Cartoon: John Sadler

• OF course, the real problem of the Grenfell Tower disaster and Knightsbridge fire comes from Margaret Thatcher who abolished the district surveyors of London, who had been established by King Charles II when he instructed Sir Christopher Wren to design buildings which would not catch fire after the timber frames had gone up in smoke in 1666.

Thatcher established the self-assessment principle, as she hated local authority and the menace of a hostile fire brigade laying down the law. Fire brigades have always been a source of worry to the ruling classes as, ultimately, they can hold your life in their hands and are therefore a threat to the social order.

Boris Johnson’s first act as Mayor of London was to cut the number of fire stations by 25 per cent. Being of the upper classes, he shared the Roman emperors’ fear of the fire brigades of Ostia and Rome.

Grenfell and the King’s Cross fire show what self-assessment can lead to: probable corruption and certainly a disregard of the safety of fire doors, escape stairs, smoke lobbies, cladding etc, in order to reduce costs on the one hand and increase profits on the other.

NICHOLAS WOOD
NW3