Brandon Lewis among MPs to give evidence at Grenfell Tower inquiry
Lord Pickles, Stephen Williams, Lord Wharton and Gavin Barwell will also appear as witnesses at the inquiry.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Current and former MPs will give evidence at the Grenfell Tower inquiry amid union calls for politicians to be held to account.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis will on Wednesday be the first politician appear as a witness at the inquiry, which is attended by bereaved family members and survivors of the 2017 blaze.
Mr Lewis was a minister with responsibility for fire safety from 2016 to 2017.
Stephen Williams, Lord Wharton and Gavin Barwell, all of whom were ministers with responsibility for building regulations in the run up to the disaster, will also appear, and former fire safety minister Lord Pickles.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, called for politicians who supported deregulation in the years leading up to the fire to “bear the brunt of the blame”.
“Politicians over successive decades committed to deregulation as a fundamental political idea,” he said.
“They have scrapped standards, privatised public services and weakened the regime of inspecting buildings.
“A clear line can be drawn from these political decisions to key failures at Grenfell, with highly flammable cladding and insulation facilitated by a lack of clear regulation.”
Mr Wrack added that ministers “imposed the worst cuts in our history, cutting one in five operational firefighters while expecting our members to do ever-more arduous work”.
Mr Lewis will give evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, followed by Lord Wharton on Thursday.