Starmer says Grenfell report ‘must lead to justice’ as he hits out at cladding firms

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called for legislation on a duty of candour for public officials to be brought forward in light of the findings in the Grenfell Tower report.

He said: “We must tackle the big, systemic issues that come up time and again in scandals like this, from Hillsborough to Horizon to infected blood.

“Like other scandal victims, the bereaved and survivors of Grenfell have called for a duty of candour on public officials, and we welcomed its inclusion in the King’s Speech.

“So can the Prime Minister tell us when that legislation will be published and whether the duty will cover all public officials?”

Sir Keir Starmer replied in the Commons: “This duty of candour is very, very important, and we’ll look again at it in light of this report, but we’re determined to bring forward that legislation as quickly as we can.

“It’s long overdue, but I do think, having looked at some of the report already, that it’s worth reflecting and making sure what’s in the report is incorporated into whatever law that we do bring forward.”

The PM told MPs that two weeks ago he made a private visit to Grenfell Tower, where he laid a wreath and affirmed the government’s commitment to deliver a permanent memorial on the site through a process led by the Grenfell community.

He also spoke movingly of how he felt while there. He said: “As I walked down that narrow staircase from the 23rd floor and looked at walls burned by 1000-degree heat, I got just a sense of how utterly, utterly terrifying it must have been. And as I saw examples of the cladding on the outside of the building, and listened to descriptions of the catastrophic and completely avoidable failures of that fatal refurbishment, I felt just a sense of the anger that now rises through that building.

“And it left me a with a profound and very personal determination to make the legacy of Grenfell Tower…one of the defining changes to our country that I want to make as Prime Minister.”

The Grenfell Inquiry report is “a damning indictment of over 30 years of successive state failures”, former prime minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons.

Responding to Sir Keir Starmer’s statement on the 2017 residential tower block fire in west London and inquiry report, Mr Sunak said: “Whilst the Grenfell community’s loss will have left a hole nothing will ever be able to fill, I hope that whatever healing is possible from today, that each and every one of them takes some small measure of it.

“I know they will never forget the 72 people who tragically lost their lives, and nor shall we.

“Today’s publication, as the Prime Minister said, is to put it bluntly, a damning indictment of over 30 years of successive state failures, stretching as far back as Knowsley Heights in 1991 and then multiple incidents from there.

“Sir Martin Moore-Bick and the work of the inquiry have painted a picture of systemic indifference, failure and in some notable cases, dishonesty and greed.”

Black Lives Matter UK have said the failure to deliver justice following the Grenfell Tower fire “is nothing short of a tragedy”.

“The treatment of the victims of Grenfell, their families, and the wider impacted community has been shameful,” they told The Independent’s Race Correspondent Nadine White, responding to the publication of the final report on the fire which killed 72 people.

“The report confirms what we already know—that we live in a society where a hierarchy of human worth is premised upon the colour of your skin, and where ease in accessing basic social goods such as decent housing is determined by your class and race.

“The fire was a horrific tragedy that will forever be etched into the minds of migrant communities in Britain. It symbolises exploitation, institutional racism and state abandonment.

“The lack of support, the mistreatment of victims, and the failure to deliver justice is nothing short of a travesty. Corporations that cut corners and the authorities that abandoned their responsibilities must not be allowed to evade accountability.”

The Independent’s Race Correspondent Nadine White reports:

The UK’s leading independent race equality think tank has said the Grenfell Tower tragedy was “preventable” and “marred at every point by structural and direct racism”.

Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust told The Independent: “The Grenfell fire was a preventable tragedy, marred at every point by structural and direct racism – from those who were killed, to the treatment of survivors, the bereaved, and the wider community, as the latest report from the Inquiry confirms.

“Seven years since, there is still no justice for the victims and thousands of unsafe buildings still stand across the country. Unless urgent and sufficient action is taken, it is a matter of time until a tragedy of the same scale will happen again.

“In March 2023, Mizanur Rahman died after a fire tore through the two-bedroom flat he shared with at least 17 other men. And in December 2020, two-year-old Awaab Ishak died of respiratory failure caused by the black mould in his home.

“People of colour are feeling the harshest impacts of the housing crisis, disproportionately live in unsafe and unsuitable homes, and are often funnelled into the poorest quality and least desirable social housing. As a bare minimum, everyone should have access to safe, suitable, affordable housing.”

The Independent’s Andy Gregory reports from Dorland House:

Asked about the prospect of criminal charges, Natasha Elcock, chair of Grenfell United, told The Independent: “Our fate will always be in someone else’s hands and it has been for the last seven years.

“So the most we can hope for at this point today is that the report and the government bring about systematic change. The Met Police and the CPS have explained that they need the report to cross-reference and ensure that they’ve got what they need in order to bring prosecutions. For us, that is the ultimate justice.”

Ms Elcock added: “I think we were under no illusions from as early as 2018 that this was going to be a 10 year process, but what we won’t allow to happen as a community is this to rumble on like Hillsborough and other injustices that we’ve seen in this country.

“So the message really to the Met is: ‘We are relying on you to ensure that the investigation is thorough and that every single person that is culpable for the deaths of our loved ones is held to account.’” 

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested all companies found to have been involved in the Grenfell Tower tragedy will be stopped from getting future government contracts.

Following the publication of the final report, the prime minister told MPs in parliament the government “will today write to all companies found to have failings as a first step to stop them being awarded government contracts”.

Earlier, Grenfell United, which represents some of the bereaved and survivors of the fire, have called the government to ban cladding firm Arconic and insulation firms Kingspan and Celotex from government procurement processes.

Sir Keir also said the removal of dangerous cladding is being addressed too slowly – and pledged that government will speed it up.

Sir Keir Starmer is giving a statement in parliament following the publication of the final report on the Grenfell Inquiry.

“I want to say very clearly on behalf of the country – you have been let down so badly, before during and in the aftermath of this tragedy,” he said, apologising on behalf of the British state to all of the families affected.

He told MPs that “today is a day of truth that must now lead to a day of justice”.