Cladding warnings nearly 20 years before Grenfell 'not acted on' by successive governments
The fire union's general secretary launches an attack on politicians for making 'nice speeches' while failing to heed advice.
Wednesday 5 September 2018 17:34, UK
Successive governments did not act on warnings about dangerous cladding nearly 20 years before the "entirely avoidable" Grenfell Tower blaze, says the firefighters union.
General secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Matt Wrack said both Labour and Conservative politicians had been guilty of "complacency" about fire policy "for a long time".
Mr Wrack said the union warned a Commons select committee in 1999 that some cladding systems posed a threat to life following a blaze at Garnock Court in North Ayrshire, Scotland, where a man died.
He said cladding could act as a "vehicle for assisting uncontrolled fire spread" which "poses a threat to the life safety of the residents" above the fire.
Mr Wrack, who was speaking at parliament, said: "Actually, that's a prediction of what happened at Grenfell Tower. We didn't expect it to happen on that scale, but we did warn of the possibility of that happening.
"And I think the scandal that lies behind it is nobody has actually acted on that warning that was given after that fire in 1999."
Mr Wrack's comments came as the FBU launched a report, Background to an Atrocity, which states where it believes official policy has gone wrong and how Labour and Conservative governments "failed to listen".
Mr Wrack continued: "We want to see real change as a result of this.
"This phrase about 'lessons learned...' about the failures to take account of previous lessons - it's all very well making nice speeches or comments about learning the lessons, the point is many of the lessons were already known, the question was that they were not being applied.
"This to me is, or certainly should be, a national scandal and we can't afford for it to be brushed under the carpet... to avoid the difficult questions being answered."
Seventy-two people died in the blaze that ravaged the west London tower block in June last year.
Although it is 15 months since the tragedy, some of the community are still feeling increasingly frustrated, according to Moyra Samuels, of the Justice for Grenfell campaign group.
She said: "When we look at those in power, we look at authorities, whether they be local or national government, we are still struggling to see where change has happened.
"The justice campaign is about truth, about accountability, and about change and I am afraid to date we have not seen any dramatic change that has come from either the local authority or from national government.
"Most shockingly, I think for the community, we see a central government who seem to lack the courage and compassion to ban cladding."
A lawyer representing a group of bereaved and survivors at the public inquiry into the blaze has submitted a list of "urgent" recommendations to ensure the safety of high-rise tenants throughout the country.
The recommendations call for an immediate moratorium of all cladding systems containing materials that are not classed as "non-combustible".
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire responded to the report by saying: "Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy we acted swiftly to establish a comprehensive building safety programme, issued clear guidance to building owners and committed to a full review of the building regulatory system, which was led by Dame Judith Hackitt.
"We welcomed the conclusions of the Hackitt Review and will be setting out our implementation plan this autumn.
"I have also said that we intend to ban the use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise residential buildings, and have been consulting on this basis."