In a chilling hour-long presentation yesterday, the leaders of a public inquiry confirmed who was to blame for the fire that consumed Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017. Chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick detailed the many mundane and craven decisions that were made about insulation, cladding and regulatory compliance that combined to produce a building that ended up killing 72 of its own residents in the most horrible circumstances.

In the wake of the report, Richard Hull, a specialist in chemistry and fire science, reveals that construction companies were under no requirement to report on the toxicity of the materials they were using in their buildings. And now we have had it confirmed: it is this toxicity that killed the victims. He writes here about his efforts to build an evidence base to make sure this deadly loophole is closed.

The report is a long one but its findings are of huge importance. So we asked an expert to take us through the key findings. They are set out here.

Following elections in Germany over the weekend that saw the anti-Ukraine far right and far left make unprecedented gains, we’ve also been looking at why so many people in the former Soviet bloc are still sticking with the Kremlin.

And our series defending unpopular animals continues here with a look at a common garden visitor.

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