The British prime minister's office rebuked a local government council
Friday for shutting down a meeting on the fatal high-rise fire in west
London because journalists were present.
Theresa May's Downing Street office criticized the Kensington and
Chelsea Council's decision to abort the first meeting of its Cabinet
since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, citing a ruling from Britain's High
Court.
"The High Court ruled that the meeting should be open and we would have
expected the council to respect that," the prime minister's office said
in a statement.
The council, which owns Grenfell Tower, also faced criticism Friday
after reports that it used more flammable materials in renovating the
building to save money.
A report Friday in the Times of London cited documents showing that the
council chose aluminum composite panels for the renovation project
rather than a non-combustible zinc alternative. The decision saved the
council around 300,000 pounds ($390,000), the Times said.
The panels are part of the exterior cladding blamed by many experts for
allowing the fire to rapidly spread throughout the building, trapping
many residents in their homes before firefighters could reach them. At
least 80 people died.
The Times report came after council leader Nicholas Paget-Brown on
Thursday abruptly ended the first Cabinet meeting since the June 14
disaster. Paget-Brown initially sought to bar the media from the
meeting, then scrapped the session after media organizations won an
injunction allowing reporters to be present.
Paget-Brown said that the presence of the media would "prejudice" a
public inquiry into the disaster planned by the central government.
Opposition Labour Party Councilor Robert Atkinson, whose ward includes
Grenfell Tower, challenged Paget-Brown loudly, yelling: "An absolute
fiasco, this is why I am calling for your resignation."
Before the meeting was closed, Paget-Brown acknowledged that things had gone wrong in dealing with the aftermath of the fire.
"I realize the council has come in for much criticism for its response,"
he said. "I will acknowledge this and apologize for what we could have
done better."