Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, Angela Rayner visited North Kensington last week to inform bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire that she had decided the building should be “taken down to the ground.” Rayner’s announcement reportedly shocked many of those in attendance. She subsequently informed parliament of her decision. Rayner’s was the latest in a long list of decisions imposed on North Kensington, and was in-keeping with the way powerful individuals and institutions have engaged with the community – before, during, and since the entirely avoidable 2017 fire.

Angela Rayner, who took office in July, has not been part of the small group of Labour MPs that has consistently and visibly supported the North Kensington community for the past eight years. But she took to the BBC on Sunday morning to defend her decision and her approach: “I felt, weighing up all of the different conversations that I had, and the engineering report, that actually the only way forward really was to sensitively make sure that we start taking the tower to ground level, but that we have a lasting memorial on that site.”

Rayner told the BBC “there isn’t a consensus” over the future of the Tower, and regarding her meeting with bereaved and survivors last week, she explained, “I think what I tried to do is take a really difficult meeting, and explain to people…knowing full well that whatever I said in that room that night was going to be very traumatic for people, and people would be upset.”

But in coming to such a clear decision on the site’s future, Rayner seems to be ignoring some of the most pertinent facts. In 2019, the Grenfell Memorial Commission was formed to consult with those affected and liaise with government with the goal of establishing a fitting memorial at the site of the Tower. Over six years, the Memorial Commission has collected opinions and data, including engagement with other memorials around the world.

10 Floors

Somebody with knowledge of the Memorial Commission’s work contacted Urban Dandy following Rayner’s announcement, and contradicted the Deputy Prime Minister’s claim that there is no consensus in the community about what the future of the site should be. They explained that the Memorial Commission’s research, published in two reports, provides evidence of consensus about several elements of the future memorial namely that it should be visible across West London; some parts of the tower should be maintained and “it should include water, flowers, light and height”.

It is clear from the Memorial Commission’s consultations and reports that many of the ideas generated during public discussions are based around utilising Grenfell Tower’s height, with the lowest 10 floors of the 24-floor building being confirmed as structurally sound. The possibility of designing something tall, close to the current height, as well as retaining some of the Tower’s features, have also been recurring themes. But Rayner’s insistence that Grenfell be levelled means “it can no longer be a memorial of choice” for the bereaved, survivors and local community, according to our source.

The Memorial Commission has shortlisted five companies for the job of designing the Grenfell Tower Memorial, and the tender leaves open the possibility of the Tower (or sections of it) staying in place until the design is finalised. Our source told us the 11 members Memorial Commission, a mix of bereaved, survivors and local residents, “really want the choices to be there” to ensure the final design is the best possible reflection of the communities’ wishes.

Engagement

Bereaved and survivors group, Grenfell United, responded to Rayner’s announcement by criticising the Deputy Prime Minister: “Angela Rayner could not give a reason for her decision to demolish the Tower. She refused to confirm how many bereaved and survivors had been spoken to in the recent, short four week consultation.”

Urban Dandy understands Rayner held two meetings, consulting a total of 19 people before making her decision. Senior civil servants working under Rayner are refusing to disclose who the 19 were. Rayner cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Memorial Commission’s community representatives, saying she should speak to “the community” first, and it is possible she made her decision without reading the Commission’s two reports.

Rayner’s predecessor, Michael Gove, had told local people he would come to a decision on the Tower before leaving office. He failed to deliver this, possibly due to his children attending a local comprehensive school which was impacted by the fire. This may have caused Gove to hesitate before taking a decision that would have caused distress in the community but satisfied those who want to cut costs around maintaining the Tower and remove the huge symbol of the failures of the state.   

Among those consulted by the Memorial Commission are a bereaved family in New York who worked on the 9/11 memorial. They told their North Kensington counterparts: ‘be prepared to for ideas to be continuously disagreed with and to embrace that process. It is part of arriving at the best design for everyone concerned.’

But it seems that Angela Rayner got attached to one idea, one solution, at the expense of other options. Fourteen floors of Grenfell can stand tall, and there is consensus that whatever is created as a lasting memorial should involve height. There is also consensus in North Kensington that Grenfell Tower is a sacred site, not a site for political egos and displays of power. Grenfell is a site and a subject that requires sensitivity, grace and wisdom. So far, Angela Rayner has failed to show any of those qualities.

by Tom Charles @tomhcharles

*This article was amended on 11th February 2025: 10 floors, not 14, of Grenfell Tower are structurally sound.