June 2017. A 24-storey tower block in West London. On the fourth floor, an electrical fault causes a fridge to catch fire. Within minutes, the flames have spread, turning the building into an inferno. Even though 70 fire engines are called to the scene, the building blazes for almost three days.

The Grenfell Tower fire was the worst residential fire in Britain since the BlitzThe aerial bombardment of the British Isles by the German Luftwaffe during the first part of World War 2.. It caused 72 deaths and 74 injuries, with hundreds more losing their homes. The fire spread thanks to cheap, flammable cladding on the exterior of the building.

The tower was part of a social housing estate in Kensington and Chelsea. This is one of the wealthiest parts of London, and the nearby neighbourhoods of Notting Hill and Holland Park are filled with white stuccoFine plaster used as an external render on historic buildings. townhouses worth millions of pounds. For many, the burning building became a symbol of the social divide in Britain.  

But who was to blame for this tragedy? Over the past year few years, a public inquiry has tried to answer that question. Yesterday the inquiry published its report on the long and short-term causes of the blaze.

The final report finds many people at fault. It argues that the manufacturers of the cladding and the companies which installed this material were largely to blame. However, the local council's social housing agency and the fire brigade also carry some responsibility. In addition, the report identifies "decades of failure by central government".¹

Those in favour of the inquiry argue that it has been comprehensiveIncluding all aspects or elements of something.. It ran for 400 days, cost the British taxpayer £200m, and the final report is 1,700 pages long.² It also contains 58 recommendations for the future, to ensure such a tragedy never happens again. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has promised to respond to the inquiry "within six months".³

However, not everyone thinks this report represents a fair outcome. Grenfell United, which represents the victims of the disaster, claimed in a statement that "justice has not been delivered".⁴ In particular, they argue that the government has too often taken the side of companies, rather than trying to keep people safe.

Either way, the Metropolitan Police have told the public that criminal prosecutions will not begin until late 2026. This means nobody will appear in court until 2027 - a decade after the disaster. Grenfell United have also called this wait "unbearable" for the families involved.⁵

Meanwhile, housing campaigner Twajo Tweneboa thinks it is "shameful" that, seven years after the tragedy, little progress has been made improving regulations for social housing. He argues that there have been several tower block fires since, but no improvement in national conditions.⁶

Public inquiries are an important part of the legal process. They give difficult issues the time and attention they deserve. However, no public inquiry is perfect and every conclusion will disappoint somebody. Justice is a noble goal, but one that society can never fully achieve.

Has justice been done?

Yes: The Grenfell inquiry has been a long, rigorous and expensive process. It identifies numerous companies and individuals at fault, and contains many recommendations for the future.

No: The victims of the Grenfell disaster do not think this report is a just outcome. What is more, prosecutions are still many months away.

Or... The inquiry has done a thorough job, but true justice is impossible to achieve. The real test is making sure that such a disaster never happens again.