'I am truly sorry': New Grenfell council leader says community was failed 'when it needed us most'
The new leader of the council in charge of the Grenfell Tower aftermath has apologised for its response to the deadly blaze, saying it failed its community "when it needed us most".
Elizabeth Campbell said she offered "no buts, no ifs, no excuses" and was "truly sorry" for Kensington and Chelsea Council's actions to support survivors of the blaze and other local residents.
Ms Campbell replaces Nick Paget-Brown, who resigned on Friday hours after he was rebuked by Downing Street for abruptly ending the first council meeting after the disaster, which prevented other attendants making public statements.
Monday evening's confirmed appointment came after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid sidestepped pleas, led by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, to send commissioners to seize control of the council, which a Labour MP today claimed "couldn't run a bath".
Mr Javid meanwhile urged tenants who had illegally sublet flats in Grenfell to come forward to give grieving families "closure".
He made the appeal in the House of Commons after top prosecutors confirmed people would not be charged for coming forward to help the emergency services learn the true death toll.
Officials expect it to take months to learn how many more victims perished along with the 80 people currently known to have died in last month's unprecedented fire.
Mr Javid told MPs: "There may have been people living in flats that were illegally sublet who have no idea about the true status of their tenancy.
"Their families want to know if they perished in the fire. These are their sons, their daughters, their brothers, their sisters. They need closure and it's the least that they deserve.
"But that can't happen unless we have the information we need, so we are urging anyone with that information to come forward and to do so as quickly as they can."
Mr Javid meanwhile faced scrutiny over the government's commitment to offer temporary accommodation to all survivors of the Grenfell blaze.
Shadow housing secretary John Healey asked him how many people were still in hotels and if the promise of a "good quality" temporary home included hotel rooms.
Mr Javid said the hotels were classed as emergency accommodation, while temporary accommodation could be houses or flats or "whatever is the choice of the resident".
"I want to make sure they have high-quality accommodation offered to them that's appropriate for their family type and their family size," he told MPs.
"But they will not be forced, and should not be forced, to accept accommodation that they do not want to move into at this point."
Mr Javid also said the offer to all survivors of accommodation will be met by Wednesday, meeting Theresa May's pledge to rehouse those affected within three weeks.
However, Mr Healey accused ministers of being "off the pace at every stage" since the fire and "too slow to grasp the scale of the problems people are facing and too slow to act".
Mr Javid, who was speaking during an urgent statement, also announced all 181 samples of cladding so far tested after Grenfell have failed fire safety tests.
He said the finding was "disturbing" as he urged landlords to prioritise making buildings safe and to provide alternative accommodation while work is being carried out.