It is difficult to imagine a more damning indictment of the actions and inactions of government, elements of the construction industry and others than was delivered by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry yesterday.
Over almost 1,700 pages, its final report set out in excoriating detail how the inferno which claimed 72 lives at a London tower block in June 2017 was the culmination of “decades of failure” to act on dangers around flammable materials.
The result was a tragedy on an appalling scale: a fire which started with an electrical fault in one flat spread rapidly with the help of combustible exterior cladding, engulfing 19 floors in as many minutes.
The dead included 18 children, as well as five victims from one family. Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said the simple but devastating truth was that all the deaths were avoidable and residents had been failed “in most cases through incompetence but in some cases through dishonesty and greed”.
On the government side, he pointed to a drive for deregulation which meant that concerns about safety had been “ignored, delayed or disregarded”. This was despite warnings sounded following fires as far back as 25 years ago.
Several companies also came in for severe criticism, including Cavan-based firm Kingspan.
Although the small amount of Kingspan insulation used at Grenfell did not contribute to the blaze, the report said “from 2005 until after this inquiry had begun, Kingspan knowingly created a false market in insulation for use on buildings over 18 metres in height” by a false claim that a product had been part of a system successfully tested.
A statement by the company yesterday acknowledged “wholly unacceptable historical failings” that had been “emphatically addressed”, but struck entirely the wrong tone in otherwise firmly distancing itself from blame.
Campaigners have called for some companies to be banned from benefiting from government contracts, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying they will now be contacted as a first step.
Relatives have also said police and prosecutors must deliver justice for those who died by bringing criminal charges against those who bear responsibility.
Unfortunately, as past experience of inquiries shows, that will be a lengthy and complex process. With so many individuals and organisations contributing to a ‘web of blame’, it may be that the criminal standard of proof is difficult to meet.
What must happen to honour the memory of victims is comprehensive action to ensure such a tragedy can never happen again.
All dangerous materials should be removed from buildings without further delay and there must be what Mr Starmer described a “generational shift” in housing quality and safety, placing people rather than profit at its centre.
