Grenfell inquiry LIVE – Report names and shames culprits of ‘many years of failure’
A long-awaited report into the Grenfell Tower tragedy has found greed and “systematic dishonesty” led to the fatal blaze.
The 2017 fire in West London claimed the lives of 72 people after years of warnings were ignored. A landmark public inquiry report, published this morning, described “decades of failure” ahead of the horrific blaze.
Police say they will go through the findings “line by line” as bereaved families and survivors demand those responsible are prosecuted. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it happened because “profit has been put before people”.
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said: “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants.”
Keir Starmer will address MPs after PMQs this afternoon.
Follow our live coverage throughout the day below
Inquiry chairman lists those who were blame for Grenfell Tower tragedy
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said the deaths of 72 people were “all avoidable” as he pointed the finger of blame at numerous private firms and the Government.
Sir Martin said: “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable and that those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants.”
Listing those he found responsible, he said: “They include the Government, the tenant management organisation, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, those who manufactured and supplied the materials used in the refurbishment, those who certified their suitability for use on high-rise residential buildings, the architect, Studio E; the principal contractor, Rydon Maintenance Ltd, and some of its sub-contractors, in particular, Harley Curtain Wall Ltd and its successor Harley Facades Ltd; some of the consultants, in particular the fire engineer, Exova Warringtonfire Ltd; the local authority’s building control department and the London Fire Brigade.
“Not all of them bear the same degree of responsibility for the eventual disaster, but, as our reports show, all contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases through incompetence but in some cases through dishonesty and greed .
“The failings can be traced back over many years and our efforts to get to the bottom of what went wrong and why, account for the length of our report and the time it has taken us to produce it.”
Grenfell happened because firms put ‘profit before people’ says Sadiq Khan
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the residents of Grenfell Tower “paid a price for systemic dishonesty, corporate greed and institutional indifference and neglect”.
He said firms held responsible by the inquiry should be banned from receiving public contracts, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should look into bringing criminal cases. Mr Khan said: “The Grenfell Tower fire isn’t just a heart-breaking tragedy, it’s a horrific injustice and a national disgrace. That the lives of 72 Londoners were stolen from us in such circumstances is a moral outrage.
“The inquiry makes clear in stark terms that all these deaths were entirely avoidable, and that the residents of Grenfell Tower have paid the price for systematic dishonesty, corporate greed and institutional indifference and neglect.” He said “profit has been put before people” which “isn’t just shameful, it’s utterly indefensible”.
Keir Starmer says Government will ‘carefully consider’ report findings
Keir Starmer said the Government will ‘carefully consider’ the findings, saying “substantial and widespread failings” had been unearthed.
The PM said: “My thoughts today are wholly with those bereaved by, and survivors of, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the residents in the immediate community. This day is for them.
“I hope that Sir Martin’s report can provide the truth they have sought for so long, and that it is step towards the accountability and justice they deserve.”
In a statement to Parliament, Sir Keir said: “The Government will carefully consider the report and its recommendations, to ensure that such a tragedy cannot occur again.
“I hope that those outside Government will do the same. Given the detailed and extensive nature of the report, a further and more in-depth debate will be held at a later date.”
Grenfell was wrapped in flammable material because of ‘systematic dishonesty’
Grenfell Tower came to be wrapped in flammable material because of “systematic dishonesty” among those who made and sold cladding panels and insulation products, the report says.
These firms “engaged in deliberate and sustained strategies to manipulate the testing processes, misrepresent test data and mislead the market”. A former government agency, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), which provided advice on building and fire safety was “complicit in that strategy” when it came to the main insulation product from Celotex.
The BRE was privatised in 1997, but years before that “much of the work it carried out in relation to testing the fire safety of external walls was marred by unprofessional conduct, inadequate practices, a lack of effective oversight, poor reporting and a lack of scientific rigour.”
Its systems were concluded not to have been “robust enough to ensure complete independence” and it was judged to have played “an important part in enabling Celotex and Kingspan to market their products” for use in the external walls of high-rise buildings.
The certification bodies, the British Board of Agrement (BBA) and the Local Authority Building Control (LABC), “failed to ensure that the statements in their product certificates were accurate and based on test evidence”, while the UKAS, which is responsible for oversight of certification bodies, “failed to apply proper standards of monitoring and supervision”.
‘Deaths were all avoidable’ and residents ‘badly failed’, inquiry chairman says
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick is outlining his findings now.
Sir Martin said: “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants.”
Police will go through report ‘line-by-line’
Detectives will go through the Grenfell Inquiry report line by line as they have “one chance” to get their investigation right, a senior officer has said.
Victims face a wait of another year to 18 months from the report’s publication before they find out whether any criminal charges will be brought over the tragedy. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “Our police investigation is independent of the public inquiry.
“It operates under a different legal framework and so we cannot simply use the report’s findings as evidence to bring charges. To secure justice for those who died and all those affected by the fire we must examine the report, line by line, alongside the evidence from the criminal investigation.
“As I said previously, this will take us at least 12 to 18 months. This will lead to the strongest possible evidence being presented to the Crown Prosecution Service so they can make charging decisions.
“I can’t pretend to imagine the impact of such a long police investigation on the bereaved and survivors, but we have one chance to get our investigation right.”
Report finds ‘decades of failure’ and ‘dishonesty’ led to tragedy
The Grenfell Tower fire was the result of “decades of failure” by those in power, the public inquiry has found.
In its landmark final report, the inquiry has laid bare how Government complacency and industry dishonesty and greed led to the 2017 tragedy. Construction manufacturers were found guilty of “systematic dishonesty”, with firms having “deliberately concealed” information about the dangers of its cladding products.
Residents of the 24-story tower block faced an “uncaring and bullying overlord” as their warnings about fire safety were ignored by the local authority tenants’ organisation. And the west London council at hand was found to be “unduly concerned” by its reputation in the immediate aftermath of the fire.
‘There’s no justice without people going behind bars’
Sandra Ruiz, whose 12-year-old niece, Jessica Urbano Ramirez, died in the fire, said that “for me, there’s no justice without people going behind bars.”
“Our lives were shattered on that night. People need to be held accountable,” she said. “People who have made decisions putting profit above people’s safety need to be behind bars.”
Resident who warned of blaze hopes report will highlight ‘profit before people’ attitude
A former tower resident and who warned of the dangers of fire in the months before the tragedy says he hopes the report will “highlight the institutionalised indifference that saw private companies put profit before people”.
Grenfell United member Edward Daffarn said he is feeling “quite apprehensive”. Mr Daffarn said he is hopeful for vindication for those he said had been painted as “rebel residents” who were “difficult” in their dealings with the council and the tenant management organisation.
“I hope that that will be dealt with, and that Sir Martin Moore-Bick will reach a conclusion, and that we will be vindicated,” he said.
He added: “(I hope) the buck-passing that took place during the public inquiry, where none of the corporate core participants took any responsibility for their actions, is going to come to an end.
“The buck will stop, and we will finally be in a position where we have the truth and we will be able to call out some of these companies and the government for the way that they behaved.”
Will today’s report lead to speedier prosecutions?
The report’s findings could ramp up pressure on police and prosecutors to get people before the courts faster.
Bereaved families and survivors have said this must happen for justice to be served. In May, the Metropolitan Police said their investigators need until the end of 2025 to finalise their inquiry, and prosecutors will then need a year to decide whether charges can be brought.
This wait, which could stretch to a decade after the catastrophic fire, has been branded “unbearable”. According to the update from police and prosecutors earlier this year, the mammoth police investigation into the fire has already generated 27,000 lines of inquiry and more than 12,000 witness statements.
A total of 58 individuals and 19 companies and organisations are under investigation for potential criminal offences, and more than 300 hours of interviews have taken place.
Potential offences under consideration include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in public office, health and safety offences, fraud and offences under the fire safety and building regulations.
Those to blame for deadly blaze must be prosecuted, campaigner warns
Grenfell families must get justice and see those to blame for the deadly blaze prosecuted, a leading campaigner warns today.
The long-running inquiry’s second report will be published today, spelling out how the west London tower block came to be in a condition which allowed the deadly blaze to claim the lives of 72 people.
But Yvette Williams, from Justice4Grenfell, told the Mirror that today is “not a day of justice” for bereaved families. Instead she said those whose lives were torn apart by the 2017 disaster will be retraumatised again as that dreadful night is recounted – but no “real” criminal punishment will be handed out to anyone.
Ms Williams said she believed the report would be “truthful” but “nothing will be new to us” after hearing evidence during the years-long inquiry.
Firefighter describes ‘cataclysmic series of failings’
A firefighter involved in tackling the Grenfell Tower blaze said there were a “cataclysmic series of failings” in the building.
Ricky Nuttall, who was forced to abandon an attempt to rescue a resident from the 15th floor, defended the “stay put” advice initially given to people in the building, saying firefighters were unaware of the state of the tower.
“The idea of a ‘stay put’ policy is, its principles are founded on a building working as it should,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today.
“At the time, as a firefighter on the ground, we had no idea that the building wasn’t built as it should be, that areas were compromised, that fire doors weren’t fitted, that smoke vents wouldn’t open, that the outside of the building was effectively covered in petrol, a flammable material that’s going to burn rapidly, window sills weren’t fitted correctly. There were a cataclysmic list of failings with the building, and none of that information was available to us at the time.”
Describing the failed rescue attempt from the 15th floor in 2017, he said he was running out of air and together with a colleague, they decided an attempt to reach the victim would have left “three people in mortal danger rather than one”.
“The guilt of leaving a human being behind is very, very hard to come to terms with, especially when you find out that that person did, in fact die. “But it was the right decision from a logical perspective in terms of what air we had and what chance that person actually had of getting out of building with us.”
