Michael Gove

The final report of the Grenfell Inquiry, published last week, said the west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Gove claimed attempts to punish Kingspan, Arconic and Celotex when he was in government had been blocked by “bureaucracies”.

There was “insufficient action” from foreign governments on responsible companies based abroad, he said, adding that attempts to restrict imports of their products ran up against the “commercial purism of Treasury Mandarin Brain”.

Mr Gove apologised to the relatives and survivors of the tragedy who were “let down by successive governments, including governments of which I was a part”.

Companies which manufactured materials used on the tower have “still not shown proper awareness of their guilt, contrition for their crimes or restitution for their wrongs”, he added.

“Because Kingspan is based in Ireland, and Arconic’s European operations and Celotex are in France, our jurisdiction was limited. But we were determined to go after them,” Mr Gove said.

Mr Gove said taking the “necessary action” against cladding firms “will require toughness… I know there will be voices opposed to robust action”. He added: “You cannot purchase prosperity at the price of justice. Those who are the guiltiest must pay, and pay the most.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said “appropriate cases should go through to court”.

“The worst we could do is say or do anything which would prejudice the outcome of any proceedings,” he added.

In a statement, Kingspan “welcomed” the publication of the report, which it said explains clearly that the type of insulation involved was immaterial in the disaster, “and that the principal reason for the fire spread was the PE ACM cladding, which was not made by Kingspan”.

The company said it had long acknowledged the “wholly unacceptable historical failings that occurred in part of our UK insulation business. These were in no way reflective of how we conduct ourselves as a group, then or now. While deeply regrettable, they were not found to be causative of the tragedy.”