Myths about building rules need busting - fire chief

A public inquiry found all 72 deaths in the fire were avoidable

London's fire chief has said myths "need to [be] bust" around the economic effects of strict regulations on building safety, as he promised Grenfell Tower bereaved and survivors lessons would be learnt from the 2017 fire.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) Commissioner Andy Roe pointed at countries such as the US which have strict rules as well as profitable construction firms and asked "why can't we do it here?".

He posed the question to the construction industry and the government while speaking at the London Assembly Fire Committee.

Last week the Grenfell Tower Inquiry found the fire, which killed 72 people, was partly due to "defective" safety regulations.

London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe

Speaking in front of the committee, Mr Roe said the US was "a huge functioning democracy built on a capitalist model, and yet they have probably some of the strictest building regulations for high-rises in the world.

"It is so prescriptive in terms of their construction methodology, the levels of mitigation they place into their buildings, whether it be sprinklers or alarms or evacuation lifts or staircases, the method of construction.

"I think we do have to state the obvious - which is why can't we do it here?"

He added: "I do think we need to bust some of these myths because there are other examples around the world with well-functioning models of economy and commerce that seem to be able to do this in a safer way."

The inquiry also found there had been a "chronic lack of effective leadership" in the fire service at the time of the disaster.

Mr Roe insisted many lessons had been learned by LFB since the Grenfell fire in 2017 and changes made, pointing to the response of crews to recent fires including one in a seven-storey block in Dagenham.

But, he said the brigade was not complacent.

'Most terrible personal experience'

Asked what assurances he could give bereaved and survivors, as well as people living in buildings which had not yet had unsafe cladding removed, he said: "I don't expect to convince you with my words. I have to demonstrate it in our actions as a service.

"So I think I would ask to be judged on what you see in our response, in our interactions with you."

His voice seemed to break with emotion when speaking about his commitment to making changes following the disaster, saying it was "borne out of the most terrible personal experience, to be frank, and the loss of life we witnessed that night".

Mr Roe said the LFB would discuss the inquiry's recommendations with the Grenfell community and would report back within "weeks".

Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said each of the deaths in the fire was avoidable and had been preceded by "decades of failure" by the government and the building industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.

The government has said it will respond in full to the Grenfell report in six months and then provide annual updates on the implementation of the recommendations.