nail down the number 7 shirt with the tour captain sam warburton on the tour captain sam warburton on the bench. all the ingredients for a really exciting game and for the lions, this could be tour—defining.

the all blacks have given the lions a clear warning ahead of next week's first test. they demolished samoa 78—0 in auckland this morning. beauden barrett scored twice and there were 12 tries in total in what was a really impressive showing from the world's best team. let's bring you up to date with what's going on at the us open golf because the second round is under way in wisconsin: zblets' look at the live leaderboard as it stands: just a few players out at the moment. australian marc leishman. rice fowler one shot ahead of englishman paul casey. and tommy fleet wood is in the mix but a tough round for some of the top six players. dustinjohnson, round for some of the top six players. dustin johnson, 3—over. round for some of the top six players. dustinjohnson, 3—over. and rory mcilroy, way down on 6—over. lots to do for the world's best players when they tee—off later. you

can players when they tee—off later. you ca n follow players when they tee—off later. you can follow on the bbc sport web sient updates for you on bbc radio 5 live. but that's all the sport for now. thank you. thank you very much. more now on our top story, and the devastating fire which destroyed a london tower block on wednesday night. the death toll from the blaze has risen to at least 30 but that figure is expected to rise. earlier, stuart cundy, from the metropolitan police gave this update. so the metropolitan police is leading the investigation and we have primacy. we'll be working with our colleagues from london fire brigade and the health and safety executive. the purpose of that investigation will be to establish the facts. this will be about providing, as best we possibly can, a nswe rs providing, as best we possibly can, a nswers for providing, as best we possibly can, answers for those that have been so deeply and tragically affected by the terrible fire here at grenfell tower. the investigation will look into what criminal offences may have

been committed. it'll be undertaken bya number of been committed. it'll be undertaken by a number of specialist detectives, using expertees and specialisms from other organisations, where required. now, sadly, as i have said before, we a lwa ys sadly, as i have said before, we always knew the number of those that have died would increase. i'm able to say at this point in time we know that at least 30 people have died as a result of this fire. sadically and tragically, that includes one person —— sadly and tragically that includes one person who was taken to hospital and despite the very best medical care from the nhs, has now sadly died. 12 of those victims have been taken to the mortuary. and a

number of those bodies, sadly, still remain here within grenfell tower. ina remain here within grenfell tower. in a amendment i'll cover the work we are doing with the lfb and others to recover those as quickly as we possibly can. latest update from the hospitals is that we still have 2a people who are being treated. 12 of those are in critical care. we have specialist and dedicated family liaison officers supporting 36 families. through our casualty bureau and through the reception centre and through, indeed, the coverage out on the media over the last couple of days, i have a request that if you are a family member and a police officer has not yet contacted you directly, if you are able to please go to the westway reception centre, or phone the

casual bureau and a specialist officer will be in touch with you to support you. ministers have said they will do whatever is necessary to prevent a repeat of the deadly fire. checks are taking place on hundreds of high rise blocks of flats around the uk, amid concerns that the type of cladding on the grenfell tower block could have accelerated the spread of the flames. up up to 110 households from grenfell tower a re up to 110 households from grenfell tower are in need of new permanent housing. a fellow in sociology at university of warwick and expert in social housing dr nigel de noranha joins us from salford. i'm alsojoined by ann power, head of housing and communities and professor of social policy at the london school of economics. perhaps, nigel, i could just start with you. the history as to why this block was built in the first place? well, london was suffering a housing crisis, as were many other cities and there was real pressure to stop

urban expansion because of green belt regulations, so the solution was cheap constructed tower blocks from prefabricated mechanisms, such as grenfell tower. but built at that stage in concrete? yes, in concrete. ann, why, when we talk about the cladding particularly, which is obviously the central part of any investigation, is it the only sort of cladding that is around or again that word "cheap", we keep hearing that? no. sorry that was to ann. yes, there are other forms of cladding. we have been involved in the requisite of several high rise estates including one with 23 storey tower blocks in hammersmith and fulham which they used what is called rock floor, which is literally stone spun into wall which is highly fire—proof and also a very

good insoulant thermoly as well as in noise. so there are other forms of cladding that are really much more appropriate. 0ne of cladding that are really much more appropriate. one of the problems might be that the cladding itself can be covered with a skin and if that skin is plastic—based, then that might be inflammable. there is another problem, as i think the fire brigade has pointed out, that if you put holes through the cladding, then you can create an u pwa rd cladding, then you can create an upward airdraft cladding, then you can create an upward air draft through the cladding. sorry, ann, this is obviously going to be the focus of any inquiry. i'm more interested in the cost issues. we are talking about a reif you arishment that cost £10 million. how much extra would that sort of cladding have added to the build? i doubt they were choosing between costs. i think the cost of the material cladding in a scheme that's going up 23 storeys isn't going to be the biggest factor in making that decision. it could

have' been made by the designers or by the installers but it wouldn't be big enough for it to drive a bad decision like this one, that's my honest opinion. and your honest opinion on whether that £10 million, spent on, let's face it, prettying up spent on, let's face it, prettying upa spent on, let's face it, prettying up a tower block, what could that have done in terms of putting in spraing letter system, say? well they are complex and they are expensive to install. my understanding was that they were actually required in multistorey buildings. i actually don't understand why a sprinkler system wasn't installed. i mean that'sjust me possibly being ignorant but i have been involved in this kind of retro fit and you can't afford to short change it as this horrible incident and tragedy shows. can i bring in our other ge.s in terms of

the cost issue there is a sense of corners being cut? yes, i think so. that's what the news reports seem to be suggested. i think that, you know, the priority given to social housing by previous governments has been so low that things have been done with not sufficient attention. and a lack of money? i don't think money was really the issue. lots of money was really the issue. lots of money has been spent but it doesn't seem money has been spent but it doesn't seem to have been spent wisely. how would you have spent that £10 million? i'm not an expert in the construction of buildings but it does seem, from what i've read, having sprinkler systems installed is something i would assume you'd have needed in a block like this. if you go into any commercial or private tower block you will find sprinkler systems installed. in all our offices, in the blocks being

solved. a skan power, one looks like at the lake north house fire in 2006 which killed six and we are now talking about kensington and chelsea, where in the shadow of this tower block is some of the most expensive housing in this country. this is one of the deep ironies of kensington and chelsea. i have had to say i have done a quick calculation but the £10 million that was invested is not a cheap option. they should have been able to install the very best. so whether the scheme was short—changed. whether was there was a kind of overprofiteering, i simply don't know but it wasn't cheap to do and they should have been able to do it properly. in terms of the divisions in kensington and chelsea, i think this is one of the ghastly tragedies andl this is one of the ghastly tragedies and i really hope that the borough, which is, you know, certainly the second, if not the first richest borough in the country, it certainly

has the most expensive housing, and huge divisions, will rise to the challenge. i hope this isn't going to be just a blame time, blame the tennants, blame the council, blame the community organisation, blame the community organisation, blame the refuse collectors, blame other people. it's got to be a real heart—searching. we have to insulate our buildings. we have to protect our buildings. we have to protect our communities and we have to do it at quality and it is never cheap and we do know that retro fitting a tower block like gre nfell tower properly, is a will the cheaper than demolishing it and replacing t if it had been demolished, if it now will it it'll be hard to replace the 110 low cost social rented houses. so it is the policy that fits. so unless the government decides to drive care and social housing and investment in it, we are not going to get out of this problem. we cannot simply abandon insulating homes or abandon

social houses. that's my honest opinion. and they won't be looking at private tower blocks for this sort of problem, will they? well, i wouldn't like to bank on that. i was asked that this morning and i don't think there are any guarantees on that. i mean, it may well be that private tower blocks get much better security checks when they are being built. what i think is much more likely is that when they are building occupied, there is a lot of on site management and my question on site management and my question on the grenfell tower situation would be — was there a 24—hour consee earning at the bottom of that tower block i don't know but i doubt it. was there an on site estate office, managing that estate and hearing the tennants' anxieties, so everybody was up to speed? was there a real communication between the kensington and chelsea councillors who afterall are the owners and

landlords of this estate and the tennants landlords of this estate and the tenna nts who were landlords of this estate and the tennants who were trying to do a job of running it on the ground, in terms of trust and in terms of understanding each other's point of view. i don't get thame pressing from what certain councillors who have been involved have been saying, there is a kind of attack for them, and trying to undermine them at a point of tragedy and as we have seen in the past few weeks of terrible tragedies in london bridge and manchester, we should see some of that spirit coming forth. otherwise how on earth are we going to help that community come through and how are we going to let kensington and chelsea want to do right in that community in a situation where they're divide running a very divided part of london. i'm afraid we are running out of time. thank you both very much for your time this afternoon. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first,

the headlines on bbc news: the number of people known to have died in the grenfell tower fire has risen to at least 30, police say they believe the final total will be higher. the queen and prince william visit a relief centre helping victims of the grenfell tower fire — meeting residents, volunteers and emergency services staff. angry residents have asking how the fire started so quickly. a march for local people is planned for this afternoon. british airways cabin crew are to stage a 16—day strike in july. members of unite in the so—called mixed fleet are taking industrial action as part of a dispute over pay and travel concessions. the union also announced it would "vigorously" pursue legal action against the airline on behalf of 1,400 cabin crew, amazon is to buy whole foods the

upmarket food retailer for £10.7 billion. deal wraps up their bid to wrap up the grocery business worldwide. it's expected whole foods will still operate bricks and mortar under its bravenlted shares injapanese car parts maker takata were temporarily suspended ahead of expected bankruptcy. the company is reported to be preparing to file for bankruptcy after its faulty airbags led to the biggest safety recall in the car industry. the filing could come next week in both japan and the us. consumer watchdog which has mapped fraud hotspots across the uk and has called for more action on tackling the crimes. according to the consumer association norfolk is a dating scams hotspot, surrey succumbs to investment fraud and west and mid—wales suffers cold calling computer cons. which collated the data gathered by the uk cyber—crime centre action fraud which was obtained via

a freedom of information request. for more on this let's talk to peter moorey from which? what did your data tell you, if anything, about why certain frauds are committed more in spaernts of the country? well scammers have becoming ever—more sophisticated and because they now know more and more about us, whether that's through us putting information about ourselves on social media or, through other ways they are actually seen to be much better able to target different scams at different people across the country which is why we need to see greater effort by the government and businesses to tackle fraud and make sure people are much—better safeguarded from scams. when you say much more of a concerted effort. we've heard from commander dave clarke from the city of london police who says actually law enforcement alone isn't the answer to the problem. it has to be the

responsibility of businesses and individuals themselves to make sure they are safe well, we have seen a 10% rise in reported fraud and scams over the last year and so it is a big, big issue that needs to be tackled and i think far too much emphasis is being placed on consumers and what they should do when they are faced with really sophisticated scammers and it is right that it comes down to business to ta ke right that it comes down to business to take more responsibility to ensure that we're safeguarded from this but also the government, we need the new government to come forward with an ambitious agenda to tackle fraud and scams. let's go back to demographics, is that why we are seeing this picture across the uk with more dating scams in for focke, more investment fraud in the south of england or is the data incomplete? can you not really make those assumptions? . this is only the people who are reporting scams so the people who are reporting scams so it is an incomplete picture but it shows all of us are susceptible to being scammed. it doesn'tjust affect vulnerable consumers or older

people. actually we hearfrom affect vulnerable consumers or older people. actually we hear from very well—educated people. people with an awful lot of money who get caught out here and the kinds of amounts of money that people can loose out to these terrible scams can be life—changing t really shows why we need to have a proper agenda, led by the government, to tackle this. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you very much for talking to us. other business stories we're following today now. and mobile phone provider 3 have been fined for failing to ensure customers could contact emergency services t follow a temporary loss of services for customers in kent, and parts of london in october. networks are supposed to allow emergency calls to be connected even when they experience technical problems but ofcom say vulnerabilities in three's network made it impossible. spending by foreign tourists in the uk jumped #20e % by foreign tourists in the uk jumped #20e% in by foreign tourists in the uk jumped #20e % in april compared to the same month a year ago according to the office for national statistics. the

rise is due to the fall in the pound which made visiting britain cheaper and macdonald and the international olympics committee are ending their sponsorship deal three years early. the fast food chain says it was recoring all aspects of his olympic committee business. and the ioc said it understood mcdonald's is looking to focus on different business priorities. let's look at how the financial markets have been fairing. defensive stocks have helped bolster the ftse 100: defensive stocks have helped bolster the ftse100: it is up today but still does remain on course for its widest weekly loss in two months after a week of real political uncertainty and jitters about the consumer engine the uk economy. investors seem to be putting their money into perceived safer stocks like british american tobacco and the household goods giant unilever. there was a sharp downturn as you can see on the board in retailers today, grossers, after that announcement that amazon is going to

buy the us whole foods grocer for more than £10 billion. sainsbury‘s, ocado and tesco all down. and that's despite numbers from tesco today which shows it is is hementing its recovery in the uk after first quaurteder sales growth beat expectations. fresh food in particular helped tesco to boost the figures for like—for—like sales. that's all the business news from me for now. back to you, simon. thank you very much. let's get a weather update. a warm afternoon with good swathes of sunshine away from the northest r west where the cloud is thicker. elsewhere it is try with good spells ofshine for many areas. it is warm, in belfast 22 and 23 in london.

pollen levels high as cross much of the uk. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. the uk. bear that in mind if you sufferfrom hay fever. through the uk. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. through the evening, patchy rain moving its way into the north of scotland. further dribs and drabs on the western side but elsewhere a dry night, clear spells and the breeze coming from the south—west it will be a warm night. 16, 17 degrees the low for many areas. so a difficult night for sleeping. a warm start for a very warm, even hot weekend away from the north—west where it will be breezy. cloudy with outbreaks of rain but most dry, light winds and sunshine and temperatures will respond. 2a in aberdeen is good going. highs of 28 in london. this is bbc news. the headlines at three: police confirm that at least 30 people died in the grenfell tower fire and the bbc understands more than 70 people are dead or missing. but the cause of the fire

is still unknown. the police have taken the lead for the investigation, and if criminal offences have been committed, it is us who will investigate that. the queen and prince william visit a relief centre which has been helping victims of the fire. police here say many bodies remain inside the charred building as the painstaking forensic work goes on.