Today is a day of truth and Britain failed to protect you, Starmer says to Grenfell victims as harrowing report released

BRITAIN failed to protect Grenfell victims, Keir Starmer has said after a harrowing report was released into the 2017 tragedy.

The long-awaited report into the deaths of 72 people in a fire at Grenfell Tower in west London has been published more than seven years after the blaze.

 PM Keir Starmer today apologised on behalf of the British state – saying families were “let down so badly”.

The unscrupulous construction firms shamed by the Grenfell Inquiry will be blocked from getting any more government contracts, he said.

The report reveals:

• Residents ‘abandoned’ and ‘utterly helpless’
• Landlords saw fire safety as ‘inconvenience’
• ‘Defective’ guidance on fire tests
• ‘Systematic dishonesty’ of building firms
• Safety ‘ignored and disregarded’
• All 72 deaths avoidable
• Some victims died before flames reached them
• Government ignored warnings
• Campaigners say ‘Justice not delivered’

Sir Keir Starmer told MPs this afternoon that ministers will be writing to the companies implicated in the “horrific failings” that led to the 2017 tragedy.

The PM said this would be “the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts”.

Speaking in the Commons – where some of the victims’ families were watching –  he issued an apology on behalf of the British state.

The PM said: “I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you. It should never have happened.

“The country failed in its fundamental duty to protect you…I am deeply sorry.”

He said he would consider all of the recommendations laid out in the Grenfell Inquiry.

The lengthy document – the final report of the inquiry into the 2017 disaster – lays out in detail its findings around the actions of corporate firms in the construction industry, the local authority, London Fire Brigade and government.

A report in 2019, from the first phase of the inquiry, concluded the tower’s cladding did not comply with building regulations and was the “principal” reason for the rapid and “profoundly shocking” spread of the blaze.

This final report, which follows further hearings on the tower’s 2016 refurbishment, presents conclusions on how the west London block of flats came to be in a condition which allowed the flames to spread so quickly.

The Fire Brigades Union has said the Grenfell fire “was a crime caused by deregulation and institutional failings at the highest level”.

The final hearing of the second phase of the inquiry took place in November 2022, with families having previously spoken of their long wait and continued fight for justice.