Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a state apology for the victims of the 2017 Grenfell fire that claimed 72 lives, including 42 Muslims, in London.
Following a conclusive inquiry report on the tragedy, Starmer spoke to the parliamentarians at the House of Commons on Wednesday, and said: “I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you, and indeed, to all of the families affected by this tragedy.”
“It should never have happened. The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty: to protect you and your loved ones, the people that we are here to serve, and I am deeply sorry.”
Following a six-year long inquiry, the final report concluded that decades of failure by the governments, indifference to safety by relevant authorities, “systematic dishonesty” and incompetence of manufacturers and installers of building materials and a lack of strategy by firefighters were the main contributors to the shocking death toll.
“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,” said Grenfell inquiry chairman Martin Moore-Bick.
Moore-Bick’s report is nearly 1,700 pages and encompasses years of work and the testimony of hundreds of witnesses. It contains 58 recommendations to ensure a similar disaster never occurs again.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable,” he said, adding that the inquiry has convened more than 300 public hearings and examined around 1,600 witness statements.
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The London Fire Brigade was also criticised for a “chronic lack of effective management and leadership.”
The report said there was a “chronic lack” of leadership at the London Fire Brigade, including too much emphasis on process and an “attitude of complacency.”
The Grenfell Inquiry’s final report sets out how a chain of failures across government and the private sector led to Grenfell Tower becoming a death trap.
The fire killed 72 people in 2017, with the cladding already found to be the “principal” reason for the blaze’s rapid spread.
Other key findings include:
- The government was warned 25 years before the disaster struck with experts sounding an alarm about cladding fires in 1992.
- The 2010 coalition government headed by David Cameron ignored risks because it was on a mission to cut regulations – which it had dubbed as “red tape” holding back British enterprise.
- The inquiry found that the then housing department was “poorly run” and fire safety had been left in the hands of a relatively junior official.
- The inquiry found there had been “systematic dishonesty” from those who made and sold the cladding.
- The inquiry said Grenfell’s refit was poorly managed by contractors and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s company that ran social housing, known as a Tenant Management Organisation (TMO). The inquiry said there had been a breakdown in trust and relations between the TMO and residents, which led to a “serious failure to observe responsibilities”. It showed a “persistent indifference” to fire safety and the needs of vulnerable residents.
- London Fire Brigade bosses didn’t prepare their teams.
