Kingspan 'must face courts over Grenfell', says former UK housing secretary
The final report of the Grenfell Inquiry said last week that the Irish company “knowingly created a false market in insulation” for buildings over 18 metres tall
Criminal prosecutions should be brought against Grenfell Tower cladding firms, including Irish outfit Kingspan, former British housing secretary Michael Gove said.
Companies that are “still making vast profits without acknowledging their full responsibility” must also be punished financially, he suggested.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Gove claimed attempts to punish Kingspan, Arconic, and Celotex when he was in government had been blocked by “bureaucracies”. He said there was “insufficient action” from foreign governments on responsible companies based abroad.
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Mr Gove continued: “Because Kingspan is based in Ireland, and Arconic’s European operations and Celotex are in France, our jurisdiction was limited. But we were determined to go after them.”
He said taking the “necessary action” against cladding firms “will require toughness... I know there will be voices opposed to robust action”. He added: “You cannot purchase prosperity at the price of justice. Those who are the guiltiest must pay, and pay the most.”
The Grenfell fire claimed the lives of 72 residents in the tower block. The final report of the Grenfell Inquiry, published last week, said the west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold cladding and insulation.
It said Kingspan had, from 2005 and even after the inquiry began in the wake of the fire, “knowingly created a false market in insulation” for use on buildings over 18 metres tall.
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said Celotex, in an attempt to break into the market created by Kingspan, “embarked on a dishonest scheme to mislead its customers and the wider market”.
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