The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has today published its final report.
Responding to the report, Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
Today is a sobering reminder of the tragic deaths of 72 people, and the deep scar that the Grenfell Tower fire has left on the community. 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.
The lessons of the Grenfell Tower fire are relevant to fire and rescue services across the UK. To implement them, we need national standards set by a statutory advisory body on fire policy, giving a voice to firefighters and control staff and drawing on the best expert advice.
Seven years on from this horrific event, our thoughts and solidarity are with the victims of the fire.”
