this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 11pm: the grenfell fire inquiry has heard that a catalogue of problems led to the tower being engulfed in flames. the blaze started in flat 16 on the fourth floor near a fridge. the 999 call made by the man who lived there was played at the hearing. there's been more misery for rail passengers in the north and south—east of england, as an inquiry is ordered into the chaos caused by new timetables. and on newsnight, for decades after the sensational trial, thanks to a bbc drama, everyone is talking about jeremy thorpe and hugh grant. tonight we'll ask the real lord steel, former liberal leader, whether he thinks thorpe was guilty

of conspiracy to murder. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the catalogue of problems which led to grenfell tower being engulfed in flames has been revealed at the official start of the public inquiry into the disaster. the hearing was presented with a series of expert reports. one of them said that the fire brigade‘s policy of telling people to stay in their homes had effectively failed. another said the tower‘s cladding system didn't meet building regulations and was incorrectly installed. 72 people died as a result of the blaze in west london, that's now nearly a year ago. lucy manning's report contains images from the night which were shown at the inquiry today. you may find some of them distressing. asleep in the safety of their homes, but this building was a death trap, a majorfire hazard.

devastating details revealed to the inquiry, how grenfell tower was covered in material that would burn easily, that was not properly tested and how, once covered in flames, the fire brigade‘s strategy telling residents to stay in theirflats failed. the burnt—out kitchen of flat 16 on the fourth floor where the fire started and then spread. the 999 call from the resident who escaped from here heard for the first time. videos played to the inquiry showed just how quickly the fire spread up and across. at first it's just on the fourth

floor. 20 minutes after the 999 call, it was at the side of the building. that's my yard! half an hour after it started, it reached the top of the tower. when the inquiry experts said the fire brigade‘s "stay put" advice failed. the fundamental question which lies at the heart of our work is how, in london, in 2017, a domestic fire developed so quickly and so catastrophically that an entire high—rise block was engulfed. the inquiry‘s experts found the main cause of the fire spreading was the cladding, which was flammable and had not been properly tested. new windows had been installed, also made of material that burnt easily, and new fire doors were put in that were not fire compliant. the bereaved have told the inquiry many more would have survived if the fire brigade had not

told families to stay in their flats for so long. the inquiry‘s report said this stay—put advice effectively failed at 1:26am in the morning, but it continued even though a major incident was declared at 2:06am. the advice to stay put was eventually dropped at 2:47am, nearly two hours into the fire. it's clear to see that at 1:14am that the building is done, it's clearly spreading fast, the fire is uncontrollable people need to get out. we have to ask the tough question, why was it that the stay put policy was not changed? 71 people did not make it out and the inquiry says it would need to examine whether the failure to change that advice made all the difference between life and death. lucy melo inc, bbc news. —— lucy manning. london fire brigade‘s commissioner, dany cotton, told the inquiry she'd never witnessed anything

like the grenfell tower fire, that it was alien to anything she'd ever seen. the block itself had only been refurbished a year before. tom symonds looks at the factors which led to the fire spreading so quickly. the original grenfell tower, built in the 1970s from reinforced concrete, which doesn't burn. after all, buildings like this were designed to stop fires spreading. take one flat, this is black 16, whether grenfell fire started. it was like a concrete box which should have contained any small fire, but then the building was refurbished. the windows were changed, with new, deeper plastic frames and insulation around them, both flammable. the inquiry‘s main theory is that this provided an escape route for flames to the outside, where cladding had been added, containing more plastic. this too burnt rapidly, turning a kitchen fire into an inferno.

there was a catastrophic failure of the rainscreen cladding in terms of its ability to resist the fire spread across the walls of the building. all of the relevant experts are clear that the consequence was a fire that affected multiple stories and multiple compartments. it shot up the tower‘s pillars, entirely covered with cladding, and along the crown of the building, also cladding. the stay—put policy is used when buildings are designed to contain a fire. it's rare for other residents to be at risk and evacuation could hamper the firefighting, but this building had been changed and one inquiry expert, dr barbara lane, said: the inquiry revealed a long, deadly list grenfell‘s defects today.

new flat fire doors hadn't been installed properly, the ones to the stairs were nearly 50 years old. the ventilation system couldn't be used to clear smoke, the water supply was too weak to supply hoses higher up in the building. all this in one day of evidence. in coming weeks, the fire service will explain its response, experts theirfindings. the residents will tell their stories up that night. a search for answers, it will take months. tom symonds, bbc news. a teenagerfrom london has become the youngest woman in the uk to be convicted of planning an islamic state group terror attack. safaa boular, who was 17 when she was arrested, was part of britain's first all—woman cell, along with her sister and mother. they were planning two separate attacks. the verdict comes as the home secretary, sajid javid, told the security services that they must change their approach to tackling terrorism in the wake of last year's attacks in manchester and london.

he was outlining the government's new counter—terrorism strategy, which put greater emphasis on information—sharing and disrupting plots sooner. the way terrorist attacks are now planned and conducted has changed. people are increasingly radicalised via their computers and smart phones. they're using everyday objects, such as knives and cars, as weapons. and the length of time between radicalisation and the attack is getting shorter. the threats are evolving, we must evolve too. the transport secretary, chris grayling, has ordered an independent inquiry into the chaotic introduction of new rail timetables, which has disrupted parts of the network. he blamed network rail and the rail companies involved but labour said chris grayling should resign. govia thameslink and northern have implemented temporary schedules

today, removing hundreds of trains from the timetable, as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. cancelled. quite diabolical. stuck on platforms for hours. just disaster. waiting for trains that never come. i was supposed to start work at half seven but i don't think i'm going to get there until eight now. travellers wondering what's going on and who to blame. a new timetable sent services around the country haywire. northern, great northern, southern and thameslink. tonight, network rail owned up. i'm saying it's our fault. i'm recognising network rail‘s position in that, which is that we are to blame and actually we have to fix it for everybody. order. statement, the secretary of state for transport. but that is not how more and more mps see it. the transport secretary promised an enquiry and some form of compensation today. mr speaker, i would like to be able to tell the house that there is an easy solution or that the department could simply

step in and make the problems passengers are facing go away. if there was a way to do so, i would do that without hesitation or a moment. but ultimately this solution can only be delivered by the rail industry. these problems can only be fixed by network rail and the train operators methodically working through the timetable. there is one person who is ultimately responsible. that is the right honourable gentleman, the memberfor epsom and ewell, the secretary of state for transport. then he was roasted by the backbenchers on both sides. aren't my constituents entitled to think that this is just an utterly pointless transport secretary, because nothing ever changes under his watch? i have constituents who today are standing in sweltering heat for five hours, some of them fasting for ramadan, if they can get a train at all. it's a disgrace and what is she going to do to make it right today? 20 years ago i was using this line. it was rubbish then and it's rubbish now. people's private lives are being destroyed and this whole

thing is an absolute disaster and must be put right. some of those angry mps were able to see the transport secretary individually tonight after, you guessed it, some delays and cancellations to those meetings. this is notjust political frustration now but real life stress and strain. the thameslink journey that vikki orvice takes to and from work and for chemotherapy has been a shambles. one of my limitations is that i can't physically stand for very long. so i was then worrying about getting a seat on the train because one train an hourcoming in is then absolutely rammed. i would have had to physically stand for an hour and a half on that train last wednesday. number ten says the situation is an acceptable. —— unacceptable. ministers are vowing to sort out the mess. but what meaning has a political promise which has no guarantee of getting from a to b? and the bbc has learnt

that the transport secretary chris grayling could be open to the idea of the northern rail franchise breaking up, as laura kuennsberg explains. even late tonight, he's still been meeting mps, he and his colleagues have met more than 50 of them since those angry exchanges in the commons today and potentially there are some quite big ideas on the table to try to untangle this mess and prevent this kind of thing happening in the future. i'm told that one of those meetings he was apparently potentially open to the idea of breaking up nortena, that huge franchise in the north—west, which has had such trouble and chaos for passengers in recent days. however chris grayling looks determined today to fix this, there's frankly disbelief in westminster, just as there is ball passengers around the country, at just how there is ball passengers around the country, atjust how bad this has been and just how it was really about to happen when there was so

much preparation in advance, how did the department of transport allow this change to carry on and allow other companies to go ahead if this kind of mess was just around the corner? he's got plenty to do and plenty in his injury. early tomorrow, inc at 8:30 a.m., he will have to move on to another subject when a cabinet committee is poised to rubberstamp government plans for the controversial extra runway at heathrow airport. viewers will know this has been politically hot for yea rs this has been politically hot for years and years and years and years, but i'm told tomorrow ministers are finally expected to give the equivalent of outline planning permission for the project. they then got three weeks to get it through the house of commons, another bumpy journey for a government fighting on plenty of france. —— fronts. the death toll in guatemala has risen to 62 after volcanic eruption in the country buried villages. soldiers are helping firefighters search for missing people after the volcano began spewing torrents of superheated rock, ash and mud destroying villages.

thousands are being housed in temporary shelters. the eruption, which threw ash up to 10 kilometres in to the air is now over. now it's time for newsnight with evan davies. just tell me how many floors you've got there. it is fourth floor. quick, quick, quick. they're on the the way... a night of tragedy about to unfold, this was the call that first alerted the authorities. there was a major release of expert analysis of the events of grenfell tower today. it seems a case almost of everything that could be done wrong was done wrong. a safe journey and i wish you a happy life and then i wish norman scott to be killed. and we talk about identity

politics indian—style. it shocking. the violence in india is shocking, you must have followed the rape of the little girl in kashmir. that happened. but thousands of people marched in support of the rapist, including women. and this dinosaur sold in paris for nearly $2 million. but should we be encouraging the trade in old bones or giving them to scientists?