they died because of dishonesty greed and incompetence the final reports damning verdict the simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants starting on the fourth floor the fire raced through 19 floors in 20 minutes fueled by highly flammable insulation cladding panels fitted to the outside of the building a year earlier the inquiry had already said they were the main reason the fire spread so quickly today's final report was about how they came to be fitted the government ignored warnings about dangerous cladding from as early as 1991 it knew the risks but failed to prevent them revealing the greed and profiteering of an industry that has been poorly regulated by governments over decades I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you and indeed to all of the families affected by this tragedy it should never have happened the country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty to protect you you and your loved ones I've heard it I've heard it before we've had so many I know Prime Ministers that have come out and apologize on behalf of the country but what's an apology we need action Nicholas lost his wife in the fire just love life we had a lot of laughter and joy uh for for everybody around us as well so and you know her family as well so yeah is it's it's been difficult how do you feel about the report this is just a finding Mission and to document it down so the judge went up to you know push it to the level that he could go to but now is we're going to have to rely on the police and the crown prosecution to take it further I've fitted fire stations um from Adis Ababa in Ethiopia to Queenstown in New Zealand and every single fire station that I went to know about grel of had to take some action for their own citizens 6 100,000 people in England are still sleeping in homes surrounded by highly flammable material the government Under Pressure to act quickly and find more than the $6.5 billion it's already allocated to do it for the families of the victims and the survivors this is one step on the road to Justice which for them will only end with criminal convictions and that may not happen for at least 18 months time Paul Hawkins trt World London