BBC BLOGS - Barling's London

Archives for September 2009

Who's judging the Judge?

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Kurt Barling|12:06 UK time, Monday, 28 September 2009

It has become pretty clear that Southwark Council wants as few people to talk about the Lakanal House disaster in public as possible; more on that later.

By the beginning of August it had also become clear that no-one, not the fire authorities, not local authorities, not central government, had a clear idea of how widespread the problem with high rise dwellings might be across London.

At BBC London we sent out a series of Freedom of Information requests to each one of the 32 London Boroughs. After two months we finally have enough results to piece together an approximate picture of fire safety assessments in blocks over six storeys across the capital.

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Eight years after 9/11, the struggle continues

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Kurt Barling|12:29 UK time, Friday, 11 September 2009

Eight years ago yesterday (September 10th 2001) I travelled back with my young family from New York on American Airlines. My three children waved out the window to the Twin Towers and the Statue of Liberty.

The next day we all sat in utter shock in front of our television screens as a global tragedy unfolded live before us in all its graphic horror. It all felt uncomfortably close.

Like many parents I had to try and explain to my children why on earth this could happen. Who would do it? What did it mean? And Dad, did it mean the end of the world was nigh?

Then as now it is imperative that the criminal intentions of the people behind the Twin Towers attack are recognised as just that. In 2001 the Muslim communities of London in particular feared a backlash as they came under intense scrutiny from seemingly every quarter.

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Taking responsibility for fire

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Kurt Barling|14:19 UK time, Tuesday, 8 September 2009

The fire at Lakanal House was a disaster. Three children and three adults were killed in their homes when they should have been safe. Safe from fire that broke out elsewhere in the huge tower block where they lived in Camberwell.

Investigators are busy sifting through a mountain of forensic evidence to work out why the fire spread so quickly from the ninth floor flat where it started.

But there are other important questions unrelated to the possible flaws in the structure of the building and the efficiency of the fire-fighters in tackling the blaze.

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