The most shocking moments from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in 2020

In the past year, a series of horrifying details have emerged from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, as it began to examine the companies which manufactured and installed dangerous cladding and insulation on the tower block. Taken together, they point to an enormous corporate scandal. Below are seven of the most shocking revelations from the Inquiry this year:

1. ‘There is no point in fire stopping, as we all know; the ACM will be gone rather quickly in a fire’

This email, first disclosed in January, drew audible gasps from the public gallery when it was read out. It was sent by Daniel Anketell-Jones, design manager at the subcontractor Harley, which installed cladding on Grenfell Tower. The email was part of a lengthy email debate on the need for cavity barriers and fire stops within the cladding system.

On the face of it, the email appeared to show knowledge within the team that the products they were installing were dangerous – although all participants in the email chain downplayed this when they gave evidence.