‘WE paid the price of systematic dishonesty, institutional indifference and neglect,’ Natasha Elcock, Chair of Grenfell United, said in the shadow of Grenfell Tower yesterday morning.
She delivered the community statement after the Chairman of the Grenfell Inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, delivered his damning verdict.
Those in the 24-storey block were ‘badly failed’ over many years, said Moore-Bick. ‘The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable.’
Moore-Bick said his inquiry had uncovered ‘incompetence, dishonesty and greed’.
He said: ‘The government ignored warnings about dangerous cladding from as early as 1991. It knew the risks but failed to prevent them, revealing the greed and profiteering of an industry that has been poorly regulated by governments over decades.’
He added: ‘It uncovers the systematic failings at the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation) and RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea) which created a toxic, calculated culture which marginalised its residents.’
In response, to Moore-Bick’s report, Natasha Elcock said on behalf of Grenfell United: ‘Human life was never a priority and we lost friends, neighbours and loved ones in the most horrific way, through greed, corruption, incompetence and negligence.
‘The recommendations published today are basic safety principles that should already exist, highlighting how the government’s role, duties and obligations, have been hollowed out by privatisation.
‘Where voids were created, as the government outsourced their duties, Kingpan, Cemtex and Arconic filled the gaps with substandard and combustible materials.
‘They were allowed to manipulate the testing regimes fraudulently and knowingly market their products as safe.
‘Today we send a message to Kier Starmer and his government: This country has been failed by governments of all political persuasions. Our expectation is your government will break old habits and implement all the recommendations made by Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s report without further delay…
‘Finally, to the 54 adults and 18 children whose lives were cut short in the most violent way, we will never give up fighting for justice for you and you will forever be in our hearts.’
Responding to the report, Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: ‘The FBU shares the grief and anger of the bereaved, survivors and residents, and we call for justice for those who were killed by this entirely preventable fire.
‘The FBU has always argued that the fire was the result of decades of failure by central government to regulate the building industry – the prioritisation of private profit over human life.
‘This report completely vindicates that position, demonstrating beyond doubt that an agenda of deregulation cost lives.
‘Construction companies gamed the system to maximise their profits. A system of semi-privatised building control put commercial interests ahead of regulatory duties.
‘Firefighters and fire control staff were put in an impossible position, forced to respond to a fire in a high rise building effectively wrapped in petrol.
‘Again and again, residents and firefighters warned of the dangers of combustible cladding but were ignored.
‘The FBU is still digesting the report’s recommendations, but the government must go further than what is set out in this report.
‘The deregulation of recent decades must be comprehensively reversed. The systems for delivering building safety must be brought under public ownership and must be given the resources they need.’
