On 14 June 2017, Grenfell Tower in Kensington was engulfed in flames within an hour of a small refrigerator fire being reported on the 4th floor. At least 72 people died in the fire and an entire community was torn apart.
But make no mistake, this was not a blameless tragedy or genuine accident.
The Grenfell Tower fire was the inevitable outcome of the actions of successive governments hellbent on corner-cutting and safety deregulation in the name of austerity.
Grenfell residents had expressed significant safety concerns before the fire and investigations following the tragedy uncovered the use of a combustible insulation foam and highly-flammable cladding were prevalent on exterior of the building and, ultimately, enabled the fire to rapidly spread throughout the building. As well as this, numerous instances of incompetence and indifference from council officials from the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea meant that the building became plagued with unaddressed risk assessment failures, including on matters concerning to fire safety.
The report produced by the Grenfell Tower enquiry has found that Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex, the manufacturers of cladding products, were found to have engaged in “systematic dishonesty” and used “deliberate and sustained strategies” to make their products appear safe.
The legislative actions of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government on 2010-15 are largely to blame for the fire and resulting death toll. Their disgraceful and habitual deregulation has been found to have led to safety matters being “ignored, delayed or disregarded” by building materials manufacturers and council officials.
Today's report paints a clear picture of how the Grenfell Tower disaster was allowed to happen. We are hopeful that this stage of the inquiry brings those responsible to justice in the form of prosecutions and criminal proceedings, as well as an immediate end to the callous privatisation that has been allowed to shatter communities like Grenfell.
In the meantime, the Peace & Justice Project continues to stand in absolute and unwavering solidarity with those fighting for justice for those lost in the Grenfell Tower fire.
We also note that as of July 2024, 4,630 residential buildings have been identified as having unsafe cladding, putting thousands of occupants at serious risk. With only 29% of the necessary remedial work undertaken under the Conservative governments of May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak, we call on the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer to accelerate the removal of dangerous cladding from residential buildings to ensure the safety of all residents and the avoidance of another preventable tragedy like the Grenfell Tower fire.
Read the full Grenfell Tower inquiry report here.
NOTES FOR EDITORS