Grenfell fire exposes disconnect between elitist council and poor residents

London

THE Ferraris were driving people batty in affluent South Kensington. Drivers revved their engines and ripped past Harrods. Residents were already irritated by the dust and noise from super-rich neighbours building underground swimming pools and cinemas. Now came complaints about Middle Eastern "types" drag racing at night.

Up in North Kensington, a part of London that is home to some of Britain's poorest residents, the complaints were more elemental. People were fighting plans to close a day care centre, lease out a public library and demolish a community college. At one public housing project, Grenfell Tower, residents had complained about fire safety issues for years: power surges that blew up television sets and filled rooms with smoke, outdated fire extinguishers and the absence of a communal fire alarm.