The government has been accused of a Grenfell Tower “cover-up”, after it emerged that the cladding used failed government tests 15 years before the 2017 disaster.
As the ongoing inquiry enters a new phase, Stephanie Barwise QC, for the bereaved families and survivors, said the fire that killed 72 people was the result of a lengthy government cover-up that was “one of the greatest scandals of our time”.
The government’s “unbridled passion for deregulation” to boost a “radical housebuilding agenda” led to exploitation by the construction industry, Barwise said.
Having become “in effect the junior partner” dependent on the sector, the “government began to realise the extent of the problem, and reacted by concealment instead of candour”, she added.
The inquiry started investigating yesterday why officials did not heed safety warnings, with senior former ministers including Eric Pickles, Gavin Barwell and Brandon Lewis due to be called over the next few months.
The cover-up stretched back to the 1990s, Barwise said, including a government test 15 years before the Grenfell fire that revealed “the precise dangers” of the plastic-cored aluminium foil panels.
In about 2001 this type of cladding, when tested on a three-storey model wall in a laboratory and set on fire, reached 900°C within four minutes, according to reports on the test, which have been seen by the inquiry. The test should last 30 minutes but was ended after only five minutes and 45 seconds, Barwise said. She said it was “unbelievable” that ministers then failed to withdraw the Class 0 standard, which would clear this cladding as safe for tall buildings.
She added: “The answer may lie in interference from industry.”
Barwise stated that government reports into two 1990s fires amounted to a “cover-up”.
Legal representatives for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and BRE will give opening submissions today.
