The Government said it supports the commission’s work and will ensure materials from the site, communal areas of the tower, or parts of the tower are “carefully removed and returned for inclusion as part of the memorial, if the community wishes”.
Separately, the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has been consulting on plans for a permanent memorial in the area of the tower, with recommendations including a “sacred space”, designed to be a “peaceful place for remembering and reflecting”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has defended her meeting with families and survivors of Grenfell, after some present said they felt ignored by the decision to tear the tower down.
The Government, while noting a feeling among some that the tower’s presence is a reminder of the need for justice and accountability, confirmed the lower floors will not be kept in place as the tower is “carefully taken down to the ground”.
“I felt, weighing up all of the different conversations that I had, and the engineering report, that actually the only way forward really was to sensitively make sure that we start taking the tower to ground level, but that we have a lasting memorial on that site,” she told the programme.
