Theresa May has announced a ‘full, public, judge-led inquiry’ into the terrible events of the Grenfell Tower tragedy = and this has generally been welcomed.
But in the expert opinion of Sophie Khan, the lawyer for the victims of the 2009 Lakanal House fire that killed six people – who, as in Grenfell Tower, had been told to remain in their flats – a public inquiry is the worst way forward and amounts to the government ‘hiding in plain sight’ the real roots and responsibilities of the tragedy.
Because it keeps the power and control of what information is revealed and how in the hands of the Establishment and not in the hands of victims and families.
Ms Khan said that an inquest will allow the families to have their own legal representation, question witnesses, bring their own witnesses and the coroner remains independent of the government – whereas in an inquiry, the government retains control and, shockingly, there is no mechanism for families to participate in the process.
And when asked whether Theresa May wants a public inquiry instead of an inquest in order to avoid scrutiny, Ms Khan answered emphatically:
Yes. That is one hundred, that is correct. Because in an inquest they lost control of what a jury will do. And juries will come out with narrative verdicts which may be very difficult for the government.
This is vital. Can you imagine for one second that the Hillsborough families would have the justice and vindication they fought for and finally received if they’d had to rely on a public inquiry instead of a painstaking inquest?
Watch for yourself – and then share this with the call #InquestNotInquiry, so that the victims of Grenfell Tower and their families get the justice they deserve and need:
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