Lakanal House Camberwell

3/7/2009

SOuthwark Council had to pay
£270,000 fine
Plus costs of £300,000,
A lot of heads were on the line
3 women died and 3 babies too
Burned to death
And it was due

To botched conservation work alas
Fire stopping was compromised
yes en masse
The councils inspections were
Forgotten about
And the fire brigade too they were called out
unaware of the lay out and that was why
The tenants were left in situ to die

The inquest took 10 weeks
To deliberate
Sprinklers would certainly
Have improved their fate
But nothing was learned
Apparently
For Grenfell has happened
As we can all see

But this conflagration
This horror we know
Has killed many many
The council must go
With so many warnings from
The tenants ignored
And once again the fire brigade
Hadnt explored
The layout it seems to me
And once again
Some died in situ
That now is plain

The cladding and windows
Burned out rapidly
The spread of the fire
Unbelievably
Swift via the cladding
Actually this was
Contributary only because

At Lakanal house
Eric Pickles he knew
What had to be done
But at GRENFELL its true
Nothing was done
The same mistakes made
Cuts yes the cuts
On whose heads are they laid

The government made them
Across the board
And it seems every aspect
Of life to afford
All the laws and happenings
It just could not be
And people have died
In this new tragedy

No inquest a great shame
So the residents they
Will not Be able
To have their say
That in itself is a healing of soughts
A judicial hearing
Creates different thoughts
It often takes longer
And is at the control
Of government sadly
One without a soul

500 people were resident here
The death toll will rise
Though the tenants were clear
There has been such neglect
And its happening still
Ill considered and unconcerned
And we all feel the chill
Of heedlessness and victimization
Its really been hostile
And real exploitation

Austere cuts are one thing
Safety of souls
Its undemocratic
To ramp up controls
That become tyrannical
Brutal and cruel
And when findings are made
They just add to more fuel

Electrical fault to tv in one flat
Tenants told to stay put
Compartmentalisation
But that caused their deaths

Public enquiries seldom see corporate
Manslaughter charges but since the police and fire brigade
Are doing their own enquiries hopefully if any are culpable they can be sent to prison