the headlines at 6: the leader of of kensington and chelsea borough council —— its. efforts have not been felt on the ground. i spent this morning at a church service speaking to many residents, many families of the bereaved, many survivors and their experience is a million miles away from the experience of the leader

the headlines at 6: the leader of of kensington and chelsea borough council —— its.say that the local authority is not present and that we're not working together with other councils is inaccurate. the mayor of london sadiq khan says the council's effo rts sadiq khan says the council's efforts have not been felt on the ground. i spent this morning at a church service speaking to many residents, many families of the bereaved, many survivors and their experience is a million miles away from the experience of the leader of the council. the chancellor, philip hammond, says leaving the european union without a deal would be a "very, very bad outcome" for britain. portugal declares three days of mourning as the emergency services battle to contain a forest fire which has killed more than sixty people. france killed more than sixty people. fra nce votes killed more than sixty people. france votes in the final round of parliamentary elections. turnout is down. president macron‘s new party heading for a big majority. commentator: that has gone up in the air, he takes the catc

the headlines at four o'clock: the leader of kensington and chelsea borough council insists the localf effort on the ground. by by the time i got there just after 3:30am on wednesday it was clear that no one local authority in london would be able to cope with the enormous challenges facing a huge number of displaced residents. iam huge number of displaced residents. i am told the council is never in evidence, that was not my perception this morning. but the mayor of london, sadiq khan, says more needs to be done to help the community. they are showing a community coming together to grieve, but also a community frustrated and angry, not simply at the poor response in the days afterwards from the council and

hospital today to speak to patients but people are complaining not only about their own borough council, kensington and chelseaalso about the government ‘s response. police say that at least 30 people are now confirmed to have died in the fire that engulfed grenfell tower in west london. the bbc understands that the total number of people who are dead or missing so far is around 70. as we have been seeing, there is growing anger at the way the authorities have dealt with the aftermath of the fire — at around 4pm this afternoon around 400 protestors tried to get in kensington town hall. the queen and prince william have been visiting a relief centre which has been helping victims of the fire. our first report tonight — on the latest on the tower block fire, is from our correspondent jeremy cooke. a crowd storms kensington town hall, demanding action. we wantjustice, we wantjustice. demanding justice. and demanding answers. we need to be heard. we have things to say. we are in pain. i understand that the response we get from the council is not satisfactory. how could this tragedy have happened, on this scale, th

the headlines at three o'clock: the leader of kensington and chelsea borough council insists the localow "a coordinated relief effort on the ground". by by the time i got there just after 3:30am on wednesday it was clear that no one local authority in london would be able to cope with the enormous challenges facing a number of displaced residents and people affected by this. but sadiq khan say5 people affected by this. but sadiq khan says more needs to be done to help the community. they are showing a community coming together to grave but also a community angry not only at the poor response in the days afterwards from

the headlines: the leader of of kensington and chelsea borough council rejects criticism of its responsere, but london mayor sadiq khan is not impressed. i spent this morning at a church service speaking to many residents, many families of the bereaved, many survivors, and their experience is a million miles away from the experience of the leader of the council. the chancellor, philip hammond, says leaving the european union without a deal would be a "very, very bad outcome" for britain. portugal declares three days of mourning as the emergency services battle to contain a forest fire which has killed more than 60 people. france has voted in the final round of parliamentary elections. exit polls suggest that the party of president emmanuel macron has won an absolute majority. now on bbc news — sportsday. more now on our top story and those who lost their lives in the grenfell towerfire in who lost their lives in the grenfell tower fire in west london. tributes have been paid to a man who did lots of community work in halifax before moving to london. a civil engineering student who hoped

coronation street superfan — who was killed in the in the last few minutes kensington and chelsea borough councilfollowing criticism of the council's response to the grenfell tower disaster. let's hear again what he had to say. the grenfell tower fire has been the worst tragedy that london has possibly seen since the second world war. nobody will ever forget what they saw that day, and the horror that sued for the people trapped inside. many questions about the cause of the fire, and why it's spread so quickly, will need to be a nswered spread so quickly, will need to be answered by the public enquiry. there are clearly national issues to address around regulation. the scale of this tragedy was always going to mean that one borough alone would never have sufficient resources to respond to all the needs of the survivors and those made homeless on its own. we have been very lucky to have the support of other london boroughs, the emergency services and the consumers —— community associations based in north kensington, and i am very grateful to all of them. this council has also been criticised for f

for more than two hours now people have been protesting on the steps of kensington and chelsea borough councilloud and clear message to the council that people are not happy with the response that they have seen to this disaster and they have seen to this disaster and they want more action —— more action and answers to some of their questions. we can get the feeling is some people who live close by. you we re some people who live close by. you were actually born in grenfell tower? i was, were actually born in grenfell tower? iwas, yes. how were actually born in grenfell tower? i was, yes. how are people feeling today? we are angry. we want to know how many people are actually dead. no one has come out from the council or from the tmo. i could be tmo today and asked them for storage space for the items we have been given. they wouldn't offer it and they wouldn't give me a reason why they wouldn't give me a reason why they couldn't give me the community hall that they went out every single day for profit. right now, the leader of the council is up there in his office and they will not give us an

kensington and chelsea borough council leader nicholas paget brown has said he is stepping down followingisaster. well, i've been getting reaction to this evening's developments from joe delaney from the grenfell residents action group. i suspected that something like this was going to happen but i see it as another cynical move. if they were genuinely concerned they would resign as counsellors and trigger by elections. what would you say to the argument that they should stay to oversee this being sorted out? given the fact there is an ongoing investigation and the inquiry is about to start i think it is a mistake for them to remain in place because that could be a conflict of interest. the man was responsible for housing for several years so i don't think it is feared that he has the advantage of internal documents and resources when he needs to call upon them, when the residents can't even call on services from the cancelled that they require it. the mayor of london has called on theresa may to appoint independent commissioners to run the cancelled. how helpful with that the? —— to run

kensington and chelsea borough council have been coming under increasing pressure to step aside and letw tea m pressure to step aside and let a new team takeover. not only has nicholas paget—brown, the council leader, stepped aside, in the past few minutes we've also had the announcement is deputy has also decided to step down. this follows on from the chief executive who managed grenfell tower saying he wa nts to managed grenfell tower saying he wants to step aside to help with the investigation and ongoing enquiries. there is mixed reaction here. i've been here for the last few weeks, speaking to people who lived in the tower and the surrounding area. they say that some happy with this decision, they say they want a new tea m decision, they say they want a new team to come in and take control of the situation, finally, they say. 0thers the situation, finally, they say. others say this is a pr stunt and they worry nothing is going to change from this. a coroner has concluded that it's not possible to establish whether seven men, who drowned off camber sands in east sussex last summer,

council members haven't been out on the streets talking to people. some of the people now taking that message directly to the borough of kensington and chelsea. s though the council doors are closed and locked. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is outside kensington town hall. let's return to him now. those doors weren't closed and locked. there was a set of doors open and quite a few people were able to get in through the front doors of the offices of kensington and chelsea council. they we re kensington and chelsea council. they were inside for quite a time. maybe 100 people. at one point, the crowd pulled back and were read a statement from the council but most weren't happy with the response they got from kensington and chelsea borough council this afternoon and some have gone back towards the doors to try to get back in again. in the last half—hour, police officers have arrived to try and get them out of the office for ea. some we re them out of the office for ea. some were able to get up to the first floor, we believe. a scene of... the council came back with a very flimsy response. the people weren't satisfied with the answers. the head of

happened, not just from the government but also from the local authority, kensington and chelsea borough counciltheresa may was personally criticised for not meeting residents and victims affected by this incident soon enough. in the past few days, she visited a hospital yesterday, and today she hosted this meeting in downing street. i am told that these actions she has now come out with a direct response to what she has been hearing from people on the ground. which is why we have seen the prime minister announced that £5 million emergency fund, which will start to be distributed from today. that is for basic things like food, travel money. she has renewed the commitment to rehouse people within three weeks, in the local area if they want to, or as close to the area as possible. she has also talked about people on the ground in high viz jackets so that people have a point of contact, and the prime minister taking personal sponsor ability to ensure that the findings from the public enquiry into this incident are acted upon. theresa may is trying to reassure people that the government is doing wha

the headlines at three o'clock: the leader of kensington and chelsea borough council insists the local authority is helping victims of the grenfell fire. councillor nick paget—brown said there was now "a coordinated relief effort on the ground". by by the time i got there just after 3:30am on wednesday it was clear that no one local authority in london would be able to cope with the enormous challenges facing a number of displaced residents and people affected by this. but sadiq khan says more needs to be done to help the community. they are showing a community coming together to grave but also a community angry not only at the poor response in the days afterwards from the council and government, but the years of neglect and the council and successive governments. no queen 's speech to parliament next year to allow mps more time to scrutinise brexit negotiations. at least 62 people are killed in a forest fire in central portugal. three days of mourning have been declared. claims of growing inequality across britain — a new report says the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. goo

has happened, notjust from the government but also from the local authority, kensington and chelsea borough councilly criticised for not meeting residents and victims mastitis rgaifig’ntia ea’nifitiiiictimisl - by this incident soon affected by this incident soon enough. in the past few days, she a hospital yesterday, and visited a hospital yesterday, and today she hosted this meeting in downing street. i am told that these actions she has now come out with ra direct response to what she has been hearing from people on the ground. but it is really basics that have hearing from people on the ground. but i' lacking, basics that have hearing from people on the ground. but i' lacking, which; that have hearing from people on the ground. but i' lacking, which is 1at have hearing from people on the ground. but i' lacking, which is why ave hearing from people on the ground. but i' lacking, which is why we have prime minister announced seen the prime minister announced that £5 million emergency fund, which will start to be distributed from today. that is for basic things like food, travel money. she has the c

many residents have said they've received little or no assistance from kensington and chelsea borough council, although the authority has insisted it's committed to supporting anyone affected. church services are being held today to remember the victims of the blaze, as simon jones reports. after the shock and the grief, today, a moment of reflection, church services to mark the lives lost and the many missing, presumed dead. that anger remains palpable. the difficulty is people are now finding out who has died and that will be enormous grief as well as enormous anger. i will be enormous grief as well as enormous anger. i think you will see a whole different kind of atmosphere because people... the deaths are now real. many churches opened their doors in the hours after the tragedy, offering shelter and collecting donations, but people are asking, why did they need to step m, asking, why did they need to step in, where was the government, the local council? why didn't they do more? one conservative councillor from kensington and chelsea admits things have gone badly wrong. from what i can see

drafted in to manage the response to the grenfell tower fire after criticism of kensington and chelsea borough councilcross the country today, to remember those affected by the blaze. the queen's speech to parliament next year is to be cancelled to allow mps more time to scrutinise brexit legislation. it's being described as an "unusual move". sport now... and for a full round up, over to the bbc sport centre. india have won the toss and chosen to field against pakistan in the final of the champions trophy final. these were the scenes outside the oval ahead of the clash between the arch rivals. the game is a complete sell—out with hundreds of millions also watching on tv all around the world. the match is under way. pakistan are currently 56 without loss. india ran out easy winners when the two sides met in the group stages. will it be a repeat this time round? after day three at golf‘s us open, england's tommy fleetwood remains firmly in contention at the top of the leaderboard. he sits just one shot behind the overall leader brian harman going into the final round in wisconsin. adam wild reports. fo

didn't have the resources needed to deal with this kind of issue, this is kensington and chelsea borough councilnderstand why it wasn't the case. he thought that something had gone badly wrong in britain to have this situation. he has mentioned the idea of requisitioning properties. he said he didn't think it was controversial. there are a lot of empty properties, and a place like kensington certainly has some. he said you could engage in compulsory purchase orders. there are a large number of deliberately kept vacant flats and properties all over london. it's called land banking. people with a lot of money buy a house or a flat and keep it empty. would you just keep it as long as it was needed? 0ccupy it, requisition it, compulsory purchase. there's a lot of things we can do. as a society, can't we think of all of us? it is all very well putting your arms around people in a crisis, but the housing crisis is rising and homelessness is getting worse. in an emergency, you have to bring all assets to the table to deal with the crisis, and that's what i think we should be doing. the chancellor has a

the headlines at 5: the leader of of kensington and chelsea borough council insists the local authorityillor nick paget—brown said there was now "a coordinated relief effort on the ground". by the time i got there just after 3.30am on wednesday morning it was quite clear that no one local authority in london would be able to cope with the enormous challenges which are now facing a large number of displaced residents and people who've been affected by this. i'm told the council is all disorganised, it's never in evidence, that was not my perception this morning. mayor of london sadiq khan questions whether the council has done enough to help the victims of the fire. i spent this morning at a church to help the victims of the fire. service speaking to many residents, many families of the bereaved, many survivors and their experience is a million miles away

drafted in to manage the response to the grenfell tower fire after criticism of kensington and chelsea borough councilo take place across the country today to remember those affected by the blaze. the queen's speech will be cancelled next year to allow more time for brexit negotiations. it has been described as an unusual move. sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. after day three at golf‘s us open, england's tommy fleetwood remains firmly in contention at the top of the leader board. he sits just one shot behind the overall leader brian harman going into the final round in wisconsin. adam wild reports. for tommy fleetwood, there is plenty to smile about. but getting amongst the leaders in wisconsin is one thing, staying there is quite another. this weekend, it is a crowded place. still, he was making his presence felt, progressing steadily in the right direction. for others, that didn't appear to be the case, but here forjustin thomas, even going in the wrong direction can work out perfectly in the end. his round of 9—under par is a tournament record a

tower in to manage the response to the grenfell tower fire after criticism of kensington and chelsea borough councilhe country today to remember those affected by the blaze. —— show church services. the queen's speech will be cancelled next day to allow more time for brexit negotiation. it has been described as an unusual move. a fall in the number of people who own their own home is fuelling inequality in britain, according to a new report. research from the resolution foundation think—tank suggests that 10% of adults own around half of the nation's wealth. our business correspondent, joe lynam, has more. the awful fire at grenfell tower has highlighted for many the issue of inequality in britain. dozens dead in the wealthiest borough in the uk. now an independent think tank has said inequality has worsened since the great recession because fewer people own their own homes. the resolution foundation says property ownership is now spread less evenly than salaries and incomes are. it says the richest 10% of the population own £5 trillion, or half the uk's wealth, while the top i% own ia% of britain's

the chief executive of kensington and chelsea borough council says he has been forced to resign over stance himself from the dismissal. theresa may will head to brussels today to raise the issue of future rights of eu citizens living in britain, a day after the queen's speech which was dominated by brexit. it will be the prime minister's first encounter with the other 27—leaders since she lost her parliamentary majority and formal negotiations to leave the european union began. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has said mrs may will make a generous offer, and he hoped the rest of the eu would respond ina similarspirit. the government is to use money from its aid budget in an attempt to reduce the flow of migrants from africa across the mediterranean into europe. people who have started on the journey will be encouraged to return home; there will also be help for those in need. the un says seventy thousand have made thatjourney so far this year — and nineteen hundred have died. two men have died after a crane collapsed at a building site in crewe. another man, who is believed to be th

we can speak now to conservative councillor, eve allison who sits on kensington and chelsea borough councilou have been hearing from residents? we have been hearing from residents? we have covered a lot about the horrific fire but, also, the emotion after it as people are frustrated about the information they are or are not getting. l0. can you hear me? good morning. good morning to you all. i would just like to say that the mood is sombre and we, the community will continue to do what we can. the danger is when hopes start to fade and from hope then what you find is despair. that is why i am willing to put my head above the parapet and come out and step up to the plate. i am going to go one step further to say it is on our watch. it is our responsibility. we do have a duty of care to our residents and whatever findings and failings come out, they have to come out soon because all the community, the victims of the families, people need answers and the longer things procrastinate like this i think, as isaid in procrastinate like this i think, as i said in my first sentence, hope will quickly

government fund it has made available, £5 million, that is being administered by kensington and chelsea borough councilsibility anyway for the fire in the tower. i'm not sure going to kensington and chelsea to ask for money will be popular among the residents. again, i have no details yet but exactly how people can apply to that. apart from the things i have mentioned it will also cover funeral costs. there is more on my twitter feed will also cover funeral costs. there is more on my twitterfeed @ paul lewis money, which i will keep updated. much more from paul on money box at midday on bbc radio four, lots of practical advice for the people affected. the time is 9:45am and helen will have the weather for us shortly. many have been rewarded for the less high profile work in the queen's honours list. trevor and sheena fairhurst will receive mbes for their services to people who have suffered domestic abuse. good morning. it is almost bittersweet, almost as if you should not have to be receiving this mbe. i know this will be hard. would you tell us why you are receiving this award. will be hard. would yo

let's go to laura, who is at the town hall of kensington and chelsea borough council for the latest theree questions this afternoon about why moore hasn't been organised, wider isn't more support for those families and victims of the grenfell tower tower of fire. here, at kensington and chelsea town hall, it isa kensington and chelsea town hall, it is a stark contrast to those scenes that we saw yesterday, when there we re that we saw yesterday, when there were angry crowds and protests here where i stand. you can see the doors behind me have been boarded up as a result of that, but today it is eerily quiet. there is not a soul here apart from a bit more security than normal and a dog handler that i have seen as well, but behind closed doors and windows, i can see piles of donations from local people. boxes of clothes, stacks of bottles, of water, and baby food. there are also signs for volunteers to go in a certain direction to help with the sorting out of those two nations, so i followed the signs. they took me down to the depths of the building and... ifi down to the depths of the buil

chelsea council. they should hang their heads in shame, every single one of them. the leader of the boroughumped into him in the last few dayslj went to the westway to get my logbook, and i bumped into him. i approached him and said, evil man. for all of his interviews, he did not act like he cared. he has done nothing for us. i said, you have to come out more, should the people you care. and he is not here today. i told him, you need to come out more, and he is not here. i told him he did not care, and he has shown that he does not care. we will not have a representative of the government with us in the next hour of the programme, iam also with us in the next hour of the programme, i am also hearing. in 2014, when the original renovation plan was approved, he issued a statement to the highest band of council tax payers in this borough, due to a careful management of finances, he issued a £100 rebate to those residents. the same year he scrimped over the additional £5,000 it would have taken to make the cladding at grenfell safe. so where is he? that is the reason he is not coming down. we

with me now is councillor robert atkinson — for the notting dale ward in the kensington and chelsea borough council? i have seen my residents traumatised and deeply upset but as you say, they are increasingly angry, wanting answers to questions, questions which have been raised in the past and not responded to. the priorities need to be to feed and hires people. the local authority has a duty to house people and that isa has a duty to house people and that is a big task, 125 families. but we have money in kensington and chelsea and need to do something with that but that does not mean we can get away with not answering questions. this week we find out, we take care of the injured and the dead and we harass people. next week we answered the questions as to how this could possibly happen. to address the housing question, if it's your understanding that the people who have been made homeless have been given accommodation?” have been made homeless have been given accommodation? i was told anyone from the blog who wanted accommodation last night were put up ata accommodation last night were put up at a

which comes under the kensington and chelsea borough council. hy do you think that is, anne? i don't know! maybe because it is the layers of the rich people. and here? yes, eu is -- the rich people. and here? yes, eu is —— here is is middle—class, my god, why are we getting into politics? i am interested, you have lived here for a long time, you saw what happened. it was very sad. very, very sad. i don't know what theresa may is going to do, unless she has got another block of flats to no make these people homeless, because we have enough in united kingdom. thank you very much, anne. anne, a local resident. paris, how do you react back at the prime minister will be visiting today? it isa it is a distressing time for all of us, at times like this we need to unite and let those affected know that we stand together and they have oui’ that we stand together and they have our support. for the prime minister is sitting, i'm sure that will be of some solace to those communities affected. it is a difficult time and affected. it is a difficult time and a

the leader of kensington and chelsea council, the borough where the grenfell tower fire happened, hasholas paget—brown said he had to accept responsibility for his role in response to the fire and in particularfor the decision to ban the public and press from a council meeting last night. the bbc has also obtained documents that show that cheaper, less fire—resistant cladding was chosen for the tower block. 80 people are believed to have died in the fire and there is no suggestion a deliberate decision was made to cut fire safety. kensington & chelsea council says safety would not have been compromised in order to manage budgets. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has more. were you pressured by number 10 to resign? the pressure simply got too great. the leader of the council criticised for failing to cope with the crisis in his backyard, could not hold on. chanting: we wantjustice, we want justice! last week his council offices were invaded. last night he couldn't even hold a council meeting. it was the last straw. in particular my decision to accept legal advice that i shoul

chelsea council. he is doing nothing as far asi council. he is doing nothing as far as i can see. the overwhelming feeling in the whole area, both in the better off parts of the boroughin place, so hopefully not too much disruption for people. good morning. a two week strike by british airways cabin crew is due to start tomorrow. it's part of a long—running dispute over pay and travel concessions. yesterday the boss willie walsh said qatar airways planes and crew will be used to fly all ba's passengers to their destinations over the next fortnight. an increasing number of people are being caught out by called phantom goods, where people are bought online but never delivered. consumers are involved in deals concerning everything from flights and gadgets. we will have more about that later. and it seems times are changing. the speaker of the house of commons is allowing them not to wear a tie of commons is allowing them not to weara tie in of commons is allowing them not to wear a tie in the house of commons, saying businesslike attire is all that's required. men would normally have to wear jackets and that's required. men would normally have to wearjackets and ties in

takes you to ladbroke growth which is notting hill, the borough is kensington and chelsea, one of the richest in the country. i spoke to the council leader earlier who said it's very early stages. he had no steer on how this buyer managed to spread so rapidly. now steer on the cause. he said what they needed to establish is the many people were in the flats. we know there were at least 120 apartments, we do not know how many were in each of the flats. he says it is devastating, he thanked the emergency services and confirmed

seeming lack of security, certainly lack of council representation, which added to the anger of those gathered outside the royal borough of kensington and chelseamment on the action. a refusal to comment that we are seeing a lot of kensington and chelsea at the moment. these are the pictures live above the royal borough of kensington and chelsea headquarters. the demonstration continues. we will have continuing coverage here on bbc news. today at five — i'm reeta chakrabarti in west london — where police have confirmed 30 people are now known to have died in the grenfell tower inferno. the bbc understands more than 70 people may be dead or missing in total. the cause of the fire is still unknown. the police have taken the lead in the investigation and if criminal offences have been committed it's us who will investigate that. frustration and anger at a rally outside kensington town hall — as crowds gather to add their voice to growing calls for answers and justice. it looks like people are actually trying to get in to the council... to make their point directly. the queen and prince william visit a relief centre where some of the hundreds left

ambulance service and the metropolitan police, as well as the leader of the local borough council, kensington and chelseahe death toll has badly risen from six to 12. that is known fatalities but commander stuart cundy from the metropolitan police stressing there that he appears very much that that death toll will rise. there are quite a number of people still unaccounted for. 12 dead is the latest death toll but another warning that that death toll is expected to rise. they were also saying that there are still pockets of flame. we have seen them ourselves in parts of the building. the fire brigade are saying there that those pockets of flame are still being tackled by firefighters and we have seen firefighters coming up and we have seen firefighters coming up and down this road all day, some of them looking exhausted by the work they've been doing as they struggle to bring all the blame is still a light in the building under control. the fire brigade also saying that 65 people they managed to rescue. that is new information that we didn't know before. clearly we knew that had been a lot of rescues. a l

council responsible for grenfell tower is to step down. were you pressured by number ten to resign? nicholas paget—brown, from kensington and chelsea, said the scale of the tragedy inevitably meant the borougho accept my share of responsibility for these perceived failings. documents obtained by the bbc suggest cladding fitted to grenfell tower during its refurbishment was changed to a cheaper version. meanwhile, the labour leader jeremy corbyn puts pressure on the prime minister to speed up the public inquiry into the tragedy and to clarify its remit. also tonight. a coroner says the presence of lifeguards on camber sands might not have prevented the deaths of seven men last summer. several people, including doctors, are reportedly shot this evening

we know these council flats are managed by the kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation. they act on behalf of the royal borough note the borough funded refurbishments to the cost of £10 million. he is a council are talking about that. it has been recently refurbished and clad. they replaced the kitchens and the heating system. i would have thought it would have been the safest tower block in the borough. we have had fires in tower blocks before, but nothing like this. you heard about the council are talking about new cladding and there is a lot of attention on this cladding and it may have contributed to the speed at which the fire spread. this building did not burn as experts would have expected it to. one expert speaking to the bbc saying they didn't perform in the way you expect the building to perform. the expected to be contained to an individual department, but something has gone dramatically wrong. we have heard from the company who carried out these building works. we know several months ago, residents raised the latest in a long line of safety concerns they had about living in this building. this is a

council responsible for grenfell tower is to step down. were you pressured by number ten to resign? nicholas paget—brown, from kensington and chelsea, said the scale of the tragedy inevitably meant the boroughouldn't cope alone. as council leader i have to accept my share of responsibility for these perceived failings. documents obtained by the bbc suggest cladding fitted to grenfell tower during its refurbishment was changed to a cheaper version. meanwhile, the labour leader jeremy corbyn puts pressure on the prime minister to speed up the public inquiry into the tragedy and to clarify its remit. also tonight. a coroner says the presence of lifeguards on camber sands might not have prevented the deaths of seven men last summer. several people, including doctors, are reportedly shot this evening inside a hospital in new york. and the tour de france starts tomorrow, with britain's chris froome seeking a fourth win in five years. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news, the british and irish lions have been told they need to man up if they are to beat the all blacks in the second test and keep the series alive in new zealand. good evening. the leader of kensington and chelsea council, nicholas

with the tragedy at grenfell tower and people have talked about such an affluent borough a5 kensington and chelsea councild the clearly dangerous situation they found them5elve5. does that play into what you're talking about here? obviously first and foremost it's a tragedy what happened. i think there is ma55ive inequality in london in general but specifically in kensington, it is hard to look past that. but what we're talking about are two different trends, were talking about whether people own their own homes and whether they have wealth. whatever home you live ina have wealth. whatever home you live in a basic should be that there is health and safety annual meeting minimum standards. i'm not an expert on health and safety so i can't really comment. even if we do see rising inequality and fewer people owning their own homes, health and safety is a basic everyone should be able to rely on. thank you very much indeed for your time, conor d'arcy from the resolution foundation. it is quarter past six and the sunshine is out. i didn't wear sunscreen, but not enough yesterday. today will be another scorchin

this council flats were managed by the kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation on behalf of the royal boroughns and the heating system soi the kitchens and the heating system so i would have thought it would have been the safest tower block in the borough. we have had fires in tower blocks before but nothing like this. the counsellor talked about new cladding and there are questions being asked about whether the new cladding contributed to the speed at which the fire spread. clearly, something went catastrophically wrong here, the bbc spoke to one fire and building expert who said this block didn't perform in the way you would expect a building to perform, you would expect the fire to be contained to an individual apartment but he goes on to say something has gone dramatically wrong here. we know the company that carried out the refurbishment work has put out a statement saying its work met all fire regulation and health and safety sta nda rds. fire regulation and health and safety standards. we also know residents had raised safety concerns backin residents had raised safety concerns back in

the kensington and chelsea management manages the tower and it submitted a planning application which will be scrutinised closely. and the borough councilible for signing off the completed work. the council will be at the centre of various enquiries. all the companies involved face intense scrutiny of their work and of the specifications and which it was carried out. and of the specifications under which it was carried out. this is a family firm and the staff here are devastated over what happened, and they say they will work closely with the various investigations. the london fire brigade today used a drone to examine the wreckage and is leading those enquiries. its teams will have to work out the cause of the fire. one theory among residents is that a faulty fridge was the spark. if there is evidence of arson or negligence, the police will step in and there is a possibility companies could be prosecuted for manslaughter. but the government's announcement of a public enquiry places the grenfell tower disaster alongside an event like hillsborough. then 96 died. today the police said they hoped the number of lost lives would not reach th

we spoke to the royal borough of kensington and chelsea council last night, and they said they have givenve been visiting all of those affected households giving them cash to make sure they can get on with the very basics of life. telling them what they can expect over the coming days and weeks, and potentially months. offering them all the advice that has been made available, whether it is grief counselling, we have got social workers there. we can to the residents of grenfell tower who have made contact with the council so far. we‘re trying to understand what their plan is. we effectively break it down into three phrases. —— faces. there is the immediate now. so far! faces. there is the immediate now. so far i think we have managed to find hotel rooms close enough within the borough. boroughs, by and large. we have booked all of those rooms at least until tuesday. of course, we have gone to hotels who have other bookings, you know, so we will have to be juggling these hotel rooms. the next stage we need to do is to find as soon as possible suitable temporary accommodation, proper, you k

chelsea borough was asked about the recent renovations to the tower. we're going to have to have a public enquiry to look into this. this councilhe investigating authorities not to speculate, talk about the specifics about fire safety issues because it is part of a live, extremely thorough investigation. that is going to have to be reviewed by that investigation. my understanding, various and housing associations working on renovating 60 70 tower blocks have used retrofitted sprinkler systems. this has got to be looked at in greater detail. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... theresa may says there will be a full public inquiry into the fire at the grenfell tower block in london. 17 people are confirmed dead, but officials warn that the final toll could be much higher and take weeks to determine. another major story from washington post. this time with claims president trump is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice. the president has not taken long, responding to those crimes?” the president has not taken long, responding to those crimes? i have just been sitting here, watchi

the kensington and chelsea management a55ociation manages the tower and it submitted a planning application which will be scrutinised closely. and the borough council application and was responsible for signing of the completed work. the council will be at the centre of various enquirie5. all the companies involved face intense scrutiny of their work and of the specifications and which it was carried out. this is a family firm and the staff here are devastated over what happened, and they say they will work closely with they say they will work closely with the various investigations. the london fire brigade today used a drone to examine the wreckage and is leading those enquiries. its teams will have to work out the cause of the fire. 0ne will have to work out the cause of the fire. one theory among residents is that a faulty fridge was the spark. if there is evidence of arson or negligence, the police will step in and there is a possibility companies could be prosecuted for manslaughter. but the government's announcement of a public enquiry places the grenfell tower disaster alongside an event like hillsborough. then 96 died. today the police said

chelsea is wealthy, with stunning homes and handsome facades. some argue empty terraces should be requisitioned for the homeless of g re nfell towers, because of years of neglect in building council housing. this boroughtemporary 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 councillorfor 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 do

organisation of the royal borough of kensington and chelsea, including fire safety concerns that were not investigated during the regeneration works. the tower is owned by the councild concerns about this advice to residents, to stay put inside a flat if there was a fire outside. there were also reports of faulty safety equipment, power surges and inadequate fire alarms. and it wasn't just at glenfell. this is the adair tower. it has the same management. following what happened here, the management was issued with an enforcement order by the fire brigade. it set out a string of failings, failings to ensure preventative measures to properly assess the risk. failure to offer a well marked escape route. and have emergency plan. people were angry then, now they are furious. jose has lived here 30 years. some of his friends lived at the grenfell tower. it has just happened too often. three towers, three fires? within a year. what changes were made? they put signs up. they changed the doors, the fire doors, which they we re doors, the fire doors, which they were not and basically that is it. do you think that is enough? no. he has a smoke alarm in his flat but he's still

takes you to ladbroke growth which is notting hill, the borough is kensington and chelsea, one of the richest in the country. i spoke to the council it's very early stages. he had no steer on how this buyer managed to spread so rapidly. now steer on the cause. he said what they needed to establish is the many people were in the flats. we know there were at least 120 apartments, we do not know how many were in each of the flats. he says it is devastating, he thanked the emergency services and confirmed g re nfell tower the emergency services and confirmed grenfell tower had been recently refurbished. he went on to tell me that my understanding is it would have had to pass a number of stringent fire safety regulations after the refurbishment. we will try to talk to him alive later on, the leader of kensington and chelsea council. let me introduce you to more local residents, moira, and linda, thank you so much for talking to us. this is absolutely devastating for this community. it's absolutely shocking. because they have, i'm afraid, been some cause for concern on the safety of g re nfell tower. for concern on the safety of grenfel

borough, the most wonderful place, can start to move forward from this tragedy. thank you very much. i shan't be answering questions, thank you. so that was the leader of kensington and chelsea councilholas paget—brown. he says he is going to stand down. he said he will go as soon as a successor is in place. we we re soon as a successor is in place. we were just talking soon as a successor is in place. we werejust talking in soon as a successor is in place. we were just talking in the last few minutes to the leader of the labour group on the council, still visibly angry. he had been calling for nicholas paget—brown to go because, he said, just in the last few minutes to me, specifically because of the way the council had handled the aftermath of the tragedy. and the aftermath of the tragedy. and the fact that so many people are now of course living in temporary accommodation, lots of them not in the borough itself, and even those living in that area are still very badly affected, on top of those who used to live in grenfell tower itself. nicholas paget—brown saying that one borough alone would never have had sufficient resources to deal with this tragedy because such was its scale,

the headlines at four o'clock: the leader of kensington and chelsea borough council insists the local authority is helping victims of the grenfell fire. councillor nick paget—brown said there was now a coordinated relief effort on the ground. by by the time i got there just after 3:30am on wednesday it was clear that no one local authority in london would be able to cope with the enormous challenges facing a huge number of displaced residents. iam huge number of displaced residents. i am told the council is never in evidence, that was not my perception this morning. but the mayor of london, sadiq khan, says more needs to be done to help the community. they are showing a community coming together to grieve, but also a community frustrated and angry, not simply at the poor response in the days afterwards from the council and the government, but they years of neglect from the council and successive governments. no queen's speech to parliament next year — to allow mps more time to scrutinise brexit legislation. at least 62 people are killed in a forest fire in central portugal. three days

conduct of kensington and chelsea council and confirmed that the chief executive nicholas holgate has now quit. mr speaker, what became clear very quickly is that the royal boroughngton and chelsea could not cope and it is right that the chief executive officer has now resigned. jeremy corbyn called for emergency funding to be made available. he said this money was needed to retrofit sprinklers in tower blocks and also to enable the testing and removal of cladding to take place immediately, so cladding to take place immediately, so that local authorities do not have to worry about whether they have to worry about whether they have the necessary money to carry out this work and then, if necessary , out this work and then, if necessary, to re—clapboa rd buildings. he also, again, expressed outrage at what happened at grenfell tower. at least 79 people are dead. it is both a tragedy and an outrage, because every single one of those deaths could and should have been avoided. the grenfell tower residents themselves had raised concerns about the lack of fire safety in the block. the grenfell tower action group had warned, "it isa tower action group had warned, "it is