Mercedes F1 deal with Grenfell insulation company “deeply disrespectful” – Nandy

Formula 1 team Mercedes was branded “deeply disrespectful” after signing a partnership agreement with a company behind part of the insulation installed in Grenfell Tower

Shadow leveling-up secretary Lisa Nandy said she hopes Lewis Hamilton – who drives for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team – will “make his views known” to those who made the decision on the Kingspan deal .

Her remarks come after community secretary Michael Gove said he would write to the Mercedes team to ask them to reconsider the deal, adding that it was “deeply disappointing” that they accepted the sponsorship.

Kingspan’s K15 insulation was one of the products installed during the Grenfell Tower renovation, although most of the insulation for the West London skyscraper was made by a different company.

An investigation is looking into how the Grenfell Tower was coated with flammable materials, which contributed to the spread of the flames that shot into the tower in June 2017, killing 72 people.

Ms. Nandy said she supported Mr. Gove’s criticism but had written to him asking him to “adopt the same principled stance on the Conservative Party’s decision to accept millions of pounds in donations from property developers, that were farmed “. Covered with the same dangerous ACM cladding “since the fire in 2017.

On Kingspan, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “I couldn’t support him anymore. I was really encouraged to see the very quick reaction from him criticizing the decision.

“It is an act of solidarity with a group of people who have been badly abandoned for many, many years.”

But she added, “I also wrote to Michael Gove this morning to ask why the Conservative Party then took large donations from developers who have been using the same siding as Kingspan on apartment blocks across the country since the Grenfell fire in 2017 .

“And whether he will also be in an act of solidarity with the Grenfell community in condemning this decision and the return of the money.”

When asked if she thinks Hamilton should talk about those who sponsor his team, Ms. Nandy told the program, “I think the bottom line is that it’s not his choice and I hope he shares his views with people makes it clear that they made this decision.

“Lewis Hamilton was an ally of the Grenfell community. He has spoken on the subject before.

“I suspect he will do that behind the scenes, but the key is to make sure that we all on the political spectrum are stepping up the pressure to make sure this doesn’t happen.

“It’s deeply disrespectful to people who lost everything four years ago. They felt very invisible in the political system. That was what made this possible in the first place.

“We need to send a clear and unmistakable message that they are no longer invisible, that people’s lives are important and that we stand by them while this investigation is ongoing.”

Hamilton previously wrote about the fire in Grenfell Tower on his Instagram account.

In 2020 he published a picture with the caption: “Today it has been three years since the terrible fire in Grenfell Tower in London.

“In memory of the 72 souls we have lost and their loved ones and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy.”

Meanwhile, the action group of the survivors and bereaved of the Grenfell Tower disaster has written to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and asked him to end the Kingspan deal.

Lewis Hamilton previously paid tribute to those affected by the Grenfell (PA) tragedy.

(PA wire)

A spokesman for the Mercedes team said Thursday: “Our partner Kingspan has supported and continues to support the vital work of the investigation to find out what went wrong in the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

“Our new partnership announced this week focuses on sustainability and will help us achieve our goals in this area.”

Kingspan said in a statement: “The Grenfell Tower fire was a tragedy that should never have happened and Kingspan supports the extremely important work of the investigation to find out what went wrong and why.

“Kingspan played no part in designing the cladding system for Grenfell Tower, where K15 was about 5% of the insulation and was used, without Kingspan’s knowledge, as a replacement in a non-building code system.

“The new partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team reflects the ambitious sustainability goals of both organizations.”