Well, well, well, just when you think society cannot become more debased, news comes along that Laura Johnson has been appointed permanent Director of Development and Property at the Barnet Group, which manages the borough's 13,000 council homes. This is the same Laura Johnson who, as Director of Housing at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, played a principal role in the cost-cutting that led to the Grenfell fire.
The Grenfell inquiry found that, in her previous role, Johnson pushed for a new contractor to carry out the tower's renovation works on a lower budget, which ultimately meant metal cladding was swapped for combustible plastic-filled panels to save money. It also found she slowed down the installation of self-closing mechanisms on fire doors in the tower for "financial and practical reasons", despite warnings from the London Fire Brigade that their absence compromised fire escape routes.
It beggars belief that the Barnet Group would allow this individual anywhere near a role that involves tenants' safety. In response to enquiries from The Guardian newspaper regarding the appointment, a spokesperson for the Barnet Group said she was the "strongest candidate" in a competitive field. "We were aware of the Grenfell inquiry findings and considered them carefully during the recruitment process," they said. "We also took into account Ms Johnson's professional experience, subsequent performance, references, qualifications and overall suitability for the role."
One can only wonder what the interviewing process must have involved. It must have gone something like, "Apart from the fact that the actions of Laura Johnson led directly to the deaths of some 72 people, we think that she is by far the best candidate," or to quote the spokesperson from the Barnet Group, "Following a robust and publicly advertised recruitment process, we concluded that she was the strongest candidate and legally eligible to hold the position." Note the word "legally"; no mention of "morally" here, a word becoming ever more unfashionable in an increasingly corrupt society.
The most jaw-dropping aspect of this entire saga is the attitude of Laura Johnson herself. Any person with a modicum of decency, having made decisions that resulted in so many deaths, would show some remorse by vowing never to take a job that could once again involve them in tenant safety. Instead, disregarding the feelings of those who suffered at Grenfell, she rubs salt in painful wounds by taking a job worth £157,078 a year that once again places her in a position where tenants' lives are in her hands.
Perhaps the decision to appoint Johnson can best be summed up by a survivor of the Grenfell fire: "It is an absolutely outrageous decision...The fact that we, as bereaved survivors, haven't received any justice nine years after the fire, and yet the people that were involved in senior decision making are able to carry on working in the social housing sector, have responsibility for health and safety, and receive massive salaries – it feels so disrespectful...if I was a resident in a Barnet council home, I'd be absolutely petrified."
ENOUGH SAID.