'You've been let down so badly': Keir Starmer apologises to Grenfell victims

The Prime Minister offered his apologies to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire 'on behalf of the British state 'ITV News political correspondent Harry Horton reports

Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Grenfell Tower victims and their families they had been "let down so badly" as he addressed Parliament on Wednesday.

The final report into the disaster revealed "decades of failure" by the government and other bodies in positions of responsibility.

As some of the bereaved families and survivors watched on from the public gallery, the PM said the tragedy "should never have happened".

"You've been let down so badly, before, during, and in the aftermath of this tragedy," he said.

Responding to some of recommendations from the report, Starmer said the government will write to all the companies found to be part of the "horrific failings" at the tower block "as a first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts."

Expressing his concern about the number of buildings which still have unsafe cladding, Starmer said "the speed at which this is being addressed is far too slow", and promised "we will take the necessary steps to speed this up".

"We will be willing to force freeholders to assess their buildings and remediation schemes within set timetables, with a legal requirement to force action... we will also reform the construction products industry,", he said.

The PM confirmed his government will respond fully to the inquiry report within six months.

The majority of the people who died in the fire were people of colour, and the PM said "this tragedy poses questions about the kind of country we are. A country where working class people and those of colour have been repeatedly ignored and dismissed."He promised the new Labour government will deliver "a rebalancing of power that gives voice to every citizen, whoever they are, and wherever they live."

Starmer also told the Commons he visited Grenfell Tower a fortnight ago and laid a wreath at the memorial wall.

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also responded to the report in Parliament, saying "the state let you down, and it must never do so again".

The report found there were missed opportunities by multiple governments in the lead-up to the Grenfell Tower fire, dating back to the Knowsley Heights fire in Merseyside in 1991, where cladding played a role in the blaze's spread.

It also said governments failed to take heed of several warnings about cladding from 2001 through to 2017.

The government marked the materials used in the cladding on Grenfell as 'safe' based on something called the "Class 0" rating, despite knowing it wasn't an appropriate standard for judging its fire safety.

The Department of Communities and Local Government was poorly run, complacent and at times defensive when it came to fire safety, it added.

According to the report, the government took on a "deregulation agenda" after the Lakanal House fire in Camberwell, London in 2009, which killed six people.

The report named former Minister for Communities and Local Government Lord Eric Pickles, who is described as an "ardent supporter" of housing deregulation.

Lord Pickles said in a post on X he welcomed the findings of the report - "I particularly welcome the call for greater transparency and coordination within government," he wrote.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry report is the second of a long-running inquiry into the fire in June 2017, which claimed the lives of 72 people.

The report provides damning criticism of the government, construction companies and regulators, and has offered a number of recommendations, including an independent construction body, a licensing scheme for contractors working on high-risk buildings and an inspection of the London Fire Brigade.

The report into phase one of the inquiry was published in 2019, and found the tower's cladding did not comply with building regulations and was the main reason why the fire spread so rapidly.

Reacting to the final report, the survivors and bereaved families from the tragedy said it was "a significant chapter in the journey to truth, justice and change - but justice has not been delivered".

"Whenever there's a clash between corporate interest and public safety, governments have done everything they can to avoid their responsibilities to keep people safe," they said.

Victims of the fire included men, women, and children, ranging in age from an unborn baby to an 84-year-old woman.

The fire initially broke out in a fourth floor flat in the early hours of June 14, 2017. A call was made to the London Fire Brigade just before 1am. Barely half an hour later, flames had reached the top floor of the 24-storey block.

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