UK inquiry finds ‘dishonesty and greed’ behind Grenfell Tower fire deaths

Incompetence, dishonesty and greed were behind the 72 “avoidable” deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire in London, a report into the 2017 tragedy has concluded.

Delivered on Wednesday following a six-year inquiry, the final report stated that decades of failure by United Kingdom governments, indifference to safety by authorities, dishonest and incompetent manufacturers and installers of building materials, and a lack of strategy by firefighters were the main contributors to the shocking death toll.

Those in the 24-storey block were “badly failed” over many years, said the inquiry chairman, Martin Moore-Bick, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday. “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable.”

He added that the two-phase inquiry, which has convened more than 300 public hearings and examined about 1,600 witness statements, took longer than hoped due to its broad scope and because “many more matters of concern” had been discovered than originally expected.

‘Incompetence, dishonesty and greed’

The long-awaited report said the elements identified contributed to varying degrees to the rapid spread of the blaze and failure to rescue residents. This was largely due to incompetence, the chairman said, but in some cases “dishonesty and greed”.

The first phase of the inquiry had found that the fire had been fuelled by the cladding used on the building, which was made of aluminium composite material (ACM), a mixture of aluminium and plastic.

The highly combustible cladding was used on the building because it was cheap and because of the “incompetence of the organisations and individuals involved in the refurbishment” – including architects, engineers and contractors – all of whom thought safety was someone else’s responsibility, the report said.

The government and authorities failed over decades to assess the dangers of such cladding, Moore-Bick said.

The tenant management organisation of the local authority is accused of manipulating the process of appointing the architect who oversaw the installation of the cladding.

The report reserved particular criticism for the companies that manufactured the cladding, accusing them of engaging in “systematic dishonesty,” manipulating safety tests and misrepresenting the results to claim the material was safe.

‘Gut-wrenching’

The London Fire Brigade was also criticised for a “chronic lack of effective management and leadership”.

The report said firefighters were not adequately trained to deal with a high-rise fire and were issued with old communications equipment that did not work properly.

The report made multiple recommendations, including the introduction of tougher fire safety rules, the establishment of a national fire and rescue college and a single independent regulator for the construction industry to replace the current mishmash of bodies.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the report was a “gut-wrenching” read. He said that “more must now be done to hold those responsible to account, including banning any of the companies held responsible by the inquiry from receiving any public contracts as the police and CPS look into bringing criminal prosecutions”.