Reform’s Simon Dudley urged to apologise to Grenfell families after saying ‘everyone dies’ | Reform UK
Campaigners for Grenfell families have called for an apology from Reform UK and its housing spokesman, who said the tower fire was a “tragedy” but “everyone died in the end”.
Simon Dudley, a former chairman of Homes England, announced he would join Reform in February, while Nigel Farage said he planned to bring in more “experts” to advise the party.
But the new Reform housing spokesman was embroiled in controversy overnight after giving a speech. Interview for Inside Housing magazine He described building safety regulations introduced after the 2017 Grenfell tragedy as “useless regulation”.
When asked if the fire was a warning, Dudley was quoted as saying: “It was a tragedy. It was a failure.” “Unfortunately, everyone dies eventually. It’s just the way you go, right?” he added.
“If we take Grenfell out of the statistics, it’s actually rare for people to die in house fires. Many, many more people die driving on the roads – but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses from being built?”
Steve Reed, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, called on Dudley to resign.
“If Nigel Farage has any decency he would sack his housing chief immediately. These disgraceful comments about the deaths of the Grenfell Tower fire are over the top and it is completely indefensible for Simon Dudley to continue in his role,” Reed said.
Grenfell Next of Kin bandThe organisation, which advocates on behalf of people who lost loved ones in the fire, said: “The deaths of our parents, partners, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren in the most horrific circumstances was not fate, it was manslaughter by gross negligence.”
“Dudley and Reform must apologize to Grenfell Next of Kin families.” The group describes itself as an advocacy platform for the relatives and immediate families of more than half of those who died.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Homes must of course be built safely. But overly burdensome building safety regulations can hinder housebuilding, meaning targets are missed and waiting lists for homes are lengthened at a time when we need more.”
“Simon’s comments on Grenfell reflected his wider view that the regulatory pendulum has swung too far in response to the tragedy. As he explained, there is a fine balance between over-regulation, which can slow the delivery of new homes, and ensuring more homes are built safely without too much red tape.”
Dudley, a former Conservative Party supporter with experience in international banking and roles at HSBC and other companies, was chairman of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation until July last year, overseeing the creation of a new town the size of Chichester. He was appointed to the Conservative Party’s finance department as recently as October by party chairman Kevin Hollinrake.
After joining Reform, he said: “The two main parties have failed to provide housing for Britons for too long. They were pursuing a disastrous combination of excessive levels of immigration and a severe lack of new, quality homes.”
