Anger as firms blame each other for Grenfell
FIRMS that refurbished Grenfell Tower have refused to admit any responsibility for the fire that killed 72 people at the tower block, an inquiry heard yesterday.
The chief lawyer at the second phase of the investigation into the 2017 blaze accused corporate figures of pointing the finger at each other.
Built in 1974, the London tower block was refurbished between 2012 and 2016.This included the addition of cladding which the first part of the inquiry found was the “principal” reason for the rapid spread of flames.
Richard Millett, QC, said: “With the sole exception of RBKC [Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea] not a single core participant involved in the primary refurbishment of Grenfell Tower has felt able to make an unqualified submission against their own interests.
“With that solitary exception, one finds...no trace of any acceptance of any responsibility for what happened at Grenfell Tower.”
He added: “In every case, what happened was, as each of them would have it, someone else’s fault.”
The second stage of the inquiry will consider how Grenfell came to be covered in flammable cladding.
Lead refurbishment architects Studio E said it “did not have any knowledge that the products used on the tower were unsafe” and said product manufacturers had “produced materials and testing data which had the effect of misleading designers to consider that their products were safe”.
Rydon, the main contractor, the providers of the cladding said and insulation, Arconic and Celotex, had misled buyers into believing their products were safe for use on highrise buildings despite appearing to know of the dangers.
The second phase of the inquiry began in Paddington, west London, with a group of demonstrators playing drums and music outside.
A member of the inquiry panel resigned on Saturday after she was linked to a charitable arm of the firm which supplied the tower block’s deadly cladding.
Engineer Benita Mehra resigned after it was disclosed she is an immediate past president of the Women’s Engineering Society which last year received funding from Arconic for an apprentice conference.
Michael Mansfield QC, for the victims, said there has been “a stunning silence” from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Cabinet Office on Ms Mehra’s resignation.
Grenfell United, a group representing bereaved families and survivors, hoped the next stage of the inquiry “will expose the people and organisations who put profit and agreed above our safety”.