Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

I see T May and tories have reneged on tory principles in the Queen’s speech trying to stay in power.

Finding a conscience and recognising the needs of others.

A STRONG STABLE MAYBE government.

What is next? Backing out of Brexit or changing the name of any agreement to suit her purpose?

If it wasn’t so serious it would be a comedy act.

shambolic indeed
however, if a hard brexit was ever truly on the cards (i have my doubts) then it certainly won't be now

I see one of the Cons invisible men Hammond has been shaping up to be the stalking horse for the forthcoming Leadership/General Election.

I forgot.

Mother has spoken.

We must all be on good behaviour and respect our inherited elite.

Sixty-eight flats in £2bn luxury Kensington block to be given to Grenfell Tower families.

More HERE

The private flats in the block start at £1.5m, however the apartments that will rehouse the families are part of the 120 affordable homes being built alongside them.

Penthouses in the development are expected to go for £13m, and flats in the building are expected to be purchased to permanently house Grenfell families.

The City of London Corporation is acquiring the 68 flats for around £10m as part of the response to the tragedy. A spokesman told the Evening Standard: “We are ready to do everything we can to help the victims of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower.”

A spokesman for the Berkeley Group, which is building the development under the St Edward brand alongside Prudential confirmed they were finalising plans to rehouse Grenfell Tower residents. It is understood that the company was keen to do something to help the survivors of the fire, selling them at cost price, and have brought forward the date they will be ready. .

Undoubtedly, they will appreciate in value and so the purchaser, although tying up capital, won't lose out. So the whole thing is a bit 'Win/Win'.

And the GT tenants also now have a little bit of something to look forward to.

Nice ..

Had to do a double take on that one EL, not quite what it at first look appears.


The private flats in the block start at £1.5m, however the apartments that will rehouse the families are part of the 120 affordable homes being built alongside them.

I thought it looked a bit let's say generous , as i'd guess that some have been moved away to other areas outside London , which suggests they are on benefits . They have received £200'000 each apparently how that affects them i don't know .

you're right .... that little "correction" was slipped in part of the way through the article
nevertheless, it's a decent move in the right direction, though scant consolation for those who lost all their possessions and of course for those who lost relatives and friends

Have duly edited my post above.

I also originally misread the source article, which I don't think was as comprehensive as it is now.

I'm very glad the 'Day of Rage' thingy fizzled out to 'near negligible'.

Only about 200 people took part, far fewer than the number who signed up online.

yes, theis is a dreadful tragedy and my heart is heavy for those who lost their lives and those who have suffered and will continue to suffer the psychological trauma in the aftermath of this disaster.

However now is the time to be practical. The level of help given to the survivors must be assessed on a blame basis. If there is a fault on the block owners then they should be liable to replace the housing lost at today's value and not some inflated sympathy based figure.

Of course, if these flats were individually owned then they should have been insured, if not sorry folks then that's tough.

I say that as some years ago a lovely old couple's house burned down they were not insured after the fist few weeks of hospitalisation they were literally discharged on the streets.

Of course, this liability mess will take quite some time to sort out as people duck and dive their responsibilities BUT THIS DOES NOT GIVE THE VICTIMS ANY RIGHT TO ANY SPECIAL CARE AND ATTENTION OVER WHAT IS NORMALLY GIVEN.

Don't wish to be hard but I used to work in senior management with an insurance company claims department and I kinda know the score on these things.

Of course, they, the survivors, have the right to be put back to where they were before the disaster but with no embelishement...that is the golden rule of the insurance world

David10brook
Understand where you're coming from but now put yourself in the position of the Government. They have a major PR disaster due to the way they handled it initially.

What would you be saying? I would say sort it I don't care how much it costs sort it.
After all the tax payer will pick up the bill whatever it is. I need to survive as a politician right now.

I don't agree , this is not a normal tragedy and after what they have been though do you expect them to go back to another Tower block. They are some of the poorest in London , I doubt if they had much to insure.

You sound like a bit of a jobsworth , rules are rules you should have read the small print.

Martini

Apart from that, you don't treat people like that, after going though the horror of watching and hearing your love one's burning and suffocating to death .

hi, Guys honestly no offence intended I am just being a realist here.

Collective deaths are never pleasant things to deal with.

However, a tragedy is a tragedy. To me after being in the insurance industry for far too long and seeing how for example the insurance companies, especially mine as I have on the job expereince, treat car accident victims who through no proven fault of their own get hammered when it comes to the right level of compensation as insurance companies pull all the stunts they can, including abuses of one's human rights to avoid justly paying up.

All I am saying here is this is not issue for any government to pull points off by throwing everything they can at the victims just because it's in the public eye.

David10brook

No offence taken on my part I was just being a realist like you and saying what I would do if I was in government. It might not be right but survival makes one do the wrong things

Where ARE the insurance companies?

Surely the building must have been covered for accidental risks? I have to carry public liability insurance for millions, surely the building is no different.


And where are the landlords/ head lease holders/managing agents and they're public liability insurance?

Not to mention the suppliers and installers of the cladding, where are they're insurers?

Lets not mention the borough council and it's approval/supervision of works?


The lawyers have yet to arrive in a serious way, but no doubt they are coming.

I suspect like many that there's an awful lot of manoeuvring going on behind the scenes, I look forward to hearing the "truth" in the course of time.

In the meantime an inquest should be open as a matter of urgency, that's the very least that should happen in respect of the people who have suffered beyond what's decent.

the lawyer for the families is the chap who represented those from the hillsborough tragedy
he's be one tough and clever cookie

however, i think the official enquiry has to be conducted first before even the inquest(s) let alone any court action