Yahoo Finance We will not rest until the companies behind the Grenfell fire are held to account
What we witnessed more than three years ago seemed like a scene from a horror movie. One could be forgiven for thinking it was a freak accident. But the fire at Grenfell Tower was no accident – it was the result of years of neglect, deregulation and corporate greed.
For me and other families who lost loved ones in Grenfell, there have been times in the last few years when we’ve wanted to scream and tear the world down. It’s taken patience beyond measure to wait for the evidence that we’ve been reading in private to finally make it into the public spotlight. We’ve now seen emails that appear to show that Arconic executives knew how dangerous their cladding was. And our lawyers are arguing that evidence shows the companies that made the insulation used fire-resistant materials in their safety tests to help them pass – and left this information out of marketing materials.
The scale of the dishonesty being alleged is breathtaking. Yet the silence about it in much of the national media and at the top of government is deafening. And I want to scream again.
The public needs to know the names of these companies – their materials are on thousands of homes, schools and hospitals across the country.
Celotex and Kingspan made and sold the insulation that was fitted to Grenfell. Arconic made and sold the cladding that was wrapped around it. We have now heard evidence that Celotex and Kingspan “abused” the fire safety testing regimes. Arconic acted similarly – we have heard that one of the tests they carried out had to be stopped because the fire was spreading so quickly; but the certificate-issuing body said Arconic didn’t tell them about that test. These materials were combustible and toxic; they knew this and they sold them anyway.
These companies are denying any wrongdoing: they point the finger elsewhere, at the people who did the refurbishment, at the building regulations, at the other materials used. It’s a “merry-go-round of buck passing” as Richard Millett QC for the inquiry says. Is this what happens when you try to bring big corporations to justice?
In my opinion, these words in an email from an Arconic executive sum it up best: “we are not clean”.
It feels like no one is clean. If companies were able to manipulate their fire safety tests, what does that mean for the Building Research Establishment (privatised in 1997), which is meant to uphold tests and standards? And if these fire safety tests were rigged, what others were? BRE will have to answer these questions later in the inquiry. It also denies wrongdoing.
A lot of what’s being put forward at the Grenfell inquiry makes me think that the construction and manufacturing industry is just like the financial industry before the crash in 2008 – rotten to its core. The crash showed companies sold bad products – and a regulator, system and culture let them do it. As the evidence emerges about how dangerous materials were put on Grenfell, the story is starting to feel the same: commercial interests put above everything else.
Celotex, Kingspan, Arconic and BRE are all still operating as if nothing happened. No arrests have been made. Some key Arconic executives are refusing to even attend the inquiry to answer questions. Arconic, a US company, is keen to do business in this country and profit from the British public, but not to take part in the British justice system.
The government is captive to this industry and has failed to protect us from it. It failed our loved ones and continues to fail the British public. What is the price of the government turning a blind eye?
These toxic, flammable materials are wrapped around homes across the country. Thousands of homeowners are finding out if these materials are on their homes. If they are, they’re also finding out that they can’t sell or remortgage – and that their flats are worthless. People are being thrown into financial ruin, the economic impact is going to be huge and it’s just a matter of time before another fire happens.
Whenever I think back to that morning looking up at the tower, the feeling I remember most is powerlessness. There was nothing I could do. I still often feel powerless, but we are not going to stop. We must make noise, demand action and do everything we can to hold these companies to account and make homes safe. The prime minister and housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, must do more. Residents should not be paying the price of this scandal. We will continue to say the names of these companies over and over. Seventy-two people died; we must never forget that.
• Karim Mussilhy is a bereaved family member from the survivors’ group Grenfell United
