> The state put in place the systems that mean the lowest bidder gets the job. The companies put the cladding in place then saved money further by not using the

> The state put in place the systems that mean the lowest bidder gets the job. The companies put the cladding in place then saved money further by not using the flame retardant cladding. Actually, no. The paper trail is clear; the council requested the contractors switch to more dangerous, aluminium cladding to save money. This wasn't about private sector greed costing lives; this was a decision made in the public sector. According to this article[1] linked from the citylab piece: "One document - a list of requested savings sent to contractors in July 2014 - details potential savings of £693,161, reducing the cost of the contract from about £9.2m to £8.5m. It includes £293,368 that would be saved by fitting "aluminium cladding in lieu of zinc cladding". [...] The savings were part of an ongoing effort by the council and the local tenant management organisation to drive down the cost of the refurbishment. [...] the change was typical of constant pressure by councils [...] this led to the appointment of a different contractor in 2014 which was then asked to make savings including on the cladding. The entire process was driven by the local council, and the money saved went to the council, not the contractors. > Making this to state vs private doesn't make sense, when both are part of the system that caused this. Sure, the contractors and the council were part of the same system. And in this system, the council hired the contractors, and told them to cut corners; when the first contractors didn't cut enough corners, they found new contractors who could cut more corners. Just because different actors are part of the same system doesn't mean their actions, responsibility, and culpability are equal. (And many of the actors mentioned in the citylab piece, such as silicon valley, aren't even part of the system.) [1]: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40453054 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40453054