‘ soon, ‘soon, tom ‘ soon, tom symonds, ‘soon, tom symonds, our to you very soon, tom symonds, our home correspondent in southwark just south of home affairs correspondent in southwarkjust south of london bridge, the first place the incident unfolded. hello. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting on bbc one in the uk and on bbc world news. a major incident is taking place in london tonight with reports of multiple casualties in different locations. armed police have closed a major bridge after a vehicle swerved off the road hitting a number of pedestrians. police there say there has been more than one fatality. officers then responded to reports of stabbings nearby and shots were fired. the first incident happened at london bridge, one of the major arteries between the north and the south of the city. the reported stabbings took place in borough market which is nearby. the british prime minister, theresa may, has described the incidents in london as potential act so of terrorism. the police have confirmed that they are terrorist incidents. we can cross live to london bridge now and speak to

tom symonds, bbc news. friends from london who drowned off camber sands in sussex last summer have demanded to know why no lifeguards were deployed on the beach. the five died just a month after two other men drowned in the same area. lifeguards were introduced at camber soon afterwards. a coroner concluded that all seven deaths were due to misadventure. duncan kennedy reports. it's the beach where generations of families have made their summer holidays. long, wide, safe. a place where happy memories are created. but for kobi saththiyanathan, his brother ken, nitharsan ravi, inthushan sriska ntharasa, and gurusha nth srithavarajah, it became a place of danger and death. tonight the men's families rejected the coroner's findings that lifegaurds would not have saved them. their anger, matched by their anguish. they didn't make any attempt to find those boys. they didn't make any attempt. my brother was there for six hours. and even then my brother was found by the public. even all the other boys were found by

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is still with us. ot of the detail that this was horribly reminiscent of the attack on westminster bridge a few months ago, but that took place in the meal of the day? tom, just one second, we can't hear you at the moment. let me stop you and start again. can you hear me? we can, you carry on. there are a lot of broadcasters in this area and we are using similar frequencies so that's why i cut out. the timing is releva nt why i cut out. the timing is relevant here, in manchester there isa relevant here, in manchester there is a massive investigation going on to the bombing at the manchester arena. anybody planning an attack like this is going to know that investigation is ongoing and that makes it more likely there's going to be an attack like the one that happened down the road here, we saw that in the 7/7 attacks 12 years ago. we saw two attacks two weeks apart so the police and security services and government would have been on standby for something like this. this is very different to the mancheste

tom symonds, bbc news, west london.leader of kensington and chelsea council has told bbc london's political editor tim donovan that he didn't want to be drawn on whether he should stay on or not. that's not a matter for today. that's something we will look at in due course. myjob at the moment is to make sure that the council has a head that can be recognised. i'm the public face of the council and i need to be seen to be making sure that the proper response to people's lives, that have been so devastated by this tragedy, is in place. would you accept tragedy, is in place. would you a cce pt to tragedy, is in place. would you accept to be leader in six months' time? that's not a matter i'm ready to discuss now and it's not a matter for me. but would you be prepared to be leading the conservatives into the election next year for control of the council? i understand you wa nt to of the council? i understand you want to go down that road. i think at the moment it will actually demean the lives that have been lost by gettin

tom symonds has more. there was no warning, just a request. out because we can‘t be sure you are safe. i just don‘t want to go now. i feel bad to just suddenly i have to leave my flat. tonight, camden council‘s mobilising its staff, block booking hotels, opening a rest centre in an attempt to find somewhere to sleep, for 4000 people. individuals have been told to leave for their own safety and it‘s down to them to make the decision. i intend to stay put. i intend to go there tonight. it's a knee jerk reaction by the council, they had to be seen to be doing something but this is creating chaos and pandemonium. in the aftermath of the grenfell tower the cladding on these towers had already been ruled unsafe, but on top of that residents raised concerns about other issues, including fire doors and gas pipes. camden felt it had to act. any area which wasn‘t completely up to robust standards was a deep concern, given the combination, and that was the message from the fire services today. the issue was the combination of the two factors and that‘s w

tom symonds, bbc news.to our correspondent helena lee, whose north london for is that the chalcots estate. this is a huge operation to be undertaking at this time of night. we can see council officials behind you. what's the latest happening there? that's right. a mass evacuation here this evening. we are outside the taplow tower block, one of the tower blocks —— five tower blocks on the chalcots estate in camden, which are evacuating all of their residence this evening. we understand there are 400 households affected by this, and 4000 people who are having to leave their homes the night. the evacuation began just after 8pm this evening. we saw council members go into this tower block and the other four tower blocks, and they went in and they told residents that they had to prepare for evacuation and ta ke had to prepare for evacuation and take their essentials. wheeler were last night there was a meeting between council members and also residents from this block, who were very concerned, because we know th

our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports.n a warm summer's evening brings such pleasure. the coroner's court heard they were all murdered close to london bridge and the popular brough market. sara zelenak was 21, an au pair from australia. she was found with a stab wound to her neck. not far away was james mcmullan, 32, a london entrepreneur. also stabbed. kirsty boden was 28, an australian nurse, she was found near southwark cathedral with a chest wound. sebastien belanger was 36, french, a chef. he was stabbed in the chest in borough market. 39—year—old analyst ignacio echeverria took on the killers but was stabbed in the back near london bridge. there would doubtless have been more victims had it not been for the heroes of that night. drjohnny moses, off—duty, was at a restaurant when it happened. they locked the doors. i said, "i'm a doctor, i'm here to help." they let me out. i did feel scared. one of the things i quickly realised was that i mustn't give in to that fear. armed police said "run". he used heart compression

here's our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. were you pressured by no 10 to resign?simply got too great. he was the leader criticised with failing to cope with the crisis in his backyard. his council quickly lost the confidence of grenfell‘s victims. chanting: we wantjustice! we want justice! two weeks ago, his council offices were invaded. and last night, he couldn't even hold a council meeting after deciding that it wasn't possible to speak freely because journalists were in the room. in particular, my decision to accept legal advice that i should not compromise the public enquiry by having an open discussion in public yesterday, has itself become a political story. and it cannot be right that this should have become the focus of attention when so many are dead or still unaccounted for. and this was the reaction to his resignation. it is good news because there needs to be big changes made in the council and this is at least a start. mr paget—brown claims no council could have coped with this. he thanks the community for its response, the emergency services, other

tom symonds, bbc news. people are feared buried after a massive landslide swallowed about a0 homes in south—west china. video posted by the people's daily newspaper shows the emergency rescue operation underway in sichuan province, where debris from a collapsed mountain is blocking a 2km stretch of river. stephen mcdonall is our correspondent in beijing. what more do we know? as you mentioned, a frantic rescue effort is under way as we speak. to give people an idea of the type of landscape we talking about here, it is very prone to landslides and i've been to this area of sichuan province and like in a big earthquake there in 2008, it is not uncommon for entire side of a mountain to collapse into a valley. so you can imagine, apart from engulfing those a0 homes with, as you say, or than 100 people trapped under there, it also blocks the access under there, it also blocks the a ccess roa d under there, it also blocks the access road so long to kilometre stretch we have a whole area which has collapsed under

tom symonds, bbc news, west london.ve to pay for abortions provided by the nhs in england. the concession was made by ministers to avoid a conservative rebellion in votes on the queen's speech. the government's legislative programme for the coming two years was eventually passed by a majority 01:14 votes in the house of commons. the majority was gained with the support of the democratic unionists, as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. what she wants you to see. the prime minister, on the red carpets of europe. everybody‘s in a good mood. everyone in a good mood, her german colleague says. but at home, hard work. to avoid being humbled by the house of commons, with mps threatening defeat... the chancellor of the exchequer. ministers had to make a last—minute promise that women from northern ireland who go to england for abortions won't have to pay. the government... intends to intervene to fund abortions in england for women arriving here from northern ireland. it is welcome that the government is now saying

tom symonds, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news.accuses donald trump's white house of lying when it said the bureau was in disarray. mr trump accused him of not telling the truth. voting is taking place across the uk in the 2017 general election, polls are due to close at ten o'clock so night. video emerges of the three london terrorists filmed outside a gym days before their attack. three more arrests have been made. all the very latest sports news now with 0lly, evening! england have reached the under—20s world cup final in south korea. they came from behind injeonju to beat italy 3—1. they had taken the lead afterjust a couple of minutes through thejuventus midfielder riccardo 0rsolini. england didn't equalise until midway through the second half. dominic solanke, who's on his way to liverpool from chelsea, scored his first of the match. everton's ademola lookman then put england in front inside the last 15 minutes, before solanke put the game to bed with a couple of minutes left on the clock. it's the first england football team

tom symonds, bbc news, west london.itals, 18 of those are still in critical care. most are suffering effects of smoke inhalation. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh has been looking at the response of the 100 medical staff who were called to the scene. for the third time in as many months, london's medical teams responded to a major emergency. paramedics, trauma specialists and the airambulance were all involved, some of whom treated patients in the recent terror attacks. the key — to stabilise patients and get them to hospital. at st mary's we're caring for 16 patients, three of whom are in a critical condition. at charing cross hospital we have four patients, none of whom are critical. we are continuing to care for patients who are primarily suffering from the affects of smoke inhalation. inhaling smoke can damage the lungs and airways and may also cause carbon monoxide poisoning. specialist burn teams were on standby, but it's understood they did not treat any casualties. 12 hours after it broke out, a toxic clou

tom symonds, many thanks.ission jean—claude juncker has criticised theresa may's proposals to allow eu citizens to stay in the uk, saying they are first step but not sufficient. this morning mrs may described her plan as fair and serious. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports from brussels. her opening gambit has been played, but will it be enough? last night, eu leaders listened to theresa may in silence. her plan for citizens' rights has had a lukewarm reception. i want to reassure all those eu citizens who are in the uk, who have made their lives and homes in the uk, that no one will have to leave. we won't be seeing families split apart. this is a fair and serious offer. but the eu doesn't appear to agree. the eu's own proposal already on the table is more generous to all the 4 million affected including the uk citizens who made their homes in eu countries. a step in the right direction? it's a step, but this step is not sufficient. eu plan is —— would not seek any current rights withdrawn fr

tom symonds, bbc news. camden in north london were asked to evacuate their homes, there's confusion about how and where they will be re—housed. sophie hutchinson has been speaking to some of them. people continued packing up their flats today and moving out of the tower blocks on the estate in north london. some families have been found temporary accommodation, but at others say they feel abandoned by the council with nowhere to go. this resident has spent the last two nights ina resident has spent the last two nights in a hotel with his wife and four children, but they can't stay there tonight. yesterday i called there tonight. yesterday i called the council that my stay in the hotel is running out tomorrow. find us, you know, a solution, what are you going to do? and all i hear, we are looking at your case, we will find you something, hopefully. what hope is this? i don't understand what the hope is? this is the hotel room the family of six leptin last night, filmed by their daughter. today staff told the

tom symonds, bbc news, southwark. our top story this lunchtime.the democratic unionist party in downing street, as she seeks a deal to enable the conservatives to govern. and still to come: we hear from the parents of a muslim convert who travelled to territory controlled by so—called islamic state about why they want the british government to help find him. coming up in sport, six—times paralympic champion david weir has announced he'll retire from track racing at the anniversary games next month. he'll continue to race on the road after winning his seventh london marathon in april. the pressure on donald trump over alleged links between his campaign and russia may step up today. in the latest appearance before us lawmakers, us attorney generaljeff sessions, he's the most senior member of president trump's administration to testify before a senate committee looking into allegations that russia had tried to meddle in last november's election. it comes less than a week after the former fbi chiefjames comey appeared at a similar hearing. peter bowes

tom symonds reports. this is the fire door leading to the fire exit.his camden flat despite the mass evacuation of his neighbours. but today he was told this... apparently all the doors need replacing. why? because last week camden council realised these towers were covered with aluminium panels capable of burning in a fire and with that in mind the advice from fire safety experts was that every door needs to be a fire door. what you think the fact you are behind a door that is not a fire door? well, i'd never thought about it, i assumed everything was safe, it is a council property, meant to be well maintained but evidently we have been living in a potential death trap. the communities secretary told the commons it was one of a number of safety issues with the blocks. most astonishingly there were hundreds, literally hundreds of fire doors missing. the estimate by camden council itself is that they need at least 1000 fire doors because they were missing from those five blocks. the council leader has been in the job a month. my understanding is that we

tom symonds, bbc news, west london. our home editor, mark easton, joins me now.here is the extensive provision needed for local people? absolutely this is very much an ongoing operation. you can see the building is still burning now. the emergency services, we just saw, exhausted fire officers, in tom's report just exhausted fire officers, in tom's reportjust then, exhausted fire officers, in tom's report just then, they are continuing their work throughout the night and for days to come. the fla mes night and for days to come. the flames still burning. those flats in there, that is the scene we know of some deaths. we don't know how many. pa rt some deaths. we don't know how many. part of thejob some deaths. we don't know how many. part of the job will be to try to recover the bodies to identify those bodies and try also to make sense of the confusion that there is right 110w. the confusion that there is right now. with so many people not sure where people are, are they alive, are they in a hospital, are they in some kind of centre somewhere? families in despera

tom symonds, bbc news. will not be forced to leave the country after brexit. the prime minister said eu citizens legally in the uk would have what she called ‘settled status‘ — enjoying all the rights of uk citizens except the right to vote in general elections. but as chief political correspondent vicki young reports — the offer depends on british citizens living in the eu being given the same status. theresa may says she is giving reassurance and certainty. is your offer to eu nationals good enough? allaying the anxieties is a priority according to the prime minister and she told mps she had a serious and fair offer to make. under these plans, no eu citizen currently in the uk lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the uk leave the eu. eu citizens will be able to apply for something called settled status. the right to live in the uk permanently, accessing public services and other benefits. applicants will have to have lived in britain for at least five continuous years. they will have needed to com

let's speak to tom symonds, our home affairs correspondent on southwark street. getting ever wider? we are at southwark street, as you said, which i would say is about a third of a mile from borough market and the southern end of london bridge, both the railway station and the bridge itself. that's where. .. the railway station and the bridge itself. that's where... we are constructing this so bear with us, we are constructing this from eyewitnesses we have spoken to in the last half an hour, maybe an hour, many of whom deeply shocked, i spoke to one man i will tell you about ina spoke to one man i will tell you about in a second who was deeply shocked by what he saw, and eyewitnesses sometimes think they have seen something they haven't or haven't given a clear description, so haven't given a clear description, so that's the health warning but what the eyewitnesses seem to be saying, and i will someday it up like this, a van ran over people on london bridge —— sum it up. three men came out of the van. they headed towards the borough market area. for people that d

tom symonds, our home affairs correspondent with me. let me show you the scene.d here, not too far from you the scene. it's a pretty empty road here, not too farfrom london bridge and borough market, you might be able to see the flashing police lights, a number of police vehicles down there and a number of police cordon is sealing off this whole area of london where these apparent terror attacks have happened. we are hearing that one person has been killed at least and at least 20 people have been injured and taken to half a dozen hospitals. if you are worried about friends or relatives, i have a police casualties bureau number that you can ring. it is 0800 0961233. or alternatively 0207158 0917. if you are worried about friends and relatives who you think have been caught up in this apparent terror attack. that is how it's been described. cobra, the emergency government committee, will meet in the coming hours, theresa may, the prime minister, has already described it as potentially an act of terrorism, there doesn't seem much doubt that is what it was. evandro

united states, but our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports.nd 30s a period of life when a london night out on a warm summer's evening brings such pleasure. the coroner's court heard they were all murdered close to london bridge and the popular brough market. sara zelenak was it h2i from australia. she was found with a stab wound to her neck. for away was james mcmullan a london entrepreneur. also stabbed. kirsty boden was 28, an australian nurse, she was found near southwark cathedral with a chest wound. sebastien, belanger was 36, cathedral with a chest wound. sebastien, belangerwas 36, french cathedral with a chest wound. sebastien, belanger was 36, french a chef. he was stabbed in the chest in brough market. there were doubtless have been more victims had it not been for the heroes of that night. drjohnny moses, off—duty was at a restaurant when it happened. they locked the doors. i said, when it happened. they locked the doors. isaid, "i'm when it happened. they locked the doors. i said, "i'm a doctor, i'm here to help." they let me out. i

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds now on the questions the public inquiry will have to considert is the first obvious question. and it will be for the fire brigade to answer. the accounts of the residents will be important. this video was shot 20 minutes or so after a fridge caught light on the fourth floor. the guy's fridge was by his kitchen window. the fire had already gone on the outside, and the wind helped it, and then all of a sudden, the cladding has fallen. he said the cladding caught. and that leads to question number two. it shouldn't have. the building was redesigned with aluminium panels in 2016. the work was signed off by the council. so far there is no evidence standards were breached, but... the minimum safety standards which is expected for a building to keep it reasonably safe. if you're using materials, or in a circumstance which you know are more dangerous, then you have to mitigate that, make a risk assessment and engineer out at risk. in this test, the fire is contained by flameproof walls. experts say good fire safety results from good design. was the rede

our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports.ate about the number of deaths and the risk from cladding, dozens of families are morning. relatives of tony disson led him to rest today, close to the tower. and this is the man facing the task of explaining their deaths. facing the cameras for the first time. i had never seen anything like that building, which is now com pletely that building, which is now completely gutted so you can see through it in many places. i am absolutely determined that this enquiry will be open and full, and will cover all the ground so that we reach conclusions that are reliable and can prevent anything like this happening again. he spent several hours listening to the views of survivors and local people. but already he and they appear to have different views. he may certainly get to the bottom of what caused the fire to spread so quickly. whether he will get to the bottom of who is responsible for causing the fire in the first place is a different matter, and that is the one concerning residents. we want

tom symonds reports. this is the fire door leading to the fire exit.is camden flat despite the mass evacuation of his neighbours. but today he was told this... yes, apparently all the doors need replacing. why? because last week camden council realised these towers were covered with aluminium panels capable of burning in a fire. with that in mind, the advice from fire safety experts was — every door needs to be a fire door. what you think the fact you are behind a door that is not a fire door? well, i'd never thought about it, i assumed everything was safe, it's a council property, it's meant to be maintained well. evidently, we have been living in a potential death trap. the communities secretary told the commons it was one of a number of safety issues with the blocks. most astonishingly there were hundreds, literally hundreds of fire doors missing. the estimate by camden council itself is that they need at least 1000 fire doors because they were missing from those five blocks. the council leader has been in the job a month. my understanding is that w

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has more. were you pressured by number 10 to resign?ly 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 should not compromise the public inquiry by having an open discussion in public yesterday has itself become a political story, and it cannot be right that this should have become the focus of attention when so many are dead or still unaccounted for. his housing chief has also gone. investigations by the bbc and the times newspaper into the decisions made when the council refurbished grenfell tower added to the pressure. the big change — the addition of aluminium cladding panels to improve the look of the building. we've been investigating that refurbishment and whether it played a part in the tragedy that was to follow. this development in north l

builders, and subcontractors, as well as the company that managed g re nfell tower. 0ur correspondent tom symondsof the fire and why it spread so rapidly. grenfell tower showing its age a few years ago. it was built in the 1960s and recently it was refurbished. new cladding and windows were added, standard treatment given to tower is all over the country. so why this? how did it start? why did it spread so fast? it is clear something went badly wrong. colin todd wrote the guidelines council ‘s use when considering fire safety in tower blocks. i have been in fire safety for 41 years and never seen a fire of this nature in terms of speed of spread and extent of development. investigators' first priority will be to find out how it managed to spread so quickly and without any containment. these are the plans for the renovation of the tower. they include cladding panels and insulation fixed to its walls, part of a system of components designed to contain any fire. the panels do not have to be completely fireproof, but the system is supposed to slow down the spread of flames. the aftermath of the grenf

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds now on the questions the public inquiry will have to considere fire brigade to answer. the accounts of the residents will be important. this video was shot 20 minutes or so after a fridge caught light on the fourth floor. the guy's fridge was by his kitchen window. the fire had already gone on the outside, and the wind helped it, and then all of a sudden, the cladding has fallen. he said the cladding caught. and that leads to question number two. it shouldn't have. the building was redesigned with aluminium panels in 2016. the work was signed off by the council. so far there is no evidence standards were breached, but... the minimum safety standards which is expected for a building to keep it reasonably safe. if you're using materials, or in a circumstance which you know are more dangerous, then you have to mitigate that, make a risk assessment and engineer out at risk. in this test, the fire is contained by flameproof walls. experts say good fire safety results from good design. was the redesigned g re nfell tower safe ? and were there other fa

let us talk tojohn —— tom symonds. of one of the assailants lying on the ground which has been released. alarmingly, he has canisters strapped to his body, it seems. this fits a description i had from an eyewitness in the area who saw three men. he said to me very clearly that one of them had, canisters, i can't clearly say what they are, i can see from the picture, but they were taped to his body. it maybe they were just an effect. it maybe they had something dangerous to the public. clearly they did not go off if there was some sort of explosive there. one eyewitness took this picture. he said one of these two men on the ground was still alive. that is good for police for information. similar to the manchester attack, we want to identify who was responsible and figure out who they were connected to. if one of them is a lie that really is a benefit to the police that they have not had in the previous attacks this year. —— alive. i have also seen pictures of people in bars being told by police to lie on the ground as p

tom symonds reports. there was no warning, just a request.are safe. i just don't want to go now. i feel bad to just suddenly i have to leave my flat.

they could not guarantee safety, partly because of concerns over fire doors, as our correspondent tom symondsy crisis in social housing has been, until now, about cladding, the sheet of aluminium that councils have been fitting to tower blocks to improve their look and installation that it has become apparent recently here in camden that one of the reasons the occu pa nts of camden that one of the reasons the occupants of five tower blocks have been evacuated is notjust to do with cladding but also to do with a lack of fire doors. this is the fire door leading to the fire exit. roger evans is staying put in his camden flat despite the mass evacuation of his neighbours. but today he was told this... a p pa re ntly but today he was told this... apparently all the doors need replacing. because last week camden council realised these towers were covered with aluminium panels capable of burning in a fire and with that in mind the advice from fire safety experts was that every door needs to be a fire door. what you think the fact you are behind a door that is not a fire door? is i'd never thought a

tom symonds is our home affairs correpsondent, he's on southwark street near borough market.has happened here? it's important to understand the geography here, people who don't know london won't know this area, london bridge runs across the city to a busy area of london, i come here a lot to report from the court. london bridge station is very busy, one of the busiest in the country, somewhere where people will have been heading to go home after the pub. round the corner from the to go home after the pub. round the cornerfrom the bridge is borough market, an area where there are cafes, in the daytime food stalls where people go for lunch. we understand from eyewitnesses, clearly we have to have a health warning there, eyewitnesses sometimes think they have seen something and describe things in various ways that isn't entirely accurate but what eyewitnesses seem to be centring on is a white van crashing into pedestrians at the southern end of the bridge outside a pub on the southern end of the bridge. two or three or maybe even four men getting out of the van, armed with knive

tom symonds reports.the first horrifying minutes of the disaster, a resident of grenfell tower esca pes the disaster, a resident of grenfell tower escapes and looks back at what's unfolding. 0h, what's unfolding. oh, my gosh! a rapidly spreading inferno, which police today confirmed had its origin ina police today confirmed had its origin in a kitchen of a flat slowdown in the tower. it began, they said, with a hotpoint fridge catching alight. witnesses say fla mes catching alight. witnesses say flames escaped through the window, where they began to race up and across the outside of the building. which is why the focus right from the start has been on what was added to the tower during its refurbishment. aluminium cladding and foam insulation. and right from the stop, police wanted to know how fire resistant was it? preliminary tests on the insulation samples preliminary tests on the insulation sa m ples collected preliminary tests on the insulation samples collected from grenfell tower showed that they c

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds now on the questions the inquiry will have to consider.e told me 20 minutes ago that g re nfell tower my mate told me 20 minutes ago that grenfell tower is on fire. it is the first, obvious question, for the fire brigade to answer. this video was shot 20 minutes after the fire started. where? how?|j was shot 20 minutes after the fire started. where? how? i saw someone come running out of flat 16 on the phone, calling for the fire brigade. he said it was a fridge fire. his fridge was by his kitchen window, so when the fire brigade put the fire out, the fire had already gone through the window to the cladding on the outside, and the wind has helped it. all of a sudden, the cladding court. he said the cladding court, which leads to question number two. it should not have. the building was clad with aluminium panels in 2016, the work signed off by the council. so far there is no evidence that standards were breached, but... the regulations are a minimum safety standard expected for a a minimum safety standard expected fora building, to a minim

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has more. where you pressured by number 10 to resign? pressure simply got too great. the leader of the council, criticised for failing to cope with the crisis in his backyard, couldn't hold on. 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 but i should not compromise the public enquiry by having an open discussion in public yesterday, has itself become a political story. it cannot be right that this should have become the focus of attention, when so many are dead or still unaccounted for. his housing chief has also gone. investigations by the bbc and the times newspaper into decisions made when the council refurbished g re nfell tower when the council refurbished grenfell tower added to the pressure. the big change, the addition of aluminium cladding to improve the look of the building. we've been investigating that refurbishment and whether it played a part in the tragedy. this development in north london includes c

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is here.theresa may saying and tell us more about these protests. —— tests. it clear the kind of tests the government is using is stricter than the previous standards for this sort of material on these sorts of buildings. the government has yet, and with ask this question almost daily for the last week, to tell us what those tests are and how they are being carried out. i know this is starting to be an issue because around the country councils are being told effectively you failed a serious safety test, they are also being told if you fail the test, you have to take certain steps, for example in the case of camden, moving out five tower blocks of residence, four in the end, so the big issue for them. they want to know what they're doing wrong so that's the first current issue. theresa may signalling now she wants a much wider public enquiry so not just looking at the grenfall tower fire, the response to it, the history of its refurbishment, and the way in which residents were treated, but also

tom symonds is with me now.wer blocks in england alone that have an aluminium type cladding. it's not confirmed yet apart from three, how many could be combustible. yes, as we are learning with this subject, the devil is in the details so 600 tower blocks with aluminium cladding added to the outside of those buildings are something councils do to improve the thermal insulation of the building and of course the look of the building. now what we don't know is how many of them might be an assault category that we think the g re nfell tower assault category that we think the grenfell tower materials were, which isa grenfell tower materials were, which is a category which enables them to burnin is a category which enables them to burn ina is a category which enables them to burn in a fire, combustibility of the industry calls it. that's crucial. as you heard the government said they've identified three, and so said they've identified three, and so those will need action taking, and also they are testing about 100 pie

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds now, on the questions the public inquiry will have to considers question. and it will be for the fire brigade to answer. the accounts of the residents will be important. this video was shot 20 minutes or so after a fridge caught light on the fourth floor. the guy's fridge was by his kitchen window. the fire had already gone on the outside, and the wind has helped it, and then all of a sudden, the cladding has fallen. he said the cladding court. and that leads to question number two. it shouldn't have. the building was retard with aluminium panels in 2016. the work was signed off by the council. so far there is no evidence standards were breached, but... the minimum safety standards which is expected for a building to keep it reasonably safe. if you're using materials, or in a circumstance which you know are more dangerous, then you have to mitigate that, make a risk assessment and engineer out at risk. in this test, the fire is contained by flameproof walls. experts say good fire safety results from good design. was the redesigned g re nfell towe

. —— tom symonds. police have put in a large cordon. can see the furthest blue, flashing light, a short distance from the borough markets area. are market is a farmers market where people go for lunch. it is surrounded by bars and restaurants. it is opposite london bridge station where people go to head home after a night out in central london. putting together eyewitness reports, only eyewitness reports, which can be wrong, but the eyewitnesses we spoke to say a van ploughed into people on the southern end of london bridge, i was told by people in a pub that it was told by people in a pub that it was on the corner of the bridge, that grey, possibly four man, got out, armed with knives. —— three, possible four men,. one was mediterranean in terms of skin colour and had a black and red top on and had a long knife. i asked if it was a breadknife sized weapon and the eyewitness said he felt it was a long kitchen knife. they ran towards london bridge and, sorry, borough markets, went and attacked people. we have reports from a security mana

have been speaking to the home affa i rs have been speaking to the home affairs correspondent, tom symondsant to understand the geography. london bridge runs from the city across the river to a very busy area of london to be i come here a lot for reporting. london bridge station is one of the busiest stations in the country, somewhere people go to head home from the pub. 0n the corner is an area where there are 0n the corner is an area where there a re cafes, 0n the corner is an area where there are cafes, daytime food stalls, in borough market. we understand from eyewitnesses, and clearly we have to have a helpful warning, eyewitnesses sometimes think they have seen something and describe things in ways that are not entirely accurate. but they seem to be saying there was a white van crashing into pedestrians at the southern end of the bridge, outside a pub on the southern end of a bridge, 2—3—4 man getting out of the car and attacking people with knives near where the collision happened and running down near the corner into the borough market area. in that area are lots of pubs and restau

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. the debate about the number of deaths and the risk from cladding, dozens of families are morning. dozens of families are mourning. relatives of tony disson laid him to rest today, close to the tower. relatives of tony disson laid to rest today, close to the tower. and this is the man facing the task of explaining their deaths, facing the cameras for the first time. i had never seen anything like that building, which is now completely gutted so you can see through it in many places. and will cover all the ground are reliable and can prevent but already he and they appear he may certainly get to the bottom of what caused the fire to spread so quickly. whether he will get to the bottom of who is responsible for causing the fire in the first place is a different matter, and that is the one concerning residents. we want a wider enquiry, one that will include the issues that were raised before. so basically, the attitudes towards people. we want to make sure that people would be listened to

builders, and subcontractors, as well as the company that managed grenfell tower. 0ur correspondent tom symondsy it spread so rapidly. g re nfell tower grenfell tower showing its age a few yea rs grenfell tower showing its age a few years ago. it was built in the 19605 and recently it was refurbished. new cladding and windows were added, standard treatment given to tower is all over the country. so why this? how did it start? why did it 5pread so how did it start? why did it 5pread so fast? it is clear something went badly wrong. colin todd wrote the guidelines council ‘5 use when con5idering fire safety in tower blocks. i have been in fire safety for 41 yea r5 blocks. i have been in fire safety for 41 years and never seen a fire of this nature in terms of speed of 5pread of this nature in terms of speed of spread and extent of development. investigators' first priority will be to find out how it managed to 5pread so quickly and without any containment. these are the plans for the renovation of the tower. they include cladding panels and insulation fixed to its wall5, part ofa insulation fixed