Culpable: Deregulation, Austerity and the Causes of the Grenfell Tower Fire

In June 2017, a fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in West London. Seventy-two people died in what was the worst residential fire in Britain since World War II.

Culpable is a searing indictment of the government’s role in this tragedy. For nearly four decades, the ministers responsible for public safety systematically dismantled regulations through privatization and deregulation, enabling the contractors who made Grenfell Tower a ticking time bomb.

Despite warnings from professionals (including the FBU), politicians from successive governments imposed deregulation in the name of the market and in favor of private profiteers. Meticulously researched and drawing on the extensive findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Culpable sets the record straight and challenges readers to consider the fundamental issues of power and violence that remain unresolved in the aftermath of Grenfell.