Michael Gove apologises to Grenfell victims’ families after ‘faulty and ambiguous’ government guidance allowed tragedy to occur
Michael Gove has apologised to the families affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy and admitted that “faulty and ambiguous” government guidance was part of the reason why the fire occurred.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, the housing secretary said it is “undeniably the case” that official guidance – which was widely seen to allow highly flammable cladding on tall buildings – was wrong.
However, he added that responsibility for the fire at the residential tower block in North Kensington, west London, in June 2017 – which killed 72 people – extends beyond the Conservative government.
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“I think that if you look at what happened to Grenfell, there were lots of factors but yes, government collectively has to take some responsibility,” Mr Gove said.
“It is undeniably the case that the system of building regulation was not right,” he told the programme.
Asked if he would apologise, Mr Gove said he “absolutely would”.
“I remember visiting the site just a couple of days after the fire and thinking that it was horrific that this had happened.
“The more that I discovered about the circumstances the more horrified I was.
“There were people in that building who had warned beforehand that they were in potential danger. The warnings were not heeded.”
“I’m the first, I hope, to acknowledge that we haven’t done right by the bereaved and the residents and survivors from Grenfell and that is one very, very important mission.
“But it’s also the case that there been people who have been effectively imprisoned in their own flats for too long.”
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Grenfell: ‘We’ll fight to the end’
A public inquiry after the tragedy, chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, is yet to deliver its final report.
But evidence submitted to the inquiry prompted Mr Gove to tell The Sunday Times: “There was a system of regulation that was faulty.
“The government did not think hard enough, or police effectively enough, the whole system of building safety. Undoubtedly.”
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On Monday Mr Gove will announce a six-week deadline for developers to sign a government contract to fix their unsafe towers – or be banned from the market.
He told Sky News that those who do not sign will face consequences.
“Well, we’re going to publish it tomorrow and we are going to give every developer a little window of six weeks during which we hope they will sign,” Mr Gove said.
“Some have already indicated that they will – and I don’t want to pre-empt the speculation about some of the developers who will – but all the indications are that the overwhelming majority will and those who don’t will face consequences if they don’t sign the contract.
“We’ll make sure that in effect they won’t be able to build anything more in future.”
More than 70 people died when the Grenfell Tower went up in flames in 2017. Pic: AP
It is understood that Mr Gove will use the so-called “responsible actor scheme”, to be established in the spring, to block such companies from getting planning or building control approval.
On Friday, Sky News learnt that major companies including Barratt Developments and Persimmon are preparing for the imminent signing of a legally-binding contract with the government that could ultimately cost the industry £5bn or more.
One executive said they expected the final contract to be signed and unveiled as soon as next week, although they cautioned that the timing remained fluid.
Last year, dozens of developers signed a pledge to fix buildings constructed since the early 1990s, with revisions to the deal with the government in recent weeks focusing on the scope of companies’ exposure.
The Grenfell inquiry heard many of the companies involved in the tragedy have failed to accept blame for their role in the events prior to the disaster.
The inquiry also heard from Jason Beer KC, for the department of levelling up, housing and communities, who said the department “apologises unreservedly” for its failure to recognise weaknesses in the regulatory system.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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