Nigel Farage has sacked Simon Dudley as Reform UK’s housing spokesman after he said the Grenfell Tower fire was a “tragedy” but that “everyone dies in the end”.It comes after the immediate family members of the 72 people who died in the fire called for Reform UK’s housing chief to “apologise” for saying that “fires happen” in relation to the tragedy.
Grenfell United, a group which comprises survivors and bereaved families, described Dudley’s comments as “deeply dehumanising”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the comments were “shameful” as he told Reform’s leader Nigel Farage to “do the decent thing and sack” his housing chief on Thursday morning.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed had also called for Dudley, a former executive of the Government quango Homes England, to be sacked.
“These disgraceful comments about those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire are beyond the pale, and it is completely untenable for Simon Dudley to continue in his position,” Reed said.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Housing’s Deputy Editor Jess McCabe, Dudley made comments about the “over-regulation” of housebuilding since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. He argued that it had killed housebuilding, particularly in London.
In the interview, Dudley also said: “Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually, people dying in house fires is rare…many, many more people die on the roads driving cars, but we’re not making cars illegal, so why are we stopping houses being built?”
Simon Dudley has been sacked as Reform’s housing lead (Photo: LinkedIn)In response to the comments, Grenfell Next of Kin said: “Simon Dudley must apologise to the Grenfell next of kin of those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire due to State and Corporate negligence.”
Grenfell United said: “Our loved ones did not simply ‘die’. They were failed. They were trapped in their homes, in a building that should have been safe, in a fire that should never have happened. Reducing their deaths to an inevitability strips away the truth: this was preventable.”
“To speak about Grenfell in this way is to erase responsibility. It suggests this was just fate, just “how it goes,” rather than the result of years of ignored warnings, poor decisions, and a failure to value the lives of residents, and is deeply offensive and ill-informed.”
Shameful.Nigel Farage should do the decent thing and sack him. t.co/592PuocFD6
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) April 2, 2026When Dudley was approached by The i Paper and asked to clarify his remarks, a Reform UK spokesperson said: “Homes must, of course, be built safely. However, overly burdensome building safety regulations can stifle housebuilding, meaning targets are missed, and the waiting list for homes grows longer at a time when we need more.
“Simon’s comments on Grenfell reflected his broader point that the regulatory pendulum has swung too far in response to the tragedy. As he explained, there is a fine balance between over-regulation – which can slow the delivery of new homes – and ensuring that more homes are built safely without too much red tape.”
Amid mounting criticism, on Thursday, Dudley shared a new response, saying: “Grenfell was an utter tragedy and quite rightly prompted a wholesale review and tightening of fire regulations. I said it was a tragedy in my interview with Inside Housing, and in no shape or form am I belittling that disaster or the huge loss of life. It must never happen again.”
The Grenfell Inquiry concluded that the Grenfell Tower fire was an avoidable disaster which occurred because of corporate negligence and because the state did not heed warnings about building safety.
Thousands of high and medium-rise housing blocks around the country have been identified as having “life-critical” safety defects since the fire.
There is currently a major police investigation underway, and Scotland Yard have said that it is still possible that arrests will be made with criminal trials expected in 2027.
Offences under investigation include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, serious fraud and a variety of health and safety offences.
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