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THE Grenfell Tower inquiry has cancelled its contract with auditors KPMG after campaigners called for the company to be removed, saying it had failed to disclose a conflict of interest.
The firm is the auditor of three of the firms under scrutiny by the inquiry into the tower block blaze, in which 71 people died last June.
This includes Celotex, which manufactured the flammable cladding on the building, along with Rydon Construction, the contractor that refurbished the tower in 2015, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where the tower is located.
The firm said it had “mutually agreed with the inquiry that we will step down from our role with immediate effect.”
A statement released last night said the decision was taken following concerns raised by “core participants.”
It was announced after more than 70 individuals and organisations, including Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Emma Dent Coad, sent an open letter to the Prime Minister calling on her to cancel the appointment of the auditor.
They said it would “only further fuel rumours of a deliberate cover-up and erode public trust.”
Ms Dent Coad welcomed the decision, but she added: “This appointment was yet another example of the government’s deafness to local needs.
“After the refusal to agree the petition for a representative advisory panel permitted to ask questions at the inquiry, it is beyond belief that the government has once again made such a huge and damaging decision.
“Frankly, it is not enough to make errors and then correct them. They must listen before they act.”
