Corruption '˜must be question for Grenfell inquiry'

Retired appeal court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick arrived for the meeting at a centre overlooked by the burnt-out high-rise block, telling reporters he was not making any comment “about credibility.”

Sir Martin has already faced calls to resign amid criticism and frustration from survivors that the remit of his inquiry may be too narrow.

It came as head of Transparency International said looking into whether corruption played a part should be an “explicit question” for the inquiry.

Robert Barrington, executive director of the group’s UK branch, said assessing whether corrupt practices took place was “central” to the pursuit of truth and justice.

He said: “Although there is no evidence as yet that corruption has had a role to play, our experience from around the world is that there is a high risk that corruption will have played a role.

“This is certainly the perception of the public, and at very least this perception needs to be laid to rest.

“At worst, it is possible that corruption played a part in turning a small domestic fire into a very great tragedy. If that is the case, the truth must be uncovered and the inquiry should be trying to make sure it never happens again.”

One of the many lessons of the Hillsborough disaster was that the right questions “must be asked from the start”, he said, adding: “Whether corruption was involved in the Grenfell Tower fire must be an explicit question, properly and expertly investigated”.

It came after Labour urged the Government to give survivors “full immigration amnesty” to encourage them to approach the authorities. The party said the Home Office’s offer of 12 months regardless of their immigration status did not go far enough, with Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott saying survivors and family members should have indefinite leave to remain.

In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, she said: “Without a full immigration amnesty there will be survivors and relatives of survivors who are frightened to approach the authorities.

“There will be people who have died whom we will never know about, and too many people who need help whom will not receive it.”

Yesterday police said they had recovered the “last of the visible human remains” from the tower where teams have been meticulously sifting through tonnes of debris.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said “87 recoveries” had been made in the three weeks since fire ripped through the high-rise block, but stressed “the catastrophic damage” inside meant “that is not 87 people”.

So far 21 bodies have been formally identified by the coroner and their families informed.

Meanwhile further tests are to be undertaken urgently on cladding and insulation after all 190 samples from buildings failed combustibility tests. Experts will look at how different varieties of cladding insulation with different types of Aluminium Composite Material panels react in a fire, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said.