Grenfell families must sign gagging orders to view report

GRENFELL families will be required to sign non-disclosure agreements before viewing a long-awaited report into the fire that killed 72 people, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The bereaved and survivors of the tragedy will today meet Sir Martin Moore-bick, the chairman of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, for a private briefing where they will receive an embargoed copy of the report covering the investigation’s first phase, ahead of its publication on Wednesday.

The document, which had been due to be published at Easter but was dogged by delays, will include a detailed description of the events of the night of the June 2017 fire as well as its origins and the response of the London Fire Brigade (LFB). It is expected to heavily criticise the LFB for a number of failings, namely for telling residents to “stay put” for almost two hours as the west London tower block went up in flames.

“Core participants” – the bereaved, survivors and residents – will meet Sir Martin in private for an outline before they collect their copies this afternoon.

The revelation that the families will have to sign gagging agreements followed comments this month from Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence and a Labour life peer, who told Channel 4 News that she was concerned the voices of the bereaved were not being heard.

Moyra Samuels, part of the Justice for Grenfell campaign group, said that “you never know” if families would be prosecuted for discussing the report before it was released on Wednesday. Ms Samuels, said: “They can’t discuss the contents of the report with the media. I can’t see how they’re going to prosecute them but you never know.”

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry said: “The report is being provided under embargo tomorrow to all core participants... [who] will need to sign an NDA, as the report will not be made public until Wednesday.”