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Fire extinguisher money was spent on Grenfell remembrance lights

THE government spent the cost of one fire extinguisher per flat on Grenfell remembrance lights, the Star can reveal.

On the two-year anniversary of the tragedy in June this year, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament “turned green” in an attempt to show solidarity with the 72 people who lost their lives in the tower block fire.

A freedom of information request has revealed that the cost of installing lights at No 10 was £3,769. An additional £720 was spent covering existing lights at Parliament with green film.

The total cost would have been enough to provide one fire extinguisher for each flat in the tower block — around £35 for each.

Arconic, the manufacturer of the combustible cladding wrapped around Grenfell Tower, told the public inquiry that the initial fire could have been put out with a “common extinguisher.”

And a leaked fire safety report found that on-site fire extinguishers had expired while others were marked “condemned” due to their age.

Justice4Grenfell spokeswoman Yvette Williams described Downing Street’s attempt to commemorate the disaster as an “insignificant gesture.”

She said: “It’s a fart in the wind. It doesn’t change anything, it’s an easy thing to do that means little or nothing.

“We have to make it overtly political now. Some families don’t want it that way but there are many issues that are still not resolved.”

Ms Williams said austerity-led cuts to council and fire services, among other issues that contributed to the disaster, have still not been reversed. And she said new regulations had still not been introduced to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.

She claims she is still waiting to hear from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the issues.

“It’s clearly not on his agenda but we didn’t expect it to be,” Ms Williams said.

“It’s in danger of getting swept under the carpet.”

Hundreds of buildings in England are still covered with cladding similar to that used on Grenfell and 17 families displaced by the fire have yet to be found permanent accommodation.

Ms Williams said: “You can light up a building but I didn’t see any government MPs come down to the community themselves — it seems like they’re scared of us.

The government outlined plans yesterday to improve safety regulations, including requiring all new flat blocks of six storeys or higher to be fitted with sprinkler systems.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government would also “name and shame” businesses and landlords that do not co-operate with new post-Grenfell building safety rules.

But shadow housing secretary John Healey asked why 324 blocks “still have dangerous cladding, and 72 blocks have no plans in place for cladding removal.”

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