Over seven years after the fire in Grenfell tower which killed 72 people, the report from the inquiry is damning. Placing blame on corporations putting unsafe cladding on buildings to maximise profits, and the politicians which cut regulations and made us all less safe.
Paul Kershaw, chair of Unite housing workers’ branch, reports on the damning evidence that shows the whole capitalist system is guilty.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable” and the failings around Grenfell were down to “incompetence”, “dishonesty”, and “greed”, according to Sir Martin Moore-Bick in the official report on the Grenfell fire.
Seven years after the fire, no one has been prosecuted and thousands continue to live in homes with Grenfell-style fire risks.
Government had been warned of the dangers for at least 25 years. Corporations such as Arconic, the cladding manufacturer, displayed “systematic dishonesty.” The BRE (Building Research Establishment), which acted as regulator and advisor to government was privatised and became exposed to “unscrupulous product manufacturers.”
During the refit of the tower there was a failure to establish who was responsible for safety standards – resulting in an “unedifying ‘merry-go-round of buck-passing'”. Even after the report was published, Arconic claimed its product was safe and the buck-passing continues.
When the time came for parliament to hear prime minister Keir Starmer and opposition leader Rishi Sunak express regret on behalf of the British state, MPs on both sides of the house rushed for the exit. In response, Karim Mussilhy, vice chair of Grenfell United – the survivors and bereaved family’s group, asked: “How are we supposed to get justice when they just don’t care?”
Blair
New Labour former prime minister Tony Blair couldn’t even be bothered with even ritual apologies. Damel Carayol, whose cousin and her daughter were killed in the fire, invited Blair to explain his words. “Of course you apologise. It’s a simple thing to do. You admit what you’ve done wrong … for what his government were involved in that contributed to Grenfell happening, of course you apologise. We’re not talking about mistakes happening. We’re talking about the neglect and ignoring what needed to be done, ignoring the implementation of recommendations. It’s cause and effect.”
Other survivors and bereaved relatives expressed similar views. Stephen Mackenzie, a fire security consultant, said: “It’s incredibly arrogant from an experienced statesman and politician. The problems with the legislation and guidance stem from his government. Much of the cladding was installed during his government’s tenure and Gordon Brown’s.”
Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack spoke for millions when he responded that: “Tony Blair’s despicable comments are the remarks of a multi-millionaire who has lost touch with the reality of people’s lives. It is no wonder that the public are losing faith in politicians when politicians like Tony Blair make it clear that they have no regard for ordinary people.”
David Cameron, the prime minister who championed deregulation with a ‘one in, one out’ rule where new regulations could only come into force if another was scrapped, later becoming one in, two out and three out, went even further than Blair claiming to be exonerated by the report!
Ed Daffarn, a Grenfell tower resident who raised numerous concerns about fire safety before the fire, said he was “angry but not surprised”, and Cameron was “failing to take responsibility”.
Tory arrogance
Lord Pickles, former Tory housing secretary, told the inquiry he could not remember the number of deaths and arrogantly demanded that the inquiry was quick in order not to delay his lunch appointment. The report found that his comments “served only to reveal the limits of his understanding”.
The report is quite clear that “the government’s deregulatory agenda, enthusiastically supported by some junior ministers and [Pickles], dominated the department [for community, housing and local government]’s thinking to such an extent that even matters affecting the safety of life were ignored, delayed or disregarded.”
It also points out that the government “determinedly resisted calls from across the fire sector to regulate fire risk assessors and to amend the Fire Safety Order to make it clear that it applied to the exterior walls of buildings containing more than one set of domestic premises”.
Ed Daffern is right that Cameron is failing to take responsibility. The details in the report are shocking but no surprise to anyone following the inquiry. Nor is it shocking that the capitalist establishment continues to duck responsibility.
Former Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove has let slip significant details of the government’s failure to pursue the corporations involved and called for prosecutions of cladding firms. Writing in The Times, he has claimed that the Treasury and international diplomacy scotched his efforts to impose consequences on Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex. If it was serious, the government could use primary legislation to block building control approval for any project containing anything made by these three corporations until they put their hands in their pockets to pay for the damage caused.
Of course, the new Labour government can and should revisit this. To guarantee safety and decent homes for all, the construction industry should be nationalised – but who would hold their breath for the government to follow up even just Gove’s more limited ideas?
Grenfell residents’ groups have welcomed the details in the report which expose establishment buck-passing, but there are real gaps. The report does highlight cases of racial discrimination, but residents’ groups point out that a majority of those who lost their lives were from a Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic background; neither race or class is fully explored.
Residents’ warnings ignored
Residents gave explicit safety warnings and were ignored. This is covered in the report, but it ducks recommendations on residents’ voice, citing current legislative changes. What is needed is democratic mechanisms of accountability and support for resident organisation. Groups such as SHAC (Social Housing Action Campaign) – the housing association resident and tenant network – report that residents’ views continue to be treated with contempt, with landlords even using legal threats to attempt to silence them. Trade unions have given support to such groups, and this must continue.
Currently, the police are indicating that possible convictions cannot be expected for another three years, many expect it to take longer. This isn’t acceptable; prosecutions must be treated with the urgency they deserve.
The story leading up to Grenfell shows the callous contempt of the capitalist establishment. The failure to act since underlines the nature of the establishment and the response to the report is no better.
Any prosecutions of individuals just scratch the surface of a system across the world that puts profit over human lives. We need to put capitalism in the dock too!
Individual politicians such as the former local Labour MP Emma Dent Coad have expressed some of the anger in the community. She stood in the last election as an independent – kicked out of the Labour Party as Starmer shifted it rightwards. We urgently need a party that expresses the anger of millions at the injustices of Grenfell and calls for a socialist way forward. Unions that have voiced the feelings of millions should take steps to form such a party.
