Prime Minister Keir Starmer's has issued a statement in the House of Commons on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report, but campaigners say their fight for justice continues with no guarantee of success.
Grenfell United, who represent the survivors and bereaved
families of the Grenfell Tower fire, has said "justice has not been
delivered" in response to the long-awaited inquiry report.
It said the "system was built" for governments to
avoid their responsibilities to keep people safe.
The PM repeated the inquiry chair’s assessment that “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 just about every institution responsible for ensuring their safety.
“I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you and indeed to all the families affected by this tragedy,” said the PM.
“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.”
He told the Commons that he considered himself responsible for building safety and that is what he will demand of this government.
The government will write to all companies found by the Inquiry to have been part of these horrific failings as the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts. And the government will support the Met Police and the prosecutors as they complete their investigations.
It will look at all 58 of Sir Martin’s recommendations in detail respond in full to the Inquiry’s recommendations within six months.
“But there are some things I can say right now,” he said. “There are still buildings today with unsafe cladding and the speed at which this is being addressed is far, far too slow.
“We only have to look at the fire in Dagenham last week. A building that was still in the process of having its cladding removed. So, this must be a moment of change.
“We will take the necessary steps to speed this up. We are willing to force freeholders to assess their buildings and enter remediation schemes within set timetables, with a legal requirement to force action if that is what it takes to tackle industry intransigence.
“We will set out further steps on remediation this Autumn.
“We will also reform the construction products industry that made this fatal cladding
“So, homes are made of safe materials and those who compromise that safety will face the consequences.
“We will ensure that tenants and their leaseholders can never again be ignored and that Social landlords are held to account for the decency and safety of their homes.”
The full statement published by Grenfell United: "Today
marks the conclusion of a painful six years listening to the evidence of the
deaths of 54 adults and 18 children, our loved ones, neighbours and friends. It
is a significant chapter in the journey to truth, justice and change.
"But justice has not been delivered. The inquiry report
reveals that whenever there's a clash between corporate interest and public
safety, governments have done everything they can to avoid their
responsibilities to keep people safe. The system isn’t broken, it was built
this way.
"It speaks to a lack of competence, understanding and a
fundamental failure to perform the most basic of duties of care.
"The recommendations published today are basic safety
principles that should already exist,highlighting how the government’s roles,
duties and obligations have been hollowed out by privatisation.
"Where voids were created as the government outsourced
their duties, Kingspan, Celotex and Arconic filled the gaps with substandard
and combustible materials.
"They were allowed to manipulate the testing regimes,
fraudulently and knowingly marketing their products as safe.
"Sir Martin Moore-Bick has laid bare his mistrust in the
building industry - no single publication like approved document B should
subsequently be used as a means to regulate fire safety and to keep the public
safe.
"The government knew this was no way to regulate. It was
there to be exploited.
"Our lawyers told the Inquiry that the corporate core
participants - Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex - were "little better than
crooks and killers". The report makes clear that this statement is
entirely true.
"We were failed in most cases by incompetence and in many
cases by calculated dishonesty and greed.
"The duty of government should be to safeguard life, whilst
protecting us from corporate greed. But for too long, they have aided
corporations, facilitating them to profit and dictate regulation.
"It is a damning indictment of this country that amateurs
(like Carl Stokes and Brian Martin) can pose to be experts, putting countless
lives at risk and taking the lives of our loved ones."
"There’s a reading of the inquiry hiding in plain sight
that speaks to both the damage done to Grenfell Tower and the wider damage done
to Britain.
"It’s a serious problem for the whole country when
governments invite corporations to write their own rules.
"The government must now exert control over the sector to
prevent further dismantling of public safety, which used to be understood as
their primary job, not aiding and abetting crooks and killers.
"To prevent a future Grenfell, the government needs to
create something that doesn’t exist: a government with the power and ability to
separate itself from the construction industry and corporate lobbying, putting
people before profit.
"Over and above all, the judge concludes what we already
knew, that every single loss of life was avoidable.
"We expect this government to break old habits and
implement all of the recommendations made by Sir Martin Moore Bick from the
Inquiry report without further delay, because the time to address this is
already three decades too late.
"We are calling on the government to ban Arconic, Kingspan,
Celotex and Rydon from central or local government procurement processes. And
finally start acting in the British public’s interest.
"We have an expectation that the Met Police and the CPS
ensure that those who are truly responsible are held to account and brought to
justice.
"We must never forget that at the heart of this Inquiry
report is the fact that 72 people lost their lives."
