The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report declared today that the blaze which claimed the lives of 72 people in 2017 was avoidable.
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bickhe delivered the body’s phase 2 report, which found what he described as systematic dishonesty among cladding manufacturers.
The 1,700-page report discovered deliberate manipulation of testing processes aimed at misrepresenting data and misleading the market on the safety of the cladding.
Natasha Elcock spoke on behalf of Grenfell United, which represents the families of victims, and said members’ loved ones were failed by calculated dishonesty and greed.
Elcock said: “Human life was never a priority, and we lost friends, neighbours and loved ones in the most horrific way, from greed, corruption.”
Grenfell United called on some of the firms involved in providing flammable cladding to the building, which led to the inferno spreading so quickly, to be banned from government contracts.
The report also noted how successive governments did not act on the dangers associated with certain types of cladding.
Addressing victims in the House of Commons today, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “It should never have happened.
“The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty to protect you and your loved ones, the people we are here to serve and I am deeply sorry.”
The London Fire Brigade was also criticised in the report, which stated there had been an attitude of complacency and failure to adequately train control room operators.
The report noted a similar incident in 2009, which it argued should have alerted the brigade to the potential danger of future high-rise fires.
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said his organisation had implemented the findings of the inquiry’s phase 1 report and were now better equipped to tackle future crises.
Roe said: “We have introduced important policies, new equipment, improved training and better ways of working, particularly in how we respond to fires in high-rise residential buildings, and Londoners are safer as a result.
“This was evidenced at the awful fire in Dagenham late last month.
“While we are now better prepared to respond to high-rise fires, we are not complacent.”
