Why is it taking the government so long to give even a ballpark figure of the number of people who are missing, presumed dead, in the Grenfell Tower fire? The streets around the disaster site are littered not just with appeals to find missing relatives and friends but also with posters alleging a cover-up and that the true number of dead is much higher than the official figure of 79.
Most accept that the destruction caused by the fire makes it extremely difficult to identify many of those who were killed in it. But what is causing frustration among survivors and desperate friends and family is an apparent refusal to accept that there must be more than 79 people who are missing, presumed dead. Housing Minister Alok Sharma was asked about this on the Today programme, and refused to go beyond that figure, saying:
‘The number that I have currently is 79, and look, I absolutely… 79 is the number of people who are confirmed dead or missing or presumed dead and look, I absolutely understand how traumatised people are by this.’
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He then pointed to what most of those involved in the response to Grenfell accept is a significant factor in the confusion over how many people would have been in the tower on the night of the fire: the existence of illegal sublets and people who were worried about their immigration status:
‘What we want to make sure is that we build up as clear a picture as possible, and I know one of the concerns that people will have is that if their immigration status wasn’t completely clear, they may have concerns about coming forward, there may have been people living in that...
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