Grenfell campaigners have reacted to the “deeply sensitive decision” by the deputy prime minister to demolish the tower block.

Victims’ families and survivors were given the news in a meeting attended by Angela Rayner on Wednesday night.

Grenfell Next of Kin, which represents some of the bereaved families, described it as a “deeply sensitive decision… after a thorough engagement process in person” following an “uncomfortable conversation with uncomfortable truths”.

In a statement on X the group said: “The lack of closure, the continuous discussions and consultations, the retraumatisation of a divisive and painful debate brings nothing to the table except pain and further division.

“We want a discussion about what will go in the Tower’s place so it can be seen and remembered forever. We need to re-imagine a future and rebuild our broken shattered lives and our families.”

The government has previously said there will be no changes to the site before the eighth anniversary of the fire disaster, which claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017.

It is expected more details will be set out by ministers by the end of the week.

Engineering experts have said that while the tower remains stable, and it is safe for people to live, work and study nearby, its condition will worsen over time and there is no realistic prospect of bringing it back into use.

The latest advice issued to the government in September was that the building, or the part of it that was significantly damaged, should be taken down.

Meanwhile, another campaign group, Grenfell United, claimed Ms Rayner had not given a reason behind her decision during the meeting and refused to say how many of the victims’ families and survivors had been consulted.

In a statement, it said: “But judging from the room alone – the vast majority of whom were bereaved – no one supported her decision. But she claims her decision is based on our views.

“Ignoring the voices of bereaved on the future of our loved ones’ gravesite is disgraceful and unforgivable.”

Grenfell Next of Kin expressed a different opinion, suggesting the decision by Ms Rayner “must have been difficult” and adding that “all the previous Secretaries of State [for Housing, Communities and Local Government] avoided making a decision despite the harm it did to us and the community.”

Local Labour MP Joe Powell also defended Ms Rayner posting on X that following “intensive engagement with our community… the decision to start planning for the Tower to come down has not been taken lightly”.

What is left of the tower has stood in place since the tragedy, with a covering on the building featuring a large green heart accompanied by the words “forever in our hearts”.

Views have varied on what should happen to the site.

Some of the bereaved and survivors feel the tower should remain in place until there are criminal prosecutions over the failings which led to the disaster.

The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in September, concluded the fire was the result of “decades of failure” by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.

The west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said.

He said the “simple truth” is that all the deaths were avoidable and that those who lived in the tower were “badly failed” by authorities “in most cases through incompetence but, in some cases, through dishonesty and greed”.

However, the Metropolitan Police said last year that decisions on criminal charges for the Grenfell Tower blaze are not expected until the end of 2026.

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It would mean a near 10-year wait for justice if anyone is ultimately charged – a period of time described by families as “unbearable”.

The disaster was Britain’s deadliest residential fire since the Second World War and began a national reckoning over the safety and conditions of social housing and tower blocks.

Separately, the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has been consulting on plans for a permanent memorial in the area of the tower.

A shortlist of five potential design teams was announced last month, with a winner expected to be selected this summer to enable a planning application to be submitted in late 2026.

A government spokesperson said: “The priority for the deputy prime minister is to meet with and write to the bereaved, survivors and the immediate community to let them know her decision on the future of the Grenfell Tower.

“This is a deeply personal matter for all those affected, and the deputy prime minister is committed to keeping their voice at the heart of this.”

The Met Police has stepped up its efforts to clamp down on phone thieves, seizing 1,000 stolen mobiles and arresting 230 people in one week.

During a week of co-ordinated action across London, the capital’s police force specifically targeted and clamped down on phone thieves.

This included action in hot spot areas, like the West End and Westminster where nearly 40% of thefts occur, it said.

The Met Police described it as a £50million-a-year trade that saw stolen phones resold abroad and in the UK.

Later on Thursday, the Home Secretary will chair a summit with law enforcement bodies to focus on tackling smartphone thefts.

One of the issues the Met Police wants to raise is with tech companies improving security on devices so stolen phones cannot be easily resold.

Increased patrols in Westminster saw 17 arrests for robbery and theft, following 42 stop and searches.

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In Hackney and Haringey, officers made 15 arrests connected to the operation, including a 15-year-old boy on an illegal electric bike who was found with a large knife and £1,000 cash.

Other operations included arresting two e-bike thieves, who were later sentenced to a combined five years, for phone thefts.

Alongside that, they executed a warrant at a second-hand phone shop where they suspected stolen mobiles were.

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Commander Owain Richards, who is leading the Met’s response to phone thefts, said: “We are seeing phone thefts on an industrial scale, fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.

“By intensifying our efforts we’re catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phone stolen in the capital.

“But we need help from partners and industry to do more.

“That is why we’re working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.”

Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said personal robbery was down 13% on the same period last year.

Planning rules will be ripped up to make it easier to build new nuclear reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government has announced.

The reforms are the latest in a series of proposals designed to “get Britain building” to help grow the economy, after powers for environmental quangos to delay infrastructure projects were removed.

The UK was the first country in the world to develop a nuclear reactor but the last time a power station was built was in 1995.

Ministers have blamed this on “suffocating” red tape, leaving the UK lagging behind in the global race for cleaner more affordable energy.

Under moves announced today, mini-nuclear power stations known as small modular reactors (SMRs) will be included in the national planning guidance, allowing them to be built in the UK for the first time.

SMRs are considered to be cheaper, quicker to manufacture and safer than conventional nuclear power plants, so industry experts see them as having an important role in efforts to decarbonise.

Other reforms include:

• Scrapping a list which currently limits nuclear development to eight specific sites

• Removing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules so projects don’t get timed out

• Establishing a new Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to look at further ways to build nuclear plants quicker and cheaper, which will report directly to the prime minister

Unions and business groups have welcomed the announcement, but environmentalists were critical.

The changes come amid long-term struggles to get two existing nuclear projects over the line.

Only one nuclear power plant, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is under construction in the UK – but its completion date has been delayed by years with the French company developing it blaming this on inflation, labour shortages and Brexit disruption.

The government also pointed to the need for a 30,000-page environmental assessment required to get planning permission, saying in its announcement today that Britain “has been suffocated by regulations”, which is harming investment.

A separate project, Sizewell C in Suffolk, has also been hit by delays and rising costs before a spade has even hit the ground.

By comparison China is constructing 29 reactors, and the EU has 12 at planning stage.

UK ‘let down and left behind’

Sir Keir Starmer said: “This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. We’ve been let down and left behind.

“I’m putting an end to it – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.”

The announcement builds on a Labour manifesto commitment to “end a decade of dithering” on nuclear power as part of broader plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 – with cheaper bills and better energy security.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that nuclear power will create “thousands of skilled jobs” and prevent the UK being vulnerable to global energy markets in the future.

“Build, build, build – that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about,” he said.

Some environmentalist groups dispute nuclear power’s green credentials though, saying that while it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, it isn’t a plausible alternative to renewable energy sources – like wind and solar.

Dr Doug Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK, said: “The Labour government has swallowed nuclear industry spin whole, seemingly without applying so much as a pinch of critical scrutiny or asking for a sprinkling of evidence.”

Unions were welcoming of the announcement’s potential to create jobs and deliver net zero, but said it should go alongside the complete go-ahead for Sizewall C.

And Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “This is the prime minister’s strongest signal yet that new nuclear is critical to the growth and clean power mission.

“A more streamlined planning system will give certainty to investors, the supply chain and communities, and will enable us to get on with building new nuclear plants on more sites and at pace for a cleaner, more secure power system.”