church minister near Grenfell says report is hugely important for victims

The report by the Grenfell Tower inquiry states that the fire was started by an electrical fault in a fridge-freezer, through no fault of the owner.

The material in the building aided the fire to spread and for smoke on the outside of the building to re-enter the building and block the stairways, which were the only way to get out.

Rev Mike Long, the minister of Notting Hill Methodist Church, three minutes away from the tower, told Premier Christian Radio the recommendations are important to those who’ve lost family members: “I think they’re vital. If ever there’s going to be in a sense of healing and peace, there needs to be some kind of common understanding of truth and justice as well.

“For many people who are so closely connected, sadly, to this disaster, it’s impossible to forget and there’s this kind of aching, burning sense of frustration or longing to know what could have happened – the knowledge that, for instance, so many lives could have been saved, had key decisions been made differently on the night is very, very hard to bear for those who’ve lost loved ones.”

Speaking about how it has affected the community two years on he explained: “I think it shapes all our ministries in the local community because the community continues to be so affected by it. That’s not always of course on the surface but we know this is going to be a very long process.

“Also…