I lost family in the Grenfell fire and the thought of a new Tory government makes me shudder

The Conservatives should pay for a failure to protect us, with the Liberal Democrats also having questions to answer over their manifesto’s lack of detail on cladding

Grenfell should have been central to this election, the government’s deficient response to the dozens of lives lost reflects their attitude to many areas of social care.

I lost my cousin Mary Mendy and her daughter Khadija Saye in the Grenfell Tower fire. What followed was a litany of institutional failures by the Conservative government and local council. Instead of grieving our loss, my family have had to fight for justice. The lessons have not been learnt. Potentially dangerous cladding is still on buildings. The Bolton fire at a student tower block last month likely should not have happened.

Rehousing Grenfell residents has been torturously slow and the inquiry is still ongoing, meaning we are without justice or closure. This last few years since the fire have been a living hell. Leading Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg’s callous remarks suggest that residents lacked the common sense to leave the building. My relatives made it to the stairway. If Rees-Mogg had met with us he would know how incorrect, wrong and painful his comments are. My calls on the Conservative Party to remove him as a candidate and for him personally to meet with me to explain himself, have been ignored.

The Conservatives seem more comfortable talking to the media about Grenfell, than talking to people like me who have been deeply affected.

Rees-Mogg has kept a low-profile since his shameful comments. His words give an insight into how I feel my family were treated, as second class citizens. Austerity, social housing and cuts on fire safety impacted with devastating consequences at Grenfell. The Conservative government failed me and my family.

This includes Sam Gyimah, who was universities minister until his resignation in November last year, and who later defected to the Liberal Democrats after losing the Conservative whip. He gave assurances that cladding on student tower blocks was being investigated and that steps were being taken. However, the Bolton fire proves otherwise.

If the issues that arise from the Grenfell catastrophe were prioritised during this election, Gyimah, now standing as a Lib Dem candidate in the very London borough where Grenfell happened, would never have been put forward as a candidate in the area.

This is an election like no other. Justice for bereaved families and residents of Grenfell should be front and centre. There are wider lessons relating to austerity and the disregard for disadvantaged communities which meant flammable cladding was, and still is, on tower blocks, which means another Grenfell could happen.

This is why I shudder at the thought of the Conservatives being elected again, given their treatment of me and my family. The Liberal Democrats did not mention either Grenfell or cladding in their manifesto. So neither they or the Conservatives give me confidence. Their record in coalition together and as parties, right up to this election, is woefully inadequate. Labour’s Emma Dent Coad was only in office for less than a week as the local MP when the Grenfell Tower catastrophe happened. She has been a constant ally in my fight for justice in parliament and beyond. This is in contrast to the Conservative-run local council that I have had to personally confront over their failings despite ill health.

The council should have been taken into special measures in the wake of the fire. I believe the council failed to listen to residents before the fire, it was “missing in action” during the fire and it continued to fail them afterwards. The council have not yet consulted with me regarding their recovery strategy or programme, even though I am a bereaved family member and a core participant in the public inquiry.

The council also stopped holding Grenfell scrutiny committees which were supposed to keep it accountable to the community. After the tragedy, it was exposed for still failing on basic fire safety in social housing in the area. Nine households of former residents affected as of this October, were still without permanent homes more than two years after the catastrophe. The government has failed to retrofit fire sprinklers in tower blocks or remove flammable cladding which is still on buildings. Jeremy Corbyn’s response in the wake of the tragedy was genuine and considerate, in complete contrast to then prime minister Theresa May, who was criticised for not meeting with those who were affected soon enough.

The government’s legacy over Grenfell is characterised by a long list of failures. Unless this changes and the ongoing demands for fire safety are addressed, another fire could happen. Over two years on, I believe only a change of government can make the difference that is so desperately needed.