PM to Grenfell Families: 'You Have Been Let Down So Badly'

A report on a yearslong $262.4 million public inquiry into the fatal 2017 blaze at the UK's Grenfell Tower has finally been released, and it's a "damning" one, pointing the finger at not a "single" cause, but at "a combination of dishonest companies, weak or incompetent regulators, and complacent government," per the AP. Retired Judge Martin Moore-Bick, who headed up the investigation that involved 1,600 witness statements and upward of 300 public hearings, said that tower residents "were badly failed over a number of years" by multiple parties, and that their deaths could've been prevented.

• The fire: The deadly blaze that killed 72 people erupted early June 14, 2017, starting in a fourth-floor apartment and expanding up the 25-story structure, with flammable aluminum and polyethylene cladding on its exterior fueling the fire. "How was it possible in 21st-century London for a reinforced concrete building, itself structurally impervious to fire, to be turned into a death trap?" the 1,700-page report asked, per the Guardian, noting, "There is no simple answer to that question."

• To blame? Companies that manufactured the cladding and the building's insulation; architects; builders; regulators; a tenant management group; and an allegedly ineffective London Fire Brigade, with firefighters not trained for high-rise fires, all bear some responsibility, the report notes.
• More from Moore-Bick: All involved parties "contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases through incompetence, but in some cases through dishonesty and greed," he said, per the AP.
• Repercussions: After the fire, the UK banned such cladding for new construction and ordered existing cladding be taken down "from hundreds of tower blocks across the country," per the AP, though that process has been slow and costly. The report suggests firmer fire-safety rules and a single regulator for the construction industry instead of many, among other recommendations. Charges may also emerge, though police say any that do likely won't come before late 2026.
• PM statement: Keir Starmer spoke on Wednesday to survivors and victims' families, offering apologies on behalf of the British government and saying the fire "should never have happened," per the BBC. "You have been let down so badly—before, during, and in the aftermath of this tragedy."
• Victim statement: "Today's report speaks to the lack of competence, understanding, and fundamental failure to perform the most basic duties of care," survivor Natasha Elcock, who lost an uncle in the fire, said, per the AP. "We paid the price for systematic dishonesty, institutional indifference, and neglect."

Much more here on the report. (More Grenfell stories.)