‘13 dead, nothing said’

Lewisham East MP Janet Daby was just 10 when a fire killed 13 young black people in New Cross Road in 1981. Here she recalls the impact it had on the community.

Growing up off Creek Road in Greenwich, I used to get the 177 bus to Lambeth with my mum to visit her twin brother and his family every week or so.

I remember looking out of the bus riding through New Cross, seeing the remnants of the fire that tore through a family home 40 years ago.

Thirteen young lives were lost in the fire during Yvonne Ruddock’s 16th birthday party.

They were young innocent black lives, only a few years older than my siblings.

So many survivors were left with severe burns and emotional scars.

One young person later committed suicide.

My generation of Caribbean children in South London remember these very early, painful traumas.

The New Cross Fire, which we have marked throughout January, shaped us into the people we are now.

We learned young our lives were not as valuable. Justice was not blind. The fire took place within a background of regular, intense racism.

The British National Party had infiltrated all areas with their hatred.

That led to a growing sense of mistrust towards the criminal justice system, from community officers to high court judges.

Teenagers coming out of the horrific fire were interrogated as though they were criminals.

They fabricated a story about there being a fight in the party and coerced the young people into admitting it.

No such fight had taken place.

They failed to conduct a fair and thorough investigation. Many suspected it was the result of a racist arson attack.

Firebombs were not uncommon at that time.

No public condolences were given; the Government showed no care. “13 dead, nothing said” was my community’s motto.

There was no sign of a response from those in authority.

I do believe something positive came from the aftermath. Lewisham’s Black community became united against the injustice they were facing.

After decades of physical assaults, verbal abuse, discrimination by public services, schooling, housing, employment, this fire was a final straw.

Black Londoners finally took to the streets in peaceful protest. The need for protest has sadly increased in the years since.

We have seen far too many black people murdered because of their skin colour. Mothers weeping on TV beg for change.

Tower blocks burned down with precious souls in them. British citizens are told to go back to the commonwealth countries they left decades ago.

Innocent young men are singled out and searched in 2021.

Little has changed in the treatment of black young people. No matter how much confidence parents, teachers and youth workers instil in kids, systemic racism can tear it down.

Children today can see the example black activism set – peaceful, political, but powerful.

The New Cross fire remains an open wound for so many. There are still no answers and no closure.

We don’t know who caused the fire; who failed higher up in the police and the Home Office.

We don’t know the effect on survivors, or what would have become of those who didn’t.

But I do know this for sure, my community will not stop fighting against injustice. I encourage others to join us.