Grenfell survivors speak out against ‘seven-year delay in justice’ – as criminals …

September 4, 2024, 17:16 | Updated: September 4, 2024, 17:29

Survivors and relatives of the Grenfell Tower tragedy spoke of a “seven-year delay in justice” after the final report was released on the fire that killed 72 people.

The damning report concludes that victims were let down by a mixture of incompetence, dishonesty and greed.

The chairman of the inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said the west London block was covered in flammable products due to the “systemic dishonesty” of the companies involved.

The Prime Minister has announced that these companies will be excluded from awarding government contracts in the future.

Sir Keir apologised to the victims of the fire on behalf of the British state.

In his speech to MPs in the House of Commons, he promised to take into account all the recommendations of the inquiry to ensure that “such a tragedy cannot happen again”.

Survivor Francis Dean criticized the “seven-year delay in justice” while he and others still wait for prosecutions to begin.

At a press conference with members of a support group for relatives in central London, he said: “I have not been the same person since that night, I am devastated.”

“The government at that time promised us justice.

“I hope the current government can take the lead.”

Read more: Damning final report on Grenfell disaster finds ‘systemic dishonesty’ and ‘decades of failure’ caused deadly inferno

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Similarly, a man whose sister was killed said the investigation had delayed justice for him and other survivors.

“Nobody asked me if I wanted this investigation,” said Karim Khalloufi, whose sister Khadija was among the 72 dead, at a press conference in central London.

“Maybe I will die without getting justice,” he added at a press conference with members of a support group for the victims' relatives.

A relative of another victim told the event at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel that he wanted to press manslaughter charges, adding that “there is nothing else we can do.”

The public prosecutor's office said that decisions on possible prosecutions were not expected for two years.

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Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the Grenfell National Park fire, said it “burns inside me when I see witnesses 'laughing' as they give evidence during the inquest.

Mr Choucair thanked the Grenfell inquiry for its findings but said it had prevented prosecution.

“This investigation was forced upon us,” he said at a press conference with members of a support group for relatives in central London.

“The justice my family deserves has been delayed.”

“Successive state failure”

The Grenfell inquiry report is “a damning indictment of more than 30 years of consecutive state failure,” former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons.

Responding to Sir Keir Starmer's statement on the inquiry's report, Sunak said: “The loss of the Grenfell community leaves a hole that can never be filled. But I hope that, no matter how much healing is possible from today, each and every one of them takes a piece of it with them.”

“I know they will never forget the 72 people who tragically lost their lives, and neither will we.

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“Today's publication is, as the Prime Minister has said, to put it bluntly, a damning indictment of over 30 years of consecutive state failures, stretching back to the events at Knowsley Heights in 1991 and the numerous incidents that followed.

“Sir Martin Moore-Bick and the work of the inquiry have painted a picture of systematic indifference, failure and, in some notable cases, dishonesty and greed.”

Callers on the ‘haunting’ defects at Grenfell Tower that were ignored by authorities before the fire