Evidence seen by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has shown that just six weeks after the fire, Kingspan, whose K15 insulation was used in the flammable cladding system mounted on to Grenfell Tower, hired PR agencies Portland and Grayling communications to convince MPs that “combustible materials are no more dangerous than non-combustible when properly installed”.
Responding to the evidence, Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said:
“The victims at Grenfell had barely been laid to rest, before Kingspan, who made parts of the building’s flammable cladding system, hired a PR agency to convince MPs that ‘combustible materials are no more dangerous than non-combustible when properly installed’. They commissioned dodgy tests and tried to leverage the results to secure meetings with Ministers and the chair of Parliament’s Housing committee.
“Kingspan continues to operate and sold £5m in shares just before the cascade of damning evidence about its lies came to light. The contempt the company has shown for the Grenfell community and the firefighters who risked their lives that night is sadly an all too familiar story.
“The public will no doubt look at a mega corporation hiring PR gurus to save its reputation and compare that with the risks firefighters took on the 14 June in their attempts to save as many people as possible. To be clear, those involved in this immoral lobbying aren’t fit to lace the boots of the firefighters who went up Grenfell Tower.
“This is exactly the kind of dodgy dealing between government and businesses that led to the building safety crisis which could see another Grenfell happen tomorrow.”
