3 months ago
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The final report on the Grenfell Tower fire shows victims were "failed by calculated dishonesty and greed", bereaved families and survivors say.
Grenfell United, which represents some of the families, said the findings of the inquiry chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick set out how corporate bodies involved were "little better than crooks".
Speaking on behalf of the group, Natasha Elcock said: "Human life was never a priority, and we lost friends, neighbours and loved ones in the most horrific way - from greed, corruption."
The fire in the west London tower block in June 2017 left 72 people dead - 54 adults and 18 children.
In a statement, Grenfell United said previous governments had "aided corporations, facilitating them to profit and dictate regulation" and called on some of the firms involved to be banned from government contracts.
Acknowledging that the report marked a "significant chapter" since the fire, the statement said, however, that "justice has not been delivered".
The group reiterated the call for police and prosecutors to ensure that those who were truly responsible were held to account and brought to justice.
The inquiry examined the roles of companies which made cladding and insulation used in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower in 2016.
In a key passage, the 1,700-page report concluded:
“One very significant reason why Grenfell Tower came to be clad in combustible materials was systematic dishonesty on the part of those who made and sold the rainscreen cladding… and insulation."
They engaged in “deliberate and sustained strategies to manipulate the testing processes, misrepresent data and mislead the market”, the report found.
Arconic produced panels of Reynobond PE cladding, deemed to be "by far the largest contributor" to the Grenfell fire, according to new research by two inquiry experts.
The report said that Arconic commissioned fire tests which revealed very poor ratings for cladding installed as folded cassettes, but concealed these from the BBA, a British private certification firm which aimed to keep the construction industry up to date with safety risks.
The inquiry also found fault with Celotex and Kingspan, which both made insulation.
The Tenant Management Organisation, Royal Borough of Kensington, and London Fire Brigade were also criticised.
Police and prosecutors have said that investigators will need until the end of 2025 to complete their inquiry, with final decisions on potential criminal charges by the end of 2026.
The statement from Grenfell United added: "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."
In November 2020, lawyers for the bereaved told the public inquiry that companies "assiduously and cynically manufactured or provided products which they knew or suspected to be dangerous, in pursuit of profit".
