The publication of the final report from the inquiry into the Grenfell fire dominates the papers. The Metro says the report found that all 72 deaths resulting from the fire had been avoidable and warning signs had been ignored throughout a “26-year countdown to disaster”.
The report says the fire was the result of “decades of failure” by the construction industry as well as successive governments that failed to properly regulate it, according to the Financial Times. The paper says inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick found that the housing department had been “complacent” and “poorly run”, and had presided over a regulatory regime that prioritised deregulation over safety.
The Daily Express says the seven-year inquiry uncovered wrongdoing, failures and negligence, and that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had apologised on behalf of the British state.
Sir Martin also spoke of “unscrupulous” building companies who had misled the market and put combustible cladding on Grenfell despite being aware of the risks, the Times reports. It adds that he found numerous parties had contributed to the disaster, “in most cases through incompetence but in some cases through dishonesty and greed”.
The front page of the i carries pictures of all those who died around the headline: “Everyone failed them”.
The Guardian says that, following the report, police are under pressure to accelerate their criminal investigation. Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service said the scale of inquiry meant no charges would be announced until late 2026 at earliest. The paper quotes Hisam Choucair, who lost his mother, his sister, her husband and their three daughters in the fire, saying the inquiry had prevented prosecutions and “delayed the justice my family deserves”.
“Will they ever get justice?” asks the Daily Mail. The paper pictures some of those affected by the fire and says they will have been waiting a decade by the time any prosecutions are brought.
The Daily Mirror also carries the pictures of all those who died, with a headline that reads simply: “Now get them justice”.
The bosses of water companies could face up to two years in prison under new measures set to be unveiled to reduce pollution in rivers and seas, the Daily Telegraph reports. The paper says executives could be held liable if a company fails to co-operate with an investigation by regulators into wrongdoing. The page also carries a drawing by the paper’s cartoonist, Matt. A man is seen outside a Tory leadership hustings being told by an official: “Dynamic pricing is in operation. We’ll give you £500 to come in and watch.”
And the Daily Star says former US President Donald Trump has vowed to reveal everything his country knows about aliens if he is elected again in November. The paper describes the comment as the “totally sane ex-president’s pledge”.
