in grenfell tower in london were avoidable — the final verdict from the public inquiry. it says the catastrophic fire here injune 2017 was the result of a chain of failures by governments and private companies by governments and private companies. grenfell was on a "path to disaster" that began many years ago. 5a adults and 18 children died. the prime minister says grenfell residents were "ignored" and left in a "death trap". now their families want justice. we are traumatised. we are empty inside now. seven years, justice delayed isjustice denied. we'll be looking at who the report says was responsible and asking whether the families of those who died will ever get realjustice. also on the programme...

more people try to make the perilous crossing in small boats on the channel, despite 12 people dying yesterday. the bbc learns the state pension is set for an above inflation rise, up £400 a year. getting every last ounce out of herself to claim the gold medal. and what a storied career it's been for dame sarah storey, winning her 18th lifetime paralympic gold. and coming up on bbc news: the british number one jack draper is about to step on court for — arguably — one of the biggest matches of his career. he's taking on alex de minaur in the quarterfinals of the us open.

good evening from grenfell tower in west london, still standing but covered up since the devastating fire that broke outjust after midnight onjune 1a, 2017. the flames were so fierce it took firefighters more than 2a hours to get the fire under control. 72 people died. dozens more were injured. for more than seven years, survivors and victims families have been and victims�* families have been waiting to find out exactly what went wrong. today they finally got answers from the public inquiry. it says the people killed in the fire were badly failed at almost every level by successive governments, companies and the authorities through incompetence, dishonesty and greed. all of the deaths were avoidable. now the families of those who died wantjustice. ourfirst report tonight is from tom symonds. a warning — it includes images of grenfell tower on fire. there have been seven years of mornings over grenfell with no definitive answers to the question, why did this happen?

today was different. why did this happen? but this is how it all began. why did this happen? a fridge caught fire, the owner called 999 then got out, then turned on his camera. 31 minutes later, flames reached the roof, then unstoppable. buildings are designed to prevent fires spreading. as these pictures show, this one totally failed. nick burton was among the few rescued, guided to safety. i don't actually remember coming out into the light. i don't remember, like, being handed over, i don't remember when i took my first real breath. i know that i thought i was going to die and melt at some stage... he coughs ..in the tower. they call that the grenfell cough, but he lost his wife, pily, after the fire. she was the last of its 72 victims.

this was the final conclusion of the chairman of the seven year public inquiry. the simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years, and in a number of different ways, by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants. the largest group representing victims of the fire have always said exactly that. human life was never a priority, and we lost _ human life was never a priority, and we lost friends, neighbours and loved _ we lost friends, neighbours and loved ones in the most horrific way, through— loved ones in the most horrific way, through greed, corruption, incompetence and negligence. if you — incompetence and negligence. if you are looking for the one person or company that might have been to blame for the deaths of 72 people here at grenfell, you won't find it in this massive seven volume report, because this was a failure of the system at all levels across the board, and it started at the

top, with governments labour and conservative. they were warned fires involving flammable cladding over 18 years. six died at lakanal house in south london, but ministers and civil servants didn't change the regulations governing building materials. in 2010, david cameron and nick clegg's government wanted a bonfire of regulations to help businesses, and in the run—up to grenfell, the inquiry says matters of safety were ignored, delayed or disregarded. in 2016, the ageing west london block was refurbished, with new cladding, to make it look good next to a newly constructed school. but look at the design. sheets of aluminium and plastic shaped into square boxes. a multinational, arconic, made the sheets, but did not come up with the design. but it knew the box eight was extreme the dangerous, according to the inquiry. it had commissioned tests and found the boxes collected

molten plastic. yet this was deliberately concealed from the construction market, and arconic must take response ability for the use of cladding at grenfell, the report says. a host of contractors were involved in the work itself, including an architect, studio e, and a project manager. the inquiry found they were incompetent and passed the buck when it came to safety. the prime minister visited grenfell two weeks ago without any of the city, leaving a reef. today, he said it was imperative there was a swift police investigation. —— a wreath. and he went further. i can tell the house today that this government will write to all companies found by the inquiry to be part of these horrific failings as the first step to stop them being awarded government contracts, and we will, of course, support the metropolitan police and the prosecutors as they complete their investigation. but this woman, who lost her mother, wanted the police investigation, which has been delayed by this

inquiry, to take priority. it has certainly delayed justice for us. it has certainly delayed justice for us it_ it has certainly delayed justice for us it has— it has certainly delayed justice for us. it has meant that criminal prosecutions couldn't have happened, and all— prosecutions couldn't have happened, and all those people that should be facing _ and all those people that should be facing criminal prosecutions have had a _ facing criminal prosecutions have had a platform to kind of trial their— had a platform to kind of trial their story. no - their story. no charges are expected until the end of 2026 at the earliest. nearly ten years after grenfell. ten yea rs after g re nfell. 72 ten years after grenfell. 72 people died because of the grenfell tower fire, dozens 72 people died because of the grenfell towerfire, dozens more were injured, and more than 200 people did manage to escape. seven years on, the families of those who died are still trying to come to terms with what happened. our special correspondent, lucy manning, has spent the day with them. 72 names, and one of them is theirs.

their daughter, sister and aunt. khadija was a joyful person. my sister is always smiling. she always had a positive attitude. how does it feel to hear that your sister and the other deaths were avoidable? when you are hearing that, everything was avoidable, it hurts also because of their dishonesty. you have anger inside you. you say, what are they waiting for? to make charges, to make criminal prosecution manslaughter, to give us justice, and this is what we want. 1700 pages that amplify injustice, grief and fury.

we are traumatised. we are empty inside now. seven years, justice delayed isjustice denied. and we were robbed of our right for this justice. it's thought 52—year—old khadija went to check on another family as she tried to escape. she never made it out of the building. we want to speak about khadija is a good memory. —— as a good memory. but we talked all the time, khadija was burnt, khadija died in those circumstances, so we are hurting our self. what flat are you in? 185 _ what flat are you in? 185 we _ what flat are you in? 183. we are trying i what flat are you in? 183. we are trying toj what flat are you in? - 183. we are trying to get out. marcio_ 183. we are trying to get out. marcio and andrea gomes were trapped on the 21st floor. this was the 999 core. they survive, but andrea was seven months pregnant, and baby

logan was stillborn. we knew exactly what our truth was. it is great to see it now in black and white, written down, but you can see there from the fraudulence, the greed, the dishonesty that was going on. does it give you the answers about how and why your little baby died? no, i don't think it gives me the answers of how logan died, or how anybody died. i mean, we can see there, it could have been all avoidable. it's good to hear what we knew, and that logan died peacefully. sorry. it is ok. yes, andi yes, and i knew that from the doctors' reports, but there is

something about hearing it in the inquiry as well. but it could have been all avoided. grenfell could have been avoided in its entirety, so i'm glad he wrote that down. grenfell was notjust a building, but a community. the babies, children, parents and grandparents died here, the report is clear, due to dishonesty, disregard and incompetence. the report from the public inquiry says a chain of failures across government and the private sector led to grenfell tower becoming a death trap. 0ur correspondent dominic casciani has been looking in detail at who the report says were responsible. thank you, sophie. the big question for the coming months is where do the inquiry�*s findings leave the grenfell survivors and their continuing fight for justice? they want to see criminal charges, but those depend on detectives now reading literally line—by—line

today's conclusions before reaching any of their own. let's start with the companies. the manufacturers of the cladding products?were, the inquiry found, "by far the largest contributor" to the fire. they have been found to have engaged in?"systematic dishonesty", using "deliberate and sustained strategies" to? make their products appear safe. arconic is the company which made the cladding panels on the tower�*s exterior. the inquiry found it to have?"deliberately concealed" the safety risk. two firms who produced the insulation, celotex and kingspan, were found to have? misled the market about the suitability of their products for high rise buildings. in response, arconic said it?"did not conceal information from or mislead any certification body, customer, orthe public". tonight, celotex said?they had "reviewed and improved" process controls, quality management and its approach to marketing. and kingspan said it has "long acknowledged the wholly unacceptable historical failings that occurred in part of our uk insulation business. these were in no way

reflective of how we conduct ourselves as a group, then or now". so let's move on. the report also highlights incompetence by companies?involved in the refurbishment of the tower. the architect studio e and cladding provider harley facades were found to bear?"significant" responsibility for the disaster. in evidence, they all said they understood at the time that other companies were checking for compliance and ultimately building control signed it off. the project manager rydon's oversight of the work led to a ? culture of "buck—passing". but the report found deeper origins of the tragedy. at the heart of government, there had been "many opportunities" to address the risks posed by flammable cladding, but they were missed, culminating in?"decades of failure". the 2010 conservative—liberal democrat government?was strongly criticised for its focus on cutting regulation. the inquiry said that meant safety matters had been "ignored, delayed or disregarded". earlier governments failed to heed

warnings about cladding in 1992, 2001 and 2009, and a privatised industry standards body was said to be exposed to claims from unscrupulous manufacturers. kensington and chelsea council and its social housing arm, the tenant management 0rganisation that looked after grenfell, had a?"persistent indifference to fire safety, particularly the safety of vulnerable people". today they responded, saying:? "this council should have done more to listen to our residents and keep them safe before the fire, and to care for them in the aftermath". for london fire brigade, the report said they?lacked a strategy to evacuate the building?once they had lost control?and were? complacent. the london fire brigade in response said it had introduced important policies, new equipment, improved training and better ways of working. and wejust

and we just heard from some of the families what they want is justice. how long will they have to wait, and will they get it? it would be quite a process, perhaps 18 months or so. police officers are working on this and they have conducted interviews and asking prosecutors for early advice on possible charges. from today they will be doing a deep dive into this inquiry, perhaps conducting more interviews and only by the end of maybe 2026, passing evidence to prosecutors for charging decisions. that ultimately means we may not see any trials, if there are any trials, before the tenth anniversary of this terrible disaster.— terrible disaster. dominic casciani, thank yom — in parliament today, the prime minister apologised on behalf of the british state to victims' families, the survivors and the community here, saying they had been let down very badly, before, during and after the fire. i want to start with an apology

on behalf of the british state to each and every one of you, and indeed to all of the families affected by this tragedy. it should never have happened. 0ur political editor chris mason is here. politically, in terms of the government, what happens now and what do they do? keir government, what happens now and what do they do?— what do they do? keir starmer now has the responsibility _ what do they do? keir starmer now has the responsibility to _ what do they do? keir starmer now has the responsibility to steer - what do they do? keir starmer now has the responsibility to steer and l has the responsibility to steer and ultimately deliver the recommendations set out in the report. you get a sense when you look at it, and in the wider picture, of the dilemmas and trade—offs he faces. taking the wider issue of housing, new promises to deliver 1.5 million new homes in the next five years, yet there are hundreds of thousands of people around the uk stock in flats deemed to be dangerous, often not able to be sold, when there is a huge demand for new home is. many of the contractors and developers who are heavily criticised will also be needed as a wider industry to

deliver on that overall promise. a challenge there. a bigger picture thought, we have been here before, haven't we? if you think of the infected blood inquiry, hillsborough, bloody sunday. it demands a thought about us as a society and our collective capacity, or lack of capacity, to successfully look after people and root out problems. and does this point, the delivery of a report, marked a sense of pessimism, a lack of delivery, or the opposite? and for plenty here there is the hope there is a work in progress, long process, to live delivering change in governance, culture, and as we were reflecting there, criminaljustice as well. chris mason, thank you. that's it from us for now. i'll be back with more from here before the end of the programme, but now it's over to clive in the studio with the rest of the day's news.

studio: sophie raworth, thank you. more people have been trying to cross the channel from france, despite the deaths of 12 people yesterday. a pregnant woman and six children are among those who died in the single deadliest attempted channel crossing of the year so far. andrew harding has the very latest. early this morning, and the smugglers are back in business. a bbc team filmed this crowded boat heading up the french coast. an hour later, a boat — possibly the same one — is spotted as it veers back towards the french shore. it's already overloaded, but see how the smugglers are stopping to pick up even more passengers, like an overcrowded bus. there's a brief chase as french police try to intercept them, but it's a huge beach and the police don't get there in time. all this happening just one day after 12 died off the same stretch of coastline, six children among the dead. this afternoon, we find several french fishermen who'd pulled bodies from the sea. "the less we talk about that,

the less we have to think about it," says bruno. as the french investigation continues, local police chose today to break up the makeshift migrant camp where many of those who died yesterday had been staying. like many on that boat, these people are from the troubled african nation of eritrea. how do you feel about what happened to the eritreans on that boat? i'm stressed. this happens all the time. yeah, all the time, it's happened. people drowning, people getting in trouble. yeah, yeah, yeah, every time. the french authorities insist they are making progress in disrupting the smuggling gangs, particularly by intercepting engines and boats long before they even make it to these beaches. but the smugglers are responding by taking ever greater risks — or, rather, by putting their passengers at greater risk, cramming more of them into ever flimsier boats, with predictable and devastating consequences. andrew harding, bbc news,

in northern france. dame priti patel has been knocked out of the conservative leadership contest in the first round of voting by tory mps. the former immigration minister robertjenrick topped the poll, followed by kemi badenoch. third was james cleverly, and fourth tom tugendhat. in fifth place was mel stride. voting will continue in the coming weeks until there are two candidates left, leaving party members to pick one of them to be the new leader. treasury calculations seen by the bbc show the state pension is set for an above—inflation rise next april, of more than £400 a year. the news comes amid continuing controversy over its decision to cut winter fuel payments for most pensioners. faisal islam is here. we knew this was coming. we knew the rocess was we knew this was coming. we knew the process was coming. _ we knew this was coming. we knew the process was coming. what _ we knew this was coming. we knew the process was coming. what we _ we knew this was coming. we knew the process was coming. what we are -

process was coming. what we are waiting to confirm is exactly how much the state pension will go up next april. it is almost certain that it will be by the percentage increase in earnings, that figure is coming out on tuesday, the figure from may tojuly, around 4%. the internal treasury calculation referred to means that for the new state pension it would mean a £400 cash increase, running above inflation, as the triple lock and earnings link is meant to operate. i think for the government it provides some of the context, on top of the £900 increase this year for the new state pension, some of the context for the removal of the winter fuel payment. there is no formal connection between these two policies. the means testing of the winter fuel payment. but it provides some context. they have spent a lot of money on the state pension. for others, they will say there is no link here, this was always going to be the case, this is the policy. we wait for the confirmation of the

number next week and it's up for the department for work and pensions secretary liz kendall to confirm exactly how much the state pension will go up next april.— will go up next april. thank you, faisal islam. _ will go up next april. thank you, faisal islam, economics - will go up next april. thank you, faisal islam, economics editor. | dame sarah storey has extended her record as the most successful british paralympian, winning gold in paris in the women's cycling time trial. she's now won 18 golds in her career. with that and the rest of the paralympics news, here's andy swiss. it is one of british sport's most gloriously familiar sights, dame sarah storey on top of the podium. but goodness, she had to work for it. storey described the women's time trial course, only half the length of the men's, as appalling. her ride, though, was anything but. she had trailed in the early stage, but a late charge saw her snatch the gold. commentator: it's going to be close, but dame sarah storey has done it. - it is the latest chapter in a remarkable career. it's now 32 years since her paralympic debut as a swimmer. she came to these

games with 17 golds. now she has an 18th to add to that collection. just look at the effort etched on her face. there were three other british medals in the cycling, including a silver for fran brown. there was success in the pool too. last week, poppy maskill won britain's first gold of the games. now she has herfourth medal here. it's another medal to poppy maskill. both she and team—mate rhys darbey taking silvers in the medley. it's going to be silver to rhys darbey. in the para equestrian events, sophie wells, one of britain's most decorated stars, she claimed a bronze, her ninth paralympic medal. while there was also a bronze for tim jeffery, britain's first shooting medal of the games. he said afterwards he couldn't be happier. and in the table tennis, and in the table tennis, 14—year—old bly twomey roared 14—year—old bly twomey roared into the semifinals. into the semifinals. but gold is very much in her sights. one of britain's youngest one of britain's youngest athletes here is now athletes here is now

guaranteed at least a bronze, guaranteed at least a bronze, but gold is very much in her sights. andy swiss, bbc news, paris. back to to our top story, the final report into the grenfell tower fire, and rejoin sophie in west london. thank you. the publication of the public inquiry�*s final report on the grenfell tower fire has brought many answers for families and the community. what it hasn't yet brought is justice. those affected by the disaster will now have to wait at least a year before they find out whether any criminal charges will be brought over the tragedy. our correspondent adina campbell has been speaking to one man, omar al—haj ali, who survived the fire here, but his 23—year—old brother, mohammad, did not get out alive.

i have called the boy mohammad after my brother mohammad. i always wanted to call my son mohammad because my brother had a really, really nice personality. mohammad was my best friend, notjust my brother. he wasjust, like, one year younger than me. the situation in syria was really bad and it was not safe at all for us. so we came to the uk around 2014. we found this nice apartment in grenfell tower. can you take us back to the day, what you were doing before the fire started? we were invited for iftar at one of ourfriend's home. then some of us decided to go outside for dessert, but me and my brother decided to go back to the tower, just so we can sleep, because we had work the next day. and i started to hear some noise around me, shouting, screaming. police cars, ambulance,

fire fighters. we did open our door and we were shocked by the amount of smoke. we were shouting, saying, "please, help, help, help, we are here. we need to leave now." i didn't understand why we couldn't leave. the last thing i remember was i was in the corridor area. and i remember someone did actually pull me from my t—shirt, from my neck. someone was holding me, giving me to another firefighter, another firefighter as well was giving me to another firefighter. i think there was a line of firefighters. and i didn't even think my brother wasn't with me. when did you realise that your brother had been left behind? i looked behind me and i couldn't see my brother. i was speaking to him on the phone and the last thing he told me was, "omar, i'm going to die here." and i was like, "no, you're not going to die, you're going to make it." he was like, "no."

my brother is there in front of me and i can see him, like actually waving from the window. and i remember that i've been taken to the hospital by the ambulance. they came to me, they told me, "your brother passed away." i think that was the hardest moment in my life, to hear this. how have you tried to heal from this? ijust knew that my life is completely different. and i'm not going to be the same person any more. and i knew that i'm completely destroyed. this pain will never be just forgotten. omar al—haj ali, remembering his brother mohammad. the report published today is the culmination of more than 300 public hearings— which looked at hundreds of thousands of documents as well as numerous witness statements.

the journalist kate lamble, presenter of the bbc podcast the grenfell tower inquiry, has sat through almost all of it over the past six years. she's here now. quite a moment today. has the inquiry achieved what it set out to do? fin inquiry achieved what it set out to do? , ., , inquiry achieved what it set out to do? , ._ ., inquiry achieved what it set out to do? , ., , ., , do? on the first day of the inquiry it wanted to _ do? on the first day of the inquiry it wanted to set _ do? on the first day of the inquiry it wanted to set out _ do? on the first day of the inquiry it wanted to set out what - do? on the first day of the inquiry. it wanted to set out what happened and why ad it seems to have done that. watching the evidence, there were so many times the company wouldn't take responsibility and the inquiry called it a web of blame. it seems looking at the layers of criticism in the report today, it has by and large untangle the web and assigned responsibility. the second role of the inquiry is to create change and we don't know how far that'll when this is the culmination of decades of problem is how do you create the sea change? at the heart of the conclusions is the human consequences of of what happened. it's the same conclusion they had in 2022, every singer one of the 72 deaths that took place at

grenfell tower were entirely avoidable. grenfell tower were entirely avoidable-— grenfell tower were entirely avoidable. . . , ., avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and ou avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and you can — avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and you can find — avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and you can find her— avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and you can find her podcast - avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. and you can find her podcast on - avoidable. kate lamble, thank you. | and you can find her podcast on bbc sounds. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. good evening, wet weather on the way for some but not all parts of the uk over the next couple of days. across the south of england and south wales it is possible the wettest places could see a month's worth of rain and a couple of days, bringing the risk of localised flooding and perhaps travel disruption. all driven by this area of low pressure swirling to the south of us, throwing belts of rain in our direction. notice not much rain getting the north of the uk. with this feed of humid air developing some northern parts the uk could see high temperatures in the next couple of days. showers and pulses of rain across the south of england and south wales through the morning. clear spells developing temperatures

north to south between nine and 14. heading into tomorrow, all eyes to the south, we will see pulses of heavy rain running across the south of england and into the south of wales. further north you can see a lot of missed, merck and low cloud running in from the north sea affecting parts of northern england, north wales. but with some sunshine, northern ireland and western scotland feeling warm, 20 degrees in glasgow and an increasingly humid feel for all of us. as we go through tomorrow night and into friday, we'll see more rain across the south of england. a bit of uncertainty about how far north it will get through the day on friday but we could see rain in two parts of the south midlands, south wales. further north, areas of mist, merck and low cloud. in the best of the sunshine, western scotland and north—west england, could be looking at highs of 25 or 26. keeping a warm and humid feel to the weather into the weekend with rain in the south. thanks, ben.

that's it from us on the bbc news at six.