THE report into the Grenfell disaster is shocking as it lays bare the catalogue of interlinked failings that led to the deaths of 72 people.

Among the most shocking are how government ministers, regulators and private companies put money, and profits, before safety. That must not be allowed to happen again, and whenever private companies – from banking to construction – are to be heard complaining about how regulations should be loosened because they are holding them back, alarm bells should ring.

Regulations should be there to protect ordinary people, not to be worked around to make big business big profits. Prosecutions of those companies whose behaviour is revealed to have been appallingly dishonest, with Arconic and Kingspan among the worst, has to follow speedily.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed he had privately visited Grenfell a fortnight ago. It moved this most monochrome of politicians to really respond to the tragedy. He said: “As I walked down that narrow staircase from the 23rd floor, and looked at walls burned by 1000 degree heat, I got just a sense of how utterly, utterly terrifying it must have been.”

One of the day’s most interesting suggestions was about how the shell of Grenfell should now be put to use to ensure there is no repeat. Students of architecture and construction should go there, like Sir Keir, to learn what happens if they fail or cut corners; council officials and regulators should see what terrible cost could happen on their watch if they fail to listen or take a lax approach.

The list of beneficiaries could be lengthy – this was a disaster that was preventable if people had acted honestly and had done their jobs properly. These lessons must be learned.