A Kingspan director has denied that the insulation giant had a close relationship with government which it wanted to maintain after the Grenfell fire.

Thursday’s hearing of the Grenfell Inquiry was shown an internal email sent three months after the 2017 blaze which said staff at the firm wanted to “remain friends” with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the predecessor of MHCLG.

The email said that senior staff at the firm were considering a “friendly tap on the shoulder” in the aftermath of the fire amid concerns that the government would ban combustible materials, including insulation, on high-rise buildings.

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