What we expect today …
At 11am the Grenfell Tower inquiry will publish its final report, more than seven years after the fire which killed 72 people. We are expecting the following reactions throughout the day:
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At 11am chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick will make a statement, which will be broadcast on the inquiry’s YouTube channel. We are also expecting a statement from the London fire brigade’s commissioner.
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At 11.45am a statement is expected from campaign group Grenfell United.
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12pm will see PMQs in parliament, where the inquiry may be raised.
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1pm a statement is expected from the Grenfell Next of Kin group. At the same time a statement from the Fire Brigades Union.
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At 1.30pm we anticipate a statement from the Metropolitan police at New Scotland Yard.
About 250 people have already been warned they may be subject to criticism in the report – likely to include former government ministers, council leaders and corporate executives.
Key events
At the end of August the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, called efforts to remove unsafe cladding from thousands of at-risk buildings “too slow”. She said it was her job in the new Labour administration to ensure remaining works finished as quickly as possible.
She made the comments during a visit to Dagenham, east London after a fire tore through a block of flats that was undergoing remedial works to remove “non-compliant” cladding. She told the media:
We have identified 4,630 buildings that do have the cladding on. Over 50% of them have already started the remediation work. This was one of those buildings that had started that but this is too slow for me. We need to hurry it up.
Placing blame for the lack of progress firmly on the previous government, Rayner said:
[Survivors and campaign groups] spent seven years fighting to make sure that these changes were put in place, and now it’s my job to ensure that that happens as quickly as possible. We can’t continue for another seven years. We’ve got to do this very quickly, because these are people’s homes, and people deserve to feel safe in their own home.
At the weekend, James Tapper and Yusra Abdulahi for the Observer spoke to people who are still living in buildings where the cladding is now considered unsafe. They spoke to Gemma Lindfield who is still waiting for flammable cladding to be removed from her eight-storey apartment block in east London. She told them:
What’s so scary about the whole thing is that until December 2020 we had a ‘stay put’ fire policy in place. Which is chilling. If these developers can’t build a property according to building regs at the time, how can I be sure that they’re going to remediate it in a way that’s safety compliant?
You can read more of James Tapper and Yusra Abdulahi’s report here: Seven years after Grenfell disaster, thousands live in fear of cladding fire
Earlier today on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, a firefighter involved in tackling the Grenfell Tower blaze said there were a “cataclysmic series of failings” in the building.
PA Media reports that Ricky Nuttall nevertheless defended the “stay put” advice initially given to people, saying firefighters were unaware of the state of the tower. He told listeners:
The idea of a “stay put” policy is, its principles are founded on a building working as it should. At the time, as a firefighter on the ground, we had no idea that the building wasn’t built as it should be, that areas were compromised, that fire doors weren’t fitted, that smoke vents wouldn’t open, that the outside the building was effectively covered in petrol, a flammable material that’s going to burn rapidly, window sills weren’t fitted correctly. There were a cataclysmic list of failings with the building, and none of that information was available to us at the time.
In 2019 the then-leader of the Commons, former MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, was forced to apologise after he made comments suggesting victims on the night did not use “common sense” when they followed the fire brigade’s orders.
Timeline of the Grenfell Tower fire and inquiry
14 June 2017 – at 12.54 am a call is made to the London fire brigade reporting a fire has broken out on the fourth floor of Grenfell Tower. Within half an hour flames have reached the top of the tower.
15 June 2017 – Theresa May orders an inquiry. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, a retired court of appeal judge is appointed to lead it.
July 2017 – Judith Hackitt is appointed to conduct review of building regulations.
September 2017 – London’s Metropolitan police widens its criminal investigation into the fire.
January 2018 – Maria del Pilar Burton dies, and is considered the 72nd victim of the fire.
May 2018 – Hackitt recommends “fundamental reform” of fire safety rules, and says there has been a “race to the bottom” on safety standards. The inquiry begins public hearings.
September 2018 – the British government issues a widespread ban on combustible cladding.
October 2019 – the first phase of the inquiry investigation is released, blaming cladding for the rapid spread of the fire, and criticising fire brigade “stay in place” orders on the night.
March 2020 – the chancellor at the time, Rishi Sunak, sets aside a £1bn fund to remove unsafe cladding.
May 2024 – London’s police say it may be 2026 before a decision on any criminal chargers.
July 2024 – government figures show that less than a third of buildings which need unsafe cladding removing have had the work completed.
Associated Press contributed to this timeline.
Robert Booth
Here is how our social affairs correspondent Robert Booth has reported the imminent publication of the report:
Companies and public authorities involved in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment are braced for wide-ranging criticisms when the final public inquiry report on the 2017 disaster is released at 11am on Wednesday.
The 1,700-page report is expected to spotlight serious failings among national and local politicians, builders, material manufacturers and sales people, fire-testing experts and the London fire brigade. The inquiry chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, and his inquiry panel colleagues, the architect Thouria Istephan and housing expert Ali Akbor, will also make recommendations to the government to ensure such a disaster is not repeated.
Hundreds of bereaved people and survivors granted core participant status in the £200m, seven-year inquiry were shown the report on Tuesday to allow them to digest in private what many hope will be a landmark moment in their fight for justice.
The report comes seven years, two months and 20 days after the fire and was delayed from earlier in the summer in part due to the high number of people – about 250 – who faced criticism and needed to be informed in advance.
Read more from Robert Booth here: Final Grenfell inquiry report released as companies involved brace for criticism
What we expect today …
At 11am the Grenfell Tower inquiry will publish its final report, more than seven years after the fire which killed 72 people. We are expecting the following reactions throughout the day:
-
At 11am chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick will make a statement, which will be broadcast on the inquiry’s YouTube channel. We are also expecting a statement from the London fire brigade’s commissioner.
-
At 11.45am a statement is expected from campaign group Grenfell United.
-
12pm will see PMQs in parliament, where the inquiry may be raised.
-
1pm a statement is expected from the Grenfell Next of Kin group. At the same time a statement from the Fire Brigades Union.
-
At 1.30pm we anticipate a statement from the Metropolitan police at New Scotland Yard.
About 250 people have already been warned they may be subject to criticism in the report – likely to include former government ministers, council leaders and corporate executives.
Welcome and opening summary …
On 14 June 2017 a fire broke out at the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, west London, which ultimately killed 72 people. The following day, the then-prime minister Theresa May ordered a public inquiry. Seven years and three prime ministers later, Sir Martin Moore-Bick will publish his report.
The two main themes are expected to be a failure of government to regulate the construction industry properly, and the dishonesty of the private companies who repeatedly misled the market over the supposed safety of their products.
The report is published at 11am, although survivors, families of victims, core participants in the inquiry and the media have had embargoed early access for a day already. Moore-Bick will make a statement, and survivors and family members of victims will also speak.
We do not expect a formal government response to the recommendations today, although there will be a statement in parliament later. We are also expecting a statement from the police about the contents of the report.
On this live blog we will bring you the details of the report as it is published, and the reaction during the day. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
