he lost his mother and aunt in the grenfell tower fire. they - in the grenfell tower fire. they died embracing one another. in the tower and they died embracing one another-— one another. they were trapped on the 23rd floor _ one another. they were trapped on the 23rd floor with _ one another. they were trapped on the 23rd floor with the _ the 23rd floor with the understanding that they would be saved i the fire brigade. i'm afraid they never arrived. gi’s saved i the fire brigade. i'm afraid they never arrived.— they never arrived. 41% of the disabled residents _ they never arrived. 4196 of the disabled residents died - they never arrived. 4196 of the disabled residents died in - they never arrived. 4196 of the disabled residents died in the | disabled residents died in the blaze. the advice at the time was to stay put. the first phase of the grenfell tower inquiry recognised that disabled people should have a personal emergency evacuation plan. they are common in workplaces but rare in residential properties. that is because it has been argued there's not enough staff to m

the building safety fund was one of the schemes set up in the wake of the grenfell tower tragedy. wood and other flammable laminated materials. but as sarah corker has been finding out, even in the few buildings where work has started, the problems are far from over. imagine having to live inside this — your home wrapped in plastic sheeting for months on end, windows that barely open, no way to see out. here you are, sarah, middle of the day, no natural light. jim lives on the first floor at islington gates, here in birmingham city centre. and this is the limited air we can get into the flat. this is the view for the next year that you've got? yeah, 12 months of being depressed. there is relief that the combustible cladding is being removed, but government funding won't cover the full cost of almost £9 million. it means leaseholders need to find more than £1 million between them. that's at least £20,000 each. what's it like living in this box? you haven't got a clue what's happening outside. it affects you mentally, it makes you depressed. it makes you very stressed. the stress is

was announced for the removal of unsafe cladding for the highest risk buildings following the grenfell tower that money will be raised through an extra levy on large construction companies. 0n housing, more than £11 billion was announced to build up to 180,000 affordable homes, with brownfield sites targeted for development. and on foreign aid, the chancellor said he expected uk contributions to return to 0.7% of national income by 2025. one of the major announcements today was on universal credit. the government has been under pressure since it ended the £20 temporary increase earlier this month. today the chancellor announced a cut to what's called the taper rate. that's the rate at which universal credit is reduced, once a claimant starts to earn above a certain threshold. currently, if you earn an extra £1 over the limit you lose 63p in benefit. that will now be cut to 55p in every £1, allowing people to keep more of their money as they start to earn more. but campaigners say the amount doesn't address wider issues of cost of living and those who can't work. our home editor mark easton h

was announced for the removal of unsafe cladding for the highest—risk buildings following the grenfell towerup to 180,000 affordable homes, with brownfield sites targeted for development. and on foreign aid, the chancellor said he expected uk contributions to return to 0.7% of the national income by 2024—25. let's talk now to our economics editor, faisal islam. the chancellor sounded very optimistic in the commons today but there are more pessimistic views about the economic outloook, not least from the the office for budget responsibility. so many measures but so much hinges on quite tricky assumptions about where the economy will go after the extraordinary 18 months we've had. at first, they must feel vindication for the rescue efforts that it has helped create the space for extra borrowing and therefore more spending. the economy has rebounded faster than expectations, and that they see as vindication. going forward, the growth rate are pretty low, pretty sluggish, 1.3%, 1.6%. that would be disappointed, certainly no sign of a new era of high skill, high wage productivity economics in tha

the building safety fund was one of the schemes set up in the wake of the grenfell tower tragedy, coveringirst floor at islington gates, here in birmingham city centre. and this is the limited air we can get into the flat. this is the view for the next year that you�*ve got? yeah, 12 months of being depressed. there is relief that the combustible cladding is being removed, but government funding won�*t cover the full cost of almost £9 million. it means leaseholders need to find more than 1 million between them. that�*s at least £20,000 each. what�*s it like living in this box? you haven�*t got a clue what�*s happening outside. it affects you mentally, it makes you depressed. it makes you very stressed. the stress is worse knowing you�*ve got to pay for it, and you�*ve got to pay for the privilege of living in a dark, dull box. in my case, you know, £20,000. and i grind my teeth. you feel like you're suffocating. just next door, liz and rodriguez are renting this one—bed flat. they not only have to cope with the building work, but there�*s a serious damp and mould problem, too. it's horribl

kensington and chelsea council has apologised for not acting fast enough to install fire doors at grenfell towerellor, rishi sunak, will deliver his budget later. so far we already know there'll be a rise in the national living wage, but the government's under pressure to do more to help people struggling with the rising cost of living so what would londoners like to see? i would like to see a reduction in national insurance across the board for everybody. i think we know the pandemic has cost an awful lot of money and the government has had to find money, borrow an awful lot, but you can't get it back from all the workers that support the economy of this country. staying with the budget, some of london's museums and galleries are among those to benefit. the v&a will get a share of £850 million over 3 years to help redevelop and refurbish its buildings. we'd love to hear from you — what do you want to hear from the budget? you can get in touch... hellobbclondon@bbc. co. uk a soldier who suffered brain damage aftera bombing in iraq has been nominated for an award after completing a 60—mile virtua

the family of a disabled woman who died attracting grenfell tower says it's vital that people in towernching today calling for a new hospital for north east london to replace whipps cross. police believe they are at risk of harm. 15—year—old andrea was last seen on friday the 1st of october at her home in canterbury. her cousin, 16—year—old isabella was last seen on sunday in harrow and officers believe they might have been taken outside of london. gatwick airport is proposing to cap aircraft noise if its plans to get a second runway into regular use are successful. under its proposals the northern runway currently used for taxi ing and emergencies would be used routinely. the airport says new quieter planes in the future will replace older noisier ones. opponents though say the expansion will be environmentally damaging. a cross party, cross borough petition is launching today calling for a new hospital for north east london to replace whipps cross. police believe they are at risk of the �*whipps won't wait�* campaign wants the government to commit funds pledged by borisjohnonson in 2

was announced for the removal of unsafe cladding for the highest risk buildings following the grenfell tower on foreign aid the chancellor said he expected uk contributions to return to nought point seven percent of the national income by 2024 to 25. let's take a look at some other stories making the news. a serving metropolitan police officer has been charged with rape. pc adam zaman, who's 28, is alleged to have carried out the attack in the city of london on sunday evening when he was off duty. he's been remanded in custody to appear at westminster the government has released its daily coronavirus figures. they show: a further 43,941 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus, and 207 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus. from today, the government will publish daily figures on the number of booster or third vaccine doses given out in the uk — which is currently about 6.7 million. a group of mps has heavily criticised the test and trace programme in england. the public accounts committee said it failed to break covid—19 transmission chains despite c