Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has called on Reform UK to sack its housing spokesman after he said the Grenfell Tower fire was a “tragedy” but that “everyone dies in the end”.
Simon Dudley, a former executive at Homes England, said the pendulum had “swung too far the wrong way” on regulation after the deadly blaze at the west London tower block in 2017.
The Grenfell Inquiry found that the 72 deaths were avoidable and had been preceded by “decades of failure” by governments and the building industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
Dudley was appointed as housing spokesman for Reform last month, and the party said at the time he would lead an urgent review into “Britain’s building crisis” that would set out reforms to planning, housing delivery and national infrastructure.
In an interview with Inside Housing, published on Wednesday, Dudley said the Grenfell fire was a “tragedy” but said he does not believe the regulatory regime is proportionate.
He went on to say: “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?”
The Building Safety Regulator, which was set up after the fire and is responsible for regulating the safe design, construction and occupation of higher-risk buildings, has faced criticism for delays in its approval processes.
In June last year, the government announced reforms to tackle delays to building new high-rise homes, including a fast-track process and investment.
He added: “Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually, people dying in house fires is rare… many, many more people die on the roads driving cars, but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses being built?”
He argued that “You can’t stop tragic things happening. You can try to minimise excesses, but bad things do happen.”
The effect of poor regulation, he said, is that it stops houses being built.
“So the pendulum has just swung too far the wrong way,” he said.
In a statement, the Grenfell Next of Kin group said: “The death of our parents, partners, children, siblings grandparents and grandchildren in the most horrific circumstances was gross negligent manslaughter, NOT fate.
“Dudley and Reform must apologise to the Grenfell Next of Kin families.”
Labelling Dudley’s comments as “shameful”, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, called on Nigel Farage to sack Dudley.
Joining these calls, the Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “If Nigel Farage has an ounce of decency, he will sack his housing chief immediately.”
“These disgraceful comments about those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire are beyond the pale and it is completely untenable for Simon Dudley to continue in his position.
Green Party MP Sian Berry said: “Reform has sunk to a new low and shown a real disrespect to the victims of Grenfell.
“Anyone who has any awareness of what Grenfell residents went through, in fact anyone with any empathy or humanity, will find these comments truly abhorrent.
Nigel Farage must sack Simon Dudley for this disgusting outburst.”
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan described Dudley’s words as “sickeningly insensitive.”
He added: “Not an ounce of decency, compassion or respect for the 72 lives lost and wider community. But this isn’t a slip-up or a stumble. This is Reform showing us exactly who they are.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Homes must, of course, be built safely.
“However, overly burdensome building safety regulations can stifle housebuilding, meaning targets are missed, and the waiting list for homes grows longer at a time when we need more.
“Simon’s comments on Grenfell reflected his broader point that the regulatory pendulum has swung too far in response to the tragedy.
“As he explained, there is a fine balance between overregulation – which can slow the delivery of new homes – and ensuring that more homes are built safely without too much red tape.”
Grenfell United, which represents some bereaved and survivors, described the comments as “deeply dehumanising”.
In a statement on Thursday it wrote: “Our loved ones did not simply ‘die.’ They were failed. They were trapped in their homes, in a building that should have been safe, in a fire that should never have happened. Reducing their deaths to an inevitability strips away the truth: this was preventable.
“To speak about Grenfell in this way is to erase responsibility. It suggests this was just fate, just ‘how it goes,’ rather than the result of years of ignored warnings, poor decisions, and a failure to value the lives of residents, and is deeply offensive and ill-informed.
“Everyone deserves the right to a safe home. But this attitude clearly shows Simon Dudley is not the man to ensure that happens.”
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