London mayor says the “systemic dishonesty” and “corporate greed” cited by the Grenfell Inquiry has not been fully addressed

The Grenfell Tower disaster and (inset) Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan has warned that “a tragedy like Grenfell” could still “happen again”, following the publication of a landmark 1,700-page report into the fire and its causes.

The London mayor said he remained concerned that the “systemic dishonesty” and “corporate greed” which allowed the fire in 2017 to grow out of control has not been fully addressed.

He urged the government to ensure that none of the companies criticised in the report “can benefit in the future from any contracts with any taxpayers’ money being used”.

The ‘Phase 2’ report published on Wednesday (4th) by the Grenfell Inquiry found that the blaze at the West London tower block was due to a combination of long-running failures by governments, “dishonest” companies and a lack of strategy by the fire service.

“The publication of the report today is another step in the journey for us to get justice,” said Khan. “The bereaved, the survivors, the residents, don’t think today’s going to give them closure. It’s not the end of the journey.

“There’s two things they’ve wanted since 14th June [2017]. One is for those responsible to be held to account. That’s not happened yet. Secondly, reassurance that a tragedy like Grenfell can’t happen again. I’m afraid it can happen again.”

The inquiry found that a refurbishment of Grenfell prior to the fire left the block coated in cheap and highly flammable materials, while safety warnings were ignored.

The mayor said the report is important because it “sets out in black and white the startling conclusion that every single one of the 72 deaths was avoidable – and these are 18 children and 15 disabled Londoners who lost their lives”.

He added that the report also lays out “that there has been systemic dishonesty, corporate greed, institutional indifference, neglect and incompetence”.

Asked about his demand that companies criticised in the report are denied future public contracts, Khan said: “It was really important – I speak as a former lawyer – for due process to take its course, for this independent chair to listen to the evidence and to form a conclusion.

“He has reached a conclusion, which is that many of the companies, whether it’s those responsible for the cladding, or the insulation, or others, were responsible for these avoidable deaths. Now we’ve got the findings of the chair, we’ve got to take action.

“Yes, there’s a criminal investigation, but in the meantime, many of these companies and individuals are profiteering from contracts with the taxpayer.

“How do we know they’re not still being systematically dishonest? How do we know they’re not being greedy and taking shortcuts? I think it’s really important, and the communities want some sort of confirmation that action will be taken.”

According to the latest data, there are 1,918 high and medium-rise buildings in London with unsafe cladding where remediation works are either unstarted or incomplete. Across England, the figure is 3,280, meaning that the capital has 58% of those buildings.

The mayor said: “We had an awful fire just over a week ago in Dagenham, where the London Fire Brigade [LFB] demonstrated they’ve learnt the lessons from 2017. There was a simultaneous evacuation of a building where the fire just went so fast through the building. Thankfully, no-one lost their lives.

“But what that’s done is it’s reminded the government – and Angela Rayner [the Housing Secretary] came down to Dagenham, as did [building safety minister] Rushanara Ali – that there are many buildings in London that aren’t safe and the government’s confirmed to us, and we’ll be working with them, we’re going to accelerate the remediation of these buildings.”

He warned however that some freeholders who own the buildings “aren’t moving quickly enough” and there aren’t currently enough enforcement powers to make them improve the buildings’ safety.

Khan spoke positively of London Fire Brigade (LFB), pointing out that they have completed all of the recommendations asked of them in the first phase in the inquiry, and saying that in Dagenham, they used City Hall-funded equipment like longer ladders and fire escape hoods to rescue residents. He said LFB will produce an action plan to respond to the inquiry’s latest recommendations.

He added that his deputy mayor for housing, Tom Copley, would be sitting down with Rayner to discuss whether new regulations are needed in the social housing sector specifically.

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