Residents affected by the London tower block inferno were passionate and angry during a lengthy exchange with Prime Minister Theresa May, a bishop who sat with them has revealed.
Sixteen "very ordinary people" sat in Downing Street to bring their concerns to May in an "unprecedented" meeting on Saturday and finally felt they were listened to, the Bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin said.
He is hopeful the two-and-a-half hour meeting, attended by victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, was the starting point for a process of "lasting change".
"I'm positive because I think it was a real chance for local residents, people affected by this tragedy, to voice their concerns directly to the prime minister so that she could hear them.
"I think in the past local residents here have not always been listened to."
The bishop praised the way the residents raised and explained their concerns to May.
"I thought the way they expressed themselves with a mixture of passion and reason was fantastic," he said.
"Clearly it's quite unprecedented for 16 very ordinary people, who this time last week were walking their dogs or talking to each other in the streets around here and north Kensington, actually to be in 10 Downing Street talking face-to-face with the prime minister."
Asked if there were angry exchanges, Tomlin said: "We tried to hold it well as a meeting. There was passion, there was anger, but there was good, hard, reasoned argument used by the residents."
The bishop said he hoped it was the beginning of a process of listening between residents and authorities that would bring about lasting change.
"We wait to see what action will come from it, but they were reassured that they were listened to."
Following the meeting, May released a strongly-worded statement in which she said on-the-ground support for families in the immediate aftermath of the blaze "was not good enough".
She said she has ordered daily progress reports on housing for those affected, and vowed the public inquiry into the disaster would be "open and transparent".
"We wait to see what action will come from it, but they were reassured that they were listened to."
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