Keir Starmer offers apology ‘on behalf of British state’ to victims of Grenfell Tower fire – live

A man whose sister was killed in the Grenfell Tower tragedy has said the inquiry has delayed the justice owed to him and other bereaved families.

“No one has asked me if I wanted this inquiry,” Karim Khalloufi, whose sister Khadija was among the 72 who died, told a press conference in central London.

“Maybe I will die without having justice,” he added at the briefing given by members of a support group for the next of kin of some the 72 people killed in the tower block blaze in 2017.

According to PA Media, another victim’s relative told the event at the Royal Lancaster London hotel he wanted manslaughter charges to be brought, adding “nothing else will do”.

The Crown Prosecution Service has said decisions on potential criminal prosecutions are not expected for another two years.

Independent MP and former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell has reminded parliament that he was previously castigated for describing the events at Grenfell as “social murder”, and says Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s “report defines it was social murder”.

He asks the prime minister when parliament will be able to have the promised debate on the report, rather than the limited opportunity to put questions to the prime minister offered today, and what information will be provided. He asks for constituency level data on progress with removing dangerous cladding from buildings.

Prime minister Keir Starmer replies:

On the question of the debate, I do think it is really important that as much information is made available as possible, and that we’re able to deal with the questions that members have raised, which is why we’ll look at the date of that debate.

I want it to be as quickly as possible, but I don’t want to be so quick that members will be frustrated because they will rightly want information or assurances that need a little bit of working through.

That is the last question today in parliament on the Grenfell Tower inquiry report.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the chair of the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in 2017, said all of the deaths were avoidable and added that the victims had been badly failed. Here is a clip from his statement:

The government has published Keir Starmer’s statement on Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report in full. Here is the key passage where the prime minister offered an apology, saying:

I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you and indeed to all the families affected by this tragedy. It should never have happened. The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty to protect you and your loved ones, the people we are here to serve, Aand I am deeply sorry.

I also want to express my admiration for the strength it must have taken to relive those events when giving your evidence to this Inquiry. And indeed, to see written down today the circumstances that led to the deaths of your loved ones. After all you have been through, you may feel you are always just one step away from another betrayal. I get that – and I know I cannot change that with just words today.

Starmer then went on to quote one of the panel members who also spoke this morning when the report was published, Ali Akbor, who said “What is needed is for those with responsibility for building safety to reflect and to treat Grenfell as a touchstone in all that they do in the future.”

The prime minister then said “Mr Speaker, I consider myself responsible for building safety. And that is exactly what I will do. And what I will demand of this government.”

You can read the prime minister’s statement in full here. The full Grenfell Tower inquiry phase 2 report can be found here.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana has said that “as chair of the fire brigades union parliamentary group, I’d like to put on record my admiration for the heroic bravery of firefighters who attended that night. The FBU has long said that deregulation and corporate greed was at fault for this catastrophe, and this report vindicates that.”

She asked Keir Starmer if he agees. Starmer says “I can only begin to imagine what it must have been like to have been confronted with the situation they were confronted with, and to deal with the circumstances that they had to deal with. And time and again, our first responders are asked by us rightly to do very challenging things. They do it, and we should thank them for doing it.”

He sidesteps whether he agrees with the FBU on the root cause of the disaster. Earlier the union’s general secretary Matt Wrack said:

The FBU has always argued that the fire was the result of decades of failure by central government to regulate the building industry – the prioritisation of private profit over human life.

This report completely vindicates that position, demonstrating beyond doubt that an agenda of deregulation cost lives.

Construction companies gamed the system to maximise their profits. A system of semi-privatised building control put commercial interests ahead of regulatory duties.

Kit Malthouse, who served for a brief period of time as minister of state for Housing and Planning between 2018 and 2019, has recommended to the prime minister that “one of the things that really did sharpen our minds and make the government machine jump to it was the prospect of external scrutiny.”

He suggested a specific subcommittee be formed to monitor government progress on the recommendations in the report. He said “while an annual debate will, I know, be welcome, as I say, I just don’t think it’s going to give the sense of urgency that’s required so that we can address these, these issues swiftly.”

Malthouse added “one of the things I learned in my interactions with Grenfell bereaved and survivors during my time as housing minister was that their pain was compounded by their frustration at the pace of change, even some years after the fire, and it was a frustration I shared as we tried to make progress on building safety issues.”

The independent MP for Islington North, and former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn has said “there are so many lesson to be learned from Grenfell” and called for an end to “local government internal market” and an endless culture of sub-contracting, saying:

Those of us that have been on the silent walks for Grenfell every year since it happened and visited many times, fully understand the strength of feeling and the anger, the deep anger, in the community at this needless loss of life brought about by a contract culture, deregulation, privatisation, ignorance, and, frankly, contempt for working class communities by many who should have done much more to protect and defend those people.

Thanking Sir Martin Moore-Bick for the report, Corbyn added “those needless deaths that happened at Grenfell will never go away and never be forgotten.”

He called on the prime minister to take action to ensure that cladding is not just removed from local authority housing but also “in the leasehold private sector buildings that many of our constituents live in where they are faced with enormous insurance costs because of the existence of dangerous cladding.”

Keir Starmer replies “The point about leaseholders is a really important point that we are taking action in relation to, whether it’s insurance or other issues.”

As part of the statement given this morning Sir Martin Moore-Bick read the names of the 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. Here is the video clip:

The SNP’s leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, commended the prime minister for “the strength and power of his remarks”, and asked “Can he give a commitment that his government will continue to work constructively with the devolved governments to ensure the quick removal of all cladding right across these isles so that we don’t see a repeat of this horrible tragedy?”

Keir Starmer says yes, adding “It doesn’t matter where you live, whatever the government that you’re living under, the right to safe and secure housing is important, whoever you are, wherever you are.”

Labour MP Florence Eshalomi, who represents Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, has asked the prime minister to commit to “ensuring that this new government addresses that culture within our housing sector, which often treats social housing tenants as an afterthought.”

She says:

Grenfell laid bare the truth, the sad truth, around the stigma attached to social housing. It is the stigma I still remember when people made assumptions because I lived on a council estate.

It is the stigma attached to people who are actually from all walks of life, teachers, doctors, firefighters, people who pay their rent on time, but yet are treated with that disdain by housing providers.

And this report confirms that. It states that their voices were ignored and the safety in industries was ignored, delayed or disregarded at all levels of the government and housing sector. This is unforgivable.

Starmer says there needs to be a culture change, not just passing a law, because “otherwise we will be back here, in I don’t know how many years, having the same debate again.”

He picks up the point again after Labour MP Clive Efford speaks, citing repeated cases where he says “the state that should be on the side of ordinary people actually becomes the enemy of working class people.”

The prime minister replies:

I don’t know how many examples of injustice [there are] where people have not been listened to or disregarded. There’s been an injustice. And different prime ministers over the years have stood at this dispatch box and quite genuinely made commitments on the back of reports.

I don’t doubt that for a minute. I think every prime minister who stood here in relation to any of those injustices meant every word that he or she said in response, and yet it goes on.

So there is something more fundamental that we have to make time to consider, because I do not want to be back at this dispatch box – or any future prime minister at this dispatch box – having a version of the same discussion, which is injustice, people disregarded, not listened to, not taken seriously after the event, too long, too late, for people who desperately need justice, and that’s what I mean by turning a corner.

Victims’ families hold press conference to respond to inquiry’s report