Blocks of flats on a par with Grenfell Tower have been lived in by many people in many countries for many years without any problem.
What about the Lakanal House fire in 2009. There was a coroners enquiry which would the building didn't provide the required fire resistance and insufficient fire risk assessments had been made. This was followed by a cross party committee being setup who delivered their recommendations in 2013.
The recommendations were ignored. For example sprinkler systems were recommended but the then housing minister, Brandon Lewis, said:
“We believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation.”
“The cost of fitting a fire sprinkler system may affect house building – something we want to encourage – so we must wait to see what impact that regulation has.”
When he was replaced by Gavin Barwell, now May's chief of staff, calls were again made for regulation and ignored.
Residents of Grenfell and other similar blocks have been asking for fire safety improvements for years and highlighting the issues. I have a friend who lives in a similar block close by and he has been given the brush off time after time. The local council even threatened legal action against residents who published their concerns online!
Of course at this stage nobody knows if any of the recommendations would have saved lives but it certainly doesn't look good when such a disaster has been predicted for years and concerns ignored. Or when you have footage of Boris Johnson, during his time as Mayor of London, telling Andrew Dismore, who raised fire safety concerns in the London Assembly, to get stuffed. Or when a bill to improve tenants conditions and rights is voted down by the Government, many of whom are landlords.
