Simon Dudley had claimed that the pendulum had ‘swung too far the wrong way’ on regulation following the devastating blaze at the west London tower block in 2017
Keir Starmer has told Nigel Farage to sack his housing spokesman after he described the Grenfell Tower fire as a “tragedy” but that “everyone dies in the end”.
Simon Dudley, a former executive at Homes England and the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, claimed the pendulum had “swung too far the wrong way” on regulation following the devastating blaze at the west London tower block in 2017.
In an interview with Inside Housing published on Wednesday, he claimed that building safety regulations introduced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire were an example of “regulation which is not working”.
Mr Dudley told the magazine the Grenfell fire was a “tragedy” but insisted he does not believe the regulatory framework is proportionate. He went on to say: “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?”.
Mr Dudley added: “Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually people dying in house fires is rare… many, many more people die on the roads driving cars, but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses being built? You can’t stop tragic things happening. You can try to minimise excesses, but bad things do happen.”
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The PM branded his comments “shameful”, adding ” Nigel Farage should do the decent thing and sack him”.
Mr Dudley has now apologised if his comments were not “clear”. Writing on X, he said: “Grenfell was an utter tragedy and quite rightly prompted a wholesale review and tightening of fire regulations. I said it was a tragedy in my interview with Inside Housing and in no shape or form am I belittling that disaster or the huge loss of life. It must never happen again. I reiterate that, and am sorry if it was not sufficiently clear.”
His comments had led to a furious backlash overnight, with the Housing Secretary Steve Reed earlier also demanding Mr Farage sack him. He said: “If Nigel Farage has an ounce of decency, he will sack his housing chief immediately. These disgraceful comments about those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire are beyond the pale and it is completely untenable for Simon Dudley to continue in his position”.
The London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “This is just sickeningly insensitive. Not an ounce of decency, compassion or respect for the 72 lives lost and wider community. But this isn’t a slip-up or a stumble. This is Reform showing us exactly who they are.”
Grenfell United, which represents many of the families bereaved by the fire as well as survivors, said the comments were “not just insensitive” but “deeply dehumanising”.
In a statement on Thursday, the group said: “Our loved ones did not simply ‘die’. They were failed. They were trapped in their homes, in a building that should have been safe, in a fire that should never have happened. Reducing their deaths to an inevitability strips away the truth: this was preventable. To speak about Grenfell in this way is to erase responsibility.
“It suggests this was just fate, just ‘how it goes’, rather than the result of years of ignored warnings, poor decisions, and a failure to value the lives of residents, and is deeply offensive and ill informed. Everyone deserves the right to a safe home. But this attitude clearly shows Simon Dudley is not the man to ensure that happens.”
The Grenfell Inquiry concluded that the 72 deaths were entirely preventable and had been preceded by “decades of failure” by governments and the building industry to address the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
The Building Safety Regulator, established following the fire and tasked with overseeing the safe design, construction and occupation of higher-risk buildings, has previously come under fire for delays in its approval processes. Last June, the Government unveiled reforms aimed at tackling delays in constructing new high-rise homes, including a fast-track process and additional investment.