Grenfell: Every Death Was Avoidable

“Every death was avoidable”.

Eight years after the Grenfell Tower Fire, the lessons should have been etched into law, regulation, and practice. Yet the reality is one of half-measures, inertia, and a continued prioritisation of cost over human life.

Why Has So Little Changed?

1. A Culture of Complacency

- Disasters like Ronan Point (1968), Lakanal House (2009), and Grenfell (2017) should have each been a watershed moment. Instead, each time, initial outrage fades, inquiries drag on, and industry resistance dilutes reforms.

- The assumption that "it won’t happen again" persists, even as thousands remain in unsafe homes.

2. The Illusion of Progress

- Cladding removal has been slow, but even where it happens, it’s often the only fix attempted. Other critical risks—faulty compartmentation, missing fire breaks, flammable insulation, outdated gas pipes—are ignored because they’re harder to see and more expensive to fix.

- The government’s focus on "ACM cladding" (the type on Grenfell) has left other dangerous materials (HPL, timber balconies, defective cavity barriers) in place for years.

3. The Funding Farce

- Leaseholders are still being bankrupted by remediation costs, despite promises to protect them.

- Non-cladding defects often get no funding, meaning building owners either ignore them or pass costs onto residents.

- The lack of a comprehensive, fully funded national safety program means piecemeal fixes and endless delays.

4. The Hidden Dangers

- Compartmentation failures (walls/floors that don’t stop fire) are widespread but rarely inspected because testing is invasive and costly.

- LPS (Large Panel System) buildings - many with structural weaknesses and gas pipes—remain unstrengthened 50 years after warnings.

- Fire doors, smoke control systems, emergency lighting—all frequently defective, all often overlooked.

What Must Happen Now?

- A Full, Transnational Audit of All High-Risk Buildings– No more guesswork. Every block must be invasively inspected for all fire risks, not just cladding.

- Mandatory Fixes, Fully Funded – No more loopholes, no more leaseholder bills. The cost must fall on developers, freeholders, and government—not residents.

- Urgent Action on Non-Cladding Defects – Fire breaks, compartmentation, structural integrity, and gas safety cannot be ignored any longer.

- Criminal Accountability for Negligence– Grenfell was not an "accident." It was the result of corporate and regulatory failure. Those responsible must face consequences.

A Final Warning

Grenfell proved that "hope" is not a fire safety strategy. Every day that passes without proper action is a gamble with lives. The next fire in an unsafe block is not a matter of if, but when.

The phrase “Every death was avoidable" should haunt us. Because unless real action is taken, the next deaths will be too.

Remembering the 72 who should still be alive.