UK inquiry finds ‘dishonesty and greed’ behind Grenfell Tower fire deaths

The six-year inquiry condemns ‘decades of failure’ by governments, incompetence, dishonesty and greed. Incompetence, dishonesty and greed were behind the 72 “avoidable” deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire in London, a report into the 2017 tragedy has concluded. Those in the 24-storey block were “badly failed” over many years, said the inquiry chairman, Martin Moore-Bick, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday. The highly combustible cladding was used on the building because it was cheap and because of the “incompetence of the organisations and individuals involved in the refurbishment” – including architects, engineers and contractors – all of whom thought safety was someone else’s responsibility, the report said. The report reserved particular criticism for the companies that manufactured the cladding, accusing them of engaging in “systematic dishonesty,” manipulating safety tests and misrepresenting the results to claim the material was safe.