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Grenfell Tower fire victims honoured in emotional silent march as inquiry into causes of the deadly blaze is delayed
HUNDREDS joined a "silent march" to demand justice for the Grenfell Tower victims last night - as it emerged the inquiry into the disaster has been delayed.
Survivors and relatives hugged firefighters at the emotional demo exactly five months since at least 80 died and hundreds more were made homeless in the June 14 tower block blaze.
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The silent march takes place on the 14th of each month as supporters honour the victims and call for all the tragic circumstances to be revealed.
Marchers in West London lit candles and held banners demanding "Justice For Grenfell" and the words "Truth" and "Love" in giant hearts.
This morning it was revealed the official inquiry will now not be able to publish a preliminary report by Easter as originally planned.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick's team have begun taking statements from 225 survivors and 260 firefighters and wading through 200,000 documents.
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But their progress is hampered by a parallel criminal probe meaning some witnesses cannot yet be spoken to.
The pace of the process had been "unavoidably affected" by the police investigation into the fire, the inquiry said in a statement this morning.
The sheer scale of the task has also forced the inquiry team to push back their timetable, with new technical evidence emerging and some survivors not yet able to give statements.
A report will follow the first stage of oral evidence, but that cannot begin until all the written statements have been taken.
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The Grenfell Tower Inquiry also said 393 individuals and organisations have been granted "core participant" status.
It could give them the right to provide opening statements, highlight evidence or suggest lines of questioning.
Sir Martin's team received an "unprecedented" number of applications for core participant status.
Some 111 have been refused and 41 have been deferred or remain under consideration.
In a statement providing an update on its work, the inquiry said the task of taking statements from residents of the West London block and firefighters who tried to tackle the fatal blaze had yet to be completed.
It is hoped this strand of the inquiry will be conducted speedily to help prevent similar fires at high-rise blocks.
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In the second stage of the inquiry, the refurbishment of the tower will be put under the microscope, investigating how and why it came to be wrapped in flammable cladding and insulation.
It will also examine why residents' warnings were ignored and look at the response of Kensington and Chelsea Council and central Government after the fire.
Sir Martin has appointed three expert assessors to help with his work.
Regeneration expert and former Department for Communities and Local Government official Joe Montgomery will give advice on issues relating to community engagement and the occupation and management of social housing.
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Joyce Redfearn, who has extensive experience in local government and health, will give advice on the investigation into the council's actions.
Civil engineering expert Professor David Nethercot will help Sir Martin consider the technical issues around Grenfell Tower and its refurbishment.
Procedural hearings on December 11 and 12 will discuss the revised timetable with lawyers for those affected.
On Monday local Tory activists in the borough were blasted as "breathtakingly insensitive" for asking residents to rate how important the Grenfell disaster was compared to parking permits and bin collections.
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