Ferraris and Opera Were Urgent, but Grenfell Tower Risks Went Unheeded<br />At one public housing project, Grenfell Tower, residents had complained about fire safety issues for years: power surges<br />that blew up television sets and filled rooms with smoke, outdated fire extinguishers and the absence of a communal fire alarm.<br />The contempt directed at those raising concerns about fire safety at Grenfell Tower was not an exception, residents said,<br />but the fire exposed the disconnect between an elitist council and poor residents in the north.<br />Niles Hailstones, whose youngest son attended school with several children who died in the fire, said, "How do you think our children feel seeing people not care about their mothers,<br />fathers, grandparents, uncles, aunties?" He added: "We watched the building burn down in front of our eyes." Today, the face of London is the Muslim son of a bus driver.<br />On Tuesday, the head of the inquiry into the fire said it would examine the conduct of the local authorities<br />but would not take into account the broader issues involving social housing, although Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "determined" to address those questions.<br />The whole street, once filled with social housing, is being redeveloped as "Portobello Square." Conservative councilors argue<br />that they have done their best to protect public services and have invested over £70 million in North Kensington infrastructure in recent years, including the ill-fated renovation of Grenfell Tower.<br />Daffarn said that This council does not represent the people of North Kensington,
