Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to sack Reform’s new housing spokesperson after he described the Grenfell Tower fire as a “tragedy” but added that “everyone dies in the end”. Simon Dudley, a former head of Homes England, made the comments in an interview with Inside Housing magazine, in which he described building safety regulations introduced after the 2017 tragedy as “regulation which is not working”.
“That was a tragedy. It was a failure,” Dudley was quoted as saying. “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?” he added. “Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually people dying in house fires is rare. Many, many more people die on the roads driving cars – but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses being built?”
The prime minister joined in condemnation of Dudley, describing his comments as shameful. “Nigel Farage should do the decent thing and sack him,” Starmer said on X. Grenfell United, a bereaved families and survivors group, described Dudley’s comments as insensitive and deeply dehumanising. “Our loved ones did not simply ‘die’. They were failed. They were trapped in their homes, in a building that should have been safe, in a fire that should never have happened,” the group said in a statement.
Grenfell Next of Kin, another group, said: “The death of our parents, partners, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren in the most horrific circumstances was gross negligent manslaughter, NOT fate.” Dudley responded to the outcry on Thursday morning, using a post on X to say: “Grenfell was an utter tragedy and quite rightly prompted a wholesale review and tightening of fire regulations. I said it was a tragedy in my interview with Inside Housing and in no shape or form am I belittling that disaster or the huge loss of life. It must never happen again. I reiterate that, and am sorry if it was not sufficiently clear.”
His remarks were also criticised by the Fire Brigades Union, whose general secretary, Steve Wright, described them as disgusting and shocking. A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Simon’s comments on Grenfell reflected his broader point that the regulatory pendulum has swung too far in response to the tragedy. As he explained, there is a fine balance between overregulation – which can slow the delivery of new homes – and ensuring that more homes are built safely without too much red tape.”
