Grenfell Tower


The inferno at Grenfell Tower was not an accident waiting to happen. It is a national scandal that could have been avoided.

Over a 4 year period as the BBC’s Special Correspondent in London I covered a similar tower block blaze and investigated the inadequacies of numerous public agencies that allowing it to happen.   That is a matter of public record.  This website is now making that historical work available as a research document for others to use.  It is important to remember journalism is a history of the present and the best way to use history is to guide us in avoiding the known mistakes of the past.

The inquest into the 6 tragic deaths at Lakanal House dealt with very serious questions, similar to those at Grenfell, and came up with reasoned answers based on mountainous evidence.

But the recommendations have yet to be implemented.  Just why has there been so much delay, four years after the Lakanal inquest?  This is why the Grenfell Tower disaster is a scandal. The authorities were warned this would happen again; Grenfell is the evidence that they failed to act effectively and in a timely manner.

During this intervention on BBC News on 15th June, I could barely suppress my anger over such official inaction.  Time for a public inquiry to ask why we so consistently fail to deal with problems when we have the evidence to find a resolution.

Click here to read peer-reviewed article written for the British Journalism Review


“I am extremely grateful to be able to use the Lakanal Fire footage courtesy of Nigel Saunders and Paul Wood.

All the fire footage of the Lakanal House fire is their copyright.

All other material is BBC Copyright and available through public access online or through the 'box of broadcasts' portal.”

Professor Kurt Barling - 2017