Boris Johnson vows to look into his pick for Grenfell inquiry

Boris Johnson has told Grenfell survivors he will investigate the role of a key member of the public inquiry after the Guardian revealed she had links to the company that made the tower’s cladding.

The prime minister met representatives of the Grenfell community at a pre-arranged visit to Downing Street on Thursday night shortly after it emerged that Benita Mehra was previously president of a charity that received a £71,000 donation from the philanthropic arm of Arconic, the US firm that made the panels found to be the main cause of fire spread.

Sources at the meeting said that when challenged, Johnson told them that he would investigate the appointment and stressed that anything that caused discomfort to the bereaved and survivors should not be allowed to happen.

Last month Johnson appointed Mehra, an engineer, to be one of three people presiding over the inquiry. However, between 2015 and 2018, she was president of the Women’s Engineering Society charity when it received a grant from the Arconic Foundation. Before the link to the US firm’s charity arm emerged, her appointment had angered some in the Grenfell community because she replaced another expert who had greater experience of social housing and community relations, which some believe is lacking in the inquiry leadership.

Grenfell United, the survivors and bereaved group that first discovered Mehra’s link to Arconic, has insisted her position represents a conflict of interest and called for her to stand down. It said it was “a slap in the face”.

David Lammy MP, backed their demand, calling her appointment, which was personally signed off by Johnson, “scandalous”.

“Grenfell survivors are right to describe this appointment as a slap in the face,” the Labour MP for Tottenham wrote on Twitter. “Mehra must stand down so there is no conflict of interest. The 72 who died in the fire deserve justice.”

The row comes 10 days before the inquiry hearings are set to restart, beginning with a focus on the selection of the cladding panels, their fire-testing, marketing and promotion. Mehra, who was involved in drafting the application for the grant from Arconic, which came through three months after the 14 June 2017 Grenfell fire, has declined to comment.

The inquiry said on Thursday that Mehra’s former role “does not affect her impartiality as a panel member”. A Cabinet Office spokesperson said there were “robust processes … [to ensure] any potential conflicts of interest are properly considered and managed”.

The link is particularly sensitive because anger is running high among many survivors at the role played by manufacturers of the combustible cladding and insulation materials used to reclad the tower during its 2016 refurbishment. The families of 69 victims and 177 survivors are separately suing Arconic and other materials manufacturers in the US courts for wrongful death. It has argued any litigation should take place in the UK. The UK government has also banned the use of such panels on high-rise residential buildings.

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Downing Street declined to comment on what Johnson said about Mehra in what it described as a private meeting.

However it said in a statement: “Thprime minister reaffirmed his commitment to getting to the truth of what happened, learn lessons and deliver justice for victims. During the meeting, they reflected on the Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Inquiry, and looked ahead to the next stage.”