For two years the survivors and families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have waged a dignified and at times lonely battle for truth and justice.
The publication of phase one of the official inquiry into the disaster marks an important step in their long crusade.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s preliminary findings make distressing reading.
The Grenfell community was failed by Tory politicians and officials who refused to listen to their concerns about the building’s safety.
They were failed by contractors who turned the tower into a death trap by cladding it in highly-combustible material.
And they were failed by emergency services who gave wrong advice, lacked training and had not learned from other high rise fires.
The only people to emerge with credit are the brave firefighters who risked their lives.
Again families have been told lessons will be learned. An insulting response when tens of thousands still live in tower blocks clad with the same or similar material. The people of Grenfell are closer to establishing the truth.
They remain a long way from getting justice.
Save our NHS
Labour is right to put the NHS at the front and centre of the election campaign.
Nine years of Tory rule has left our precious health service on life support. More than four million are on waiting lists, GP appointments are rare as hen’s teeth and the number waiting for urgent cancer treatment has trebled.
The NHS could also be handed to predatory US health firms under Johnson’s Brexit deal.
A Labour government created the NHS. It will take a Labour government to save it.
Captain Caring
England rugby union captain Owen Farrell has made a point of supporting 11-year-old Jack Johnson, who suffers from a cruel muscle-wasting disorder.
Owen’s linked-finger gesture for Jack when he scores shows he’s a lion with a big heart.
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