Grenfell Tower Memorial (Expenditure) Bill

Baroness Hyde of Bemerton Excerpts

2nd reading & Report stage & 3rd reading & Committee negatived
Tuesday 14th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

Who and what we as a country remember matters. Although many others in your Lordships’ House are clearly far more qualified on this topic and have had direct face-to-face experience of the tragedy, I wanted to speak in this debate because, as somebody who was living in London and has the name of a council estate in my title, this is a debate and a subject that matter very much to me. I remember vividly watching in total disbelief as those events of 14 June 2017 unfolded. It was a day when so many things changed, and this painful event in the city’s history is etched on Londoners’ hearts for ever. Of course, that is incomparable to those who were there and witnessed it with their own eyes and are living with that day, as others have mentioned—a repeated memory.

It is absolutely right that there is a fitting memorial, and it is absolutely right that Governments, institutions, professional organisations and regulatory bodies learn every possible lesson from this appalling tragedy and litany of systemic failures. Both these things can happen, as others have said, only if a relentless focus on the voices of surviving residents and the local community is maintained. The government response to phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in March 2026, stated:

“It was clear from events leading up to the tragedy in 2017 that too many voices had gone unheard by too many responsible organisational bodies leading to devastating consequences. This government is determined that we learn from these injustices and ensure that tenants’ voices are not only heard but reliably acted upon”.


I thank my noble friend the Minister for all the reassurances today that that is precisely what is happening, as well as the work that has happened on this in the other place. That is the key here: not just hearing from those voices but learning from and acting on them. It is so important that this memorial is built and well funded to remember those who died and to declare war on “institutional thoughtlessness”, a phrase I borrow today from prison scholarship. These systems and structures that failed so badly were the result of cultures that allowed cost-cutting, regulation to be treated merely as guidance and a lack of rigour in thinking through what might happen in the event of systemic failure and therefore a lack of mitigations in place. There was wide-ranging institutional thoughtlessness.

Systemic failures are far less likely to viscerally impact those in senior roles, who are often cushioned by class, wealth or their whiteness. The systemic failures at Grenfell Tower are no different—failures that resulted in the deaths of people whose lives and stories have been too often marginalised and forgotten. As your Lordships’ House has heard, those who lived in Grenfell Tower and those who died there were disproportionately working class, people who had made their home afresh in the UK, and Black and brown people.

Who and what we remember matters. Black lives matter. That is why this memorial is so important, both for the survivors and for the community, who have expressed their desire for one that includes private space to grieve and one with funding to preserve and sustain it. The memorial is important for our country, to say clearly that those 72 lives mattered—each life of value, each person remembered, each story told. Their lives had huge value, and the systemic failures that brought about these tragic and untimely ends have been devastating to uncover.

The memorial will remind all of us in your Lordships’ House and in the other place, all those in positions of power, that there cannot be a relaxed approach to systemic failures. They are not someone else’s problem. It is not okay to wait for a loss of life to address them. It is repeatedly demonstrated that systemic failures impact some groups of people disproportionately, and this memorial will serve as a reminder that each life is precious and of equal value. Whatever your gender, ethnicity, skin colour or class, the lives of people of all faiths and none have equal value.

I express my gratitude to the survivors, the community and all those who have contributed, who are contributing and will contribute to the memorial. We can hear from the tributes in the House today just how much work and thought has gone into it, but there is still much yet to do. I am grateful for the fact that it will enable the whole of London and the UK to better remember those precious lives and these people’s stories. Who and what we remember really does matter.