{UAH} Judge orders council to allow media into Grenfell Tower meeting

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The Grenfell Towers Struggle Is Fully On Now-

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Judge orders council to allow media into Grenfell Tower meeting

Court overturns Kensington and Chelsea council's attempt to hold meeting in private, after challenge from Guardian and other media

 People protest inside Kensington town hall two days after the Grenfell fire. Photograph: Tim Ireland/AP

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Peter Walker and Matthew Weaver

Thursday 29 June 2017 18.21 BSTFirst published on Thursday 29 June 201711.58 BST

A judge has ordered a London council to lift a ban on the media reporting on the first meeting of councillors to discuss the Grenfell Tower disaster, after a legal challenge by the Guardian and other media groups.

Downing Street had expressed concern after survivors of the fire and members of the media were barred from the Kensington and Chelsea council cabinet meeting on Thursday evening which was to hear a report about the blaze.

The council had opted to hold a private cabinet meeting to hear an oral report about the fire, citing the potential for disorder, and previous threats against staff. Such meetings are usually open to the public.

The meeting was to be led by the council's Conservative leader, Nicholas Paget-Brown, who has been widely criticised in the wake of the fire.

However, a court application by the Guardian and five other media groups saw the high court order the council to admit members of the media with press cards.

Downing Street had said it wanted all parties involved in the fire aftermath "to be as open and transparent as possible, both with residents and the wider public, to ensure full confidence in the response effort".

A spokeswoman said: "We would encourage everyone involved to respect this wherever possible."

Labour's Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities secretary, had also urged the council to reconsider. "In order to deliver a response that survivors, residents and the wider public can trust, there is no room for anything less than complete transparency," he said.

The decision to bar survivors and the wider public from the meeting followed protests two days after the fire, in which at least 79 people died, when angry residents stormed the town hall.

The council said the decision to exclude the public was made in accordance with its own standing orders "which are confirmed in common law".

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