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Amid a flurry of coverage of the misery being caused by the cladding scandal this week, I think it's worth explaining that this problem comes from 30 years of building regulation failure and the fact that the government has not taken responsibility for that (thread)

Jaw dropping. The official responsible for fire policy writing in Jan 2016 that when ACM is exposed to a fire the aluminium "melts away and exposes the polyethylene core. Whoosh!" He would be warned a month later of 'grave concern' that this material was in wide use in the UK

(Sorry the email is a bit grainy. Best I could do from the YouTube stream. Will quote more extensively in my end of day report)

From time to time I look at the news and remember our English teacher telling us in May 2001 that John Prescott punching a farmer would "probably be the biggest story of our lifetimes"

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A generic letter was sent to housing authorities, but not a specific warning as the LFB had suggested. Sir Ken said today that this was to avoid prejudicing the police inquiry.

We also saw the closing evidence from civil servant Bob Ledsome today. This is part of what he said at the end of his testimony:

9 hours before Grenfell ,unbelievable…. 😢

While the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has revealed endemic deception by cladding manufacturers, architects need to become advocates for safety in the same way they are for aesthetics, writes Peter Apps #ribajintelligence ribaj.com/intelligence/w…

Given the revelations at the Grenfell Inquiry about misleading testing and marketing, it's reasonable to ask: what chance do architects have? But if we throw up our hands in despair, then the opportunity for change would be lost. Me for RIBAJ: ribaj.com/intelligence/w…

Great article in Royal Institute of British Architects by Peter Apps on the responsibilities of Architects and lessons of #Grenfell Tower tragedy Anyone who works on the design and #construction of buildings should understand building & fire safety regulations. #EndOurCladdingScandal ribaj.com/intelligence/w…

I’ve got my hands on a leaked gov report looking at the issue of exempt accommodation across the country. It paints a picture of a system that is being abused by many for profit and the most vulnerable being exploited. A huge but largely hidden scandal🧵insidehousing.co.uk/news/some-exem…

Report from today at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Officials rejected calls to impose minimum standards of competency on fire risk assessors because “businesses are unlikely to welcome the burden of further regulation”, emails released today show insidehousing.co.uk/news/governmen…

She added in a document to ministers that “businesses are unlikely to welcome the burden of further regulation in this area" and regulation would "undermine the fundamental principle of the legislation" which is to allow those best placed to manage the risks as they see fit

We also saw that a recommendation that housing providers be warned about dangerous cladding following the Lakanal House fire was not taken up - with providers sent a generic warning instead and told to check only if they "have doubts"

Feel the Love Fans of the Bob Marley exhibit say it's 'inspiring seeing so many people from different walks of life coming together' voice-online.co.uk/entertainment/…

According to the provisional schedule for next week at the inquiry, civil servant Brian Martin begins his evidence on Thursday. It will be worth following.

We will also hear from Melanie Dawes, former permanent secretary. Her witness statement claims she had never heard of Lakanal House until after the Grenfell blaze - despite the coroner investigating the six deaths telling her department to review guidance in light of the blaze

My latest dispatch from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, summarises a week when we heard the inside story of how a distracted government department prioritised deregulation and failed to act on warnings that a disaster was looming insidehousing.co.uk/insight/grenfe…

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