Police must act 'quicker' on Grenfell investigation, says Harman

Former Labour MP Harriet Harman has called for the police to act “quicker” when it comes to their investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire.

The public inquiry into the west London blaze that saw 72 killed in 2017 delivered its final report on Wednesday.

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It accused successive governments of “failing to act”, despite knowing the risk of certain cladding and insulation, as well as criticising the “systematic dishonesty” of the firms behind the materials.

But speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer said the seven years the probe took was “too long” as she appealed for police to move faster with prosecutions.

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“I’d be saying to the police, you’ve got to get on with your inquiry as quickly as possible,” she said. “The idea that after seven years of a public inquiry, there’s got to be another two years before they decide on prosecutions… you’ve got to crack on and do it quicker.

“Don’t leave it till the end of 2026. People have waited long enough for that.”

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Ms Harman said she understood why governments did not put time limits on public inquiries, as “they should take as long as it takes and [ministers] don’t want to fetter their independence”.

But, she added: “I actually think seven years is too long. And in other countries, they do set time limits. So, even if you do a full report after three-and-a-half years and you might have to do some extra bits, I think seven years is too long.

“The police should have – and I’m sure they have a bit – been getting on with building the case that they’re going to need to give to the Crown Prosecution Service so they can decide on charges.

“They could have been doing that, and should have been having lots of resources on that, in parallel with the inquiry over the seven years…. they’ve got to get the technicalities right.

“Nobody wants to fail prosecutions that tip over because they haven’t done the job properly, but they’ve really got to crack on. There’s really got to be a sense of urgency about it.”

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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave a statement to the Commons on Wednesday to apologise to the victims, survivors and their families “on behalf of the British state”.

He added: “It should never have happened. The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty to protect you and your loved ones, the people that we are here to serve, and I am deeply sorry.”

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Sir Keir said the government would write to all the companies named in the report as “the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts”, and would support both the police and prosecutors in their investigations going forward.

And he also pledged the government would look at all of the recommendations in the report and respond within six months.

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