ARCONIC PAID MORE TO SHAREHOLDERS THAN GRENFELL VICTIMS

The company behind Grenfell Tower's flammable cladding distributed more money to shareholders than to victims of the fire, according to analysis of corporate compensation. Of Arconic's £86m in Grenfell-related settlements, all but £1.5m was covered by insurers, figures show. The inquiry into the 2017 fire, which killed 72 people including 18 children, found Arconic's product was the "primary cause" of the blaze's rapid spread.

The disparity between shareholder returns and victim compensation has prompted calls for changes to corporate accountability law in England and Wales. A report by the thinktank Common Wealth and the financial investigations group FIND proposes two legislative changes: a "failure to prevent" law making companies responsible for adequate systems to prevent foreseeable serious harm, and adoption of "punitive damages" that penalise corporate conduct rather than merely compensating victims. Under such an approach, damages awarded against Arconic could have funded building remediation costs without public expenditure, the report argues.

Nearly a decade after the fire in June 2017, no criminal charges have been brought over its causes. The state has absorbed much of the multibillion-pound cost of making hundreds of buildings safe. Campaigners point to US litigation as a model, where punitive damages can deter corporate wrongdoing; Meta currently faces potential penalties exceeding $1.4tn in a California court case alleging intentional addiction of children to Facebook and Instagram, though the company denies wrongdoing.