The memorial wall next to the Grenfell Tower.Reform UK have been urged to sack the party’s housing spokesman over his “disgraceful” comments about the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Simon Dudley said “everyone dies in the end” and “fires happen” as he said there was now too much regulation in the building industry.
A huge fire at the 24-storey west London tower block killed 72 people in 2017.
The tragedy led to a major overhaul of building regulations to prevent it happening again.
But in an interview with the trade publication Inside Housing, Dudley said the pendulum had “swung too far the wrong way”.
He said the Grenfell fire was a “tragedy” but added: “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?”
Dudley went on: “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?”
Housing secretary Steve Reed said: “If Nigel Farage has an ounce of decency, he will sack his housing chief immediately.
“These disgraceful comments about those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire are beyond the pale and it is completely untenable for Simon Dudley to continue in his position.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan said Dudley’s comments were “sickeningly insensitive”.
In a post on X, he said: “Not an ounce of decency, compassion or respect for the 72 lives lost and wider community. But this isn’t a slip-up or a stumble. This is Reform showing us exactly who they are.”
This is just sickeningly insensitive.
Not an ounce of decency, compassion or respect for the 72 lives lost and wider community.
But this isn’t a slip-up or a stumble. This is Reform showing us exactly who they are. https://t.co/764l1je1fX
Green Party MP Sian Berry said: Reform has sunk to a new low and shown a real disrespect to the victims of Grenfell.
“Anyone who has any awareness of what Grenfell residents went through, in fact anyone with any empathy or humanity, will find these comments truly abhorrent.
“Nigel Farage must sack Simon Dudley for this disgusting outburst.”
But a Reform spokesman 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.”
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