Some firms had rigged fire safety tests for potentially dangerous products from as early as 2007
A new regulator that could prosecute companies making dangerous building materials has been announced by the government, prompted by evidence given at the Grenfell Tower inquiry. Here we look at some of the key issues that were raised by the hearing …
Continue reading...Stephen Greenhalgh said executives should not ‘hide behind’ rarely used French law
The UK government has demanded that executives who supplied combustible cladding to Grenfell Tower “step up to the plate” after their refusal to give evidence to the public inquiry into the disaster provoked anger among the bereaved and survivors.
On Sunday, Stephen Greenhalgh, the building safety minister, escalated a legal and diplomatic dispute over the position taken by three current and former executives at the French division of the US company Arconic. He told them to stop hiding behind an arcane French law.
Continue reading...Peter Maddison challenged at the inquiry over his ‘candour’ in relation to cost-cutting
A director at the landlord of Grenfell Tower has apologised for the “devastating” fire after he described his role overseeing hundreds of thousands of pounds in cost savings relating to combustible cladding installed on the council block.
Peter Maddison, director of assets and regeneration at the Kensington and Chelsea tenants management organisation (TMO), was close to tears at the end of his testimony to the public inquiry into the tragedy when he said sorry.
Continue reading...RBKC used ‘decisive influence’ to remove original contractor over budget concerns
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) used “decisive influence” to remove the original contractor on Grenfell Tower despite its claims to have delegated responsibility for the works, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.
In evidence that places the Conservative-controlled council at the heart of a key decision in the run up to the June 2017 fire, the inquiry was told that Laura Johnson, RBKC’s director of housing, lost patience with Leadbitter when it said the project was going to cost £1.2m more than the budget.
Continue reading...Campaigners accuse Kensington council of ‘contemptuous disregard’ in decisions that led up to the fire
The Grenfell Tower fire inquiry must include a separate investigation into how “race and class” contributed to the tragedy, according to a group supporting more than a third of the deceased.
The organisation, which represents 28 of the 72 individuals who died in the fire, submitted a statement on 21 July to the inquiry chairman, judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, to request that an extra module be added to the inquiry to examine if the cost-cutting measures that helped spread the fire would have been sanctioned “if the tower block was in an affluent part of the city for an affluent white population”. Currently there are eight modules, each covering a separate theme, in phase 2 of the inquiry which is examining why the fire happened.
Continue reading...Simon Lawrence tells inquiry he offered no such assurances about cladding material
The project manager on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment has denied assuring the block’s landlord its new cladding panels “would not burn at all”.
The public inquiry into the disaster that killed 72 people was shown a witness statement from David Gibson, head of capital investment at the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, that claimed Simon Lawrence of Rydon said the plastic-filled panels were “inert”. In fact they were highly combustible and the inquiry has already deemed they were the primary cause of the fire’s spread.
Continue reading...Hundreds of survivors and the bereaved will be unable to attend under distancing rules
Builders behind the disastrous Grenfell Tower refurbishment are finally set to face public questioning over the June 2017 fire that killed 72 people, as the delayed public inquiry resumes on Monday with strict social distancing rules that have angered the bereaved.
Hundreds of survivors, families and residents are among those who will be prohibited from attending the hearings, which will be conducted with only the inquiry panel, led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, witnesses, their lawyers and cross-examining inquiry counsel present in the Paddington hearing room. Everyone else is being invited to follow proceedings online.
Continue reading...MPs to launch investigation into delay, which has left 300 highrises yet to be remediated
The government has spent less than a quarter of what it promised to replace dangerous Grenfell-style cladding, leaving 300 highrise buildings still not fixed three years after the disaster.
Ministers pledged £400m in May 2018 to strip social housing towers of aluminium composite material (ACM) panels similar to those which spread the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, killing 72 people in June 2017. But only £133m has been spent, a National Audit Office report found, leaving more than half of the 154 affected blocks still needing work.
Continue reading...Tutu Foundation claims Westway Trust, which manages 23 acres in north Kensington, is ‘suppressing’ final version of critical report
A charity set up 50 years ago to compensate families living in the shadow of London’s A40 flyover has been branded “institutionally racist” and “unethical”, according to a leaked landmark report.
The Westway Trust, which manages the land under the flyover and works on a range of projects with the local people, appointed the respected Tutu Foundation to investigate persistent allegations of racism against the diverse community of north Kensington. Following the Grenfell fire, the charity provided support for victims, who today commemorate the third anniversary of the disaster in which 72 people died.
Continue reading...Families of 72 victims of tower block blaze will mark third anniversary of blaze this weekend
A bereaved relative has drawn parallels between the coronavirus crisis and the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire before the third anniversary of the disaster.
Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman died in the blaze, said the pandemic had been tough for many of the bereaved and survivors of the fire, which killed 72 people.
Continue reading...Inquiry solicitor sets out options for restarting hearings during coronavirus crisis
The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster could resume in virtual form with evidence taken by Zoom videolink, its senior legal adviser has told bereaved people and survivors.
An online system has been successfully tested by role-playing barristers, and hearings could be restarted within weeks if the option is chosen following a consultation launched on Monday.
Continue reading...People involved in cladding want assurances testimonies will not be used to prosecute them
Witnesses in the Grenfell inquiry who were involved in the tower’s refurbishment have threatened to withhold evidence unless they receive an assurance that their testimony will not be used to mount criminal prosecutions that could land them in jail.
Lawyers for the architects, builders and the client on the works threw the inquiry into confusion on Wednesday when they wrote to its chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, arguing that their clients could claim a privilege against self-incrimination as a reason for not answering questions.
Continue reading...Benita Mehra had been the target of fury from survivors and bereaved of 2017 tragedy
A key member of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry has resigned after fury among survivors and the bereaved at her links to the company that made the combustible cladding.
Less than 48 hours before the inquiry is due to start hearing evidence about “decisions which led to the installation of a highly combustible cladding system”, Boris Johnson announced Benita Mehra was standing down from a panel advising the chairman of the inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick. It followed 10 days of rising pressure on the prime minister from the community devastated by the fire on 14 June 2017 – which claimed 72 lives – to reverse her appointment.
Continue reading...Families feel they have fallen down agenda amid row over inquiry panel member
Grenfell survivors have accused Boris Johnson of downgrading the government’s interest in the disaster and said he is out of touch with what they are going through.
As pressure rose on the prime minister to rescind his appointment of a public inquiry panel member revealed to have links to the combustible cladding company involved in the tower’s refurbishment, community leaders said: “Grenfell families have dropped down the agenda for Downing Street.”
Continue reading...Grenfell United says news that member had been replaced was ‘snuck out before Christmas’
Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have expressed disappointment about a change to the inquiry panel that was “snuck out just before Christmas”.
The second phase of the investigation will include a panel and is set to begin early next year.
Continue reading...Commissioner brings forward her retirement and will step down on New Year’s Eve
The London fire commissioner in charge of the highly criticised response to the Grenfell Tower fire has resigned following renewed calls from bereaved families and survivors of the disaster for her to quit.
Dany Cotton announced on Friday that she would be stepping down on New Year’s Eve, bringing forward her planned retirement in June. In October, after the public inquiry into what happened on the night of the fire found serious failings in the London fire brigade’s (LFB) preparation and response, Cotton refused to resign, saying she wanted to see out reforms. The inquiry concluded that the LFB’s delay in evacuating the burning building cost lives. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, also resisted calls for her to go.
Continue reading...Arconic’s outlay on lawyers dwarfs amount spent on panels found to be main cause of fire spread
The Grenfell Tower cladding manufacturer has spent £30m on lawyers and advisers defending its role in the disaster in an outlay that dwarfs the amount spent on the panels a public inquiry has determined were the main cause of fire spread.
Arconic has been spending at a rate of up to £50,000 a day on lawyers and other advisers, according to corporate filings in the US seen by the Guardian. As well as the public inquiry, it is embroiled in a criminal investigation in the UK with detectives investigating possible corporate manslaughter and manslaughter cases, a civil suit in the US for wrongful death brought by survivors and a consumer protection inquiry in France, where the subsidiary that supplied the Grenfell panels is based.
Continue reading...Expert warns of ‘huge inequality’ in capital, while Lithuanian males live shortest lives
Men from west London, one of the wealthiest areas of the UK, have the longest life expectancy of males in Europe with a newborn baby expected to live to the age of 82, according to statistics published to mark International Men’s Day.
The data from the EU department Eurostat suggests that only men from the city centre of the Spanish capital, Madrid, tend to live as long as the fortunate subset of Londoners.
Continue reading...Bereaved and survivors welcomed criticism of London fire brigade’s instruction to stay put
Survivors and relatives of victims from Grenfell Tower have said they feel “vindicated” by the inquiry’s initial report into the fire that killed 72 people nearly two-and-a-half years ago.
At an emotional press conference following publication of Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s interim report, bereaved family members stood in silence for 72 seconds – one for each of those killed by the 14 June 2017 blaze.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s Martin Chulov describes how US special forces finally tracked down Baghdadi, who was killed in a raid at the weekend. Plus: Robert Booth on the criticism of the London fire brigade’s response to the Grenfell Tower disaster
US special forces finally caught up with the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, on Saturday at a safe house in the Syrian province of Idlib, one of the few areas of the country still outside regime control. In a night-time raid, Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest and killed himself and three of his children, according to Donald Trump.
The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, has followed the rise and fall of Isis in the past five years from close quarters. He tells Rachel Humphreys what Baghdadi’s death will mean to the terrorist organisation, which has lost almost all the territory it held at its peak.
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