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Kingspan鈥檚 former managing director has denied that a private dinner he attended with MPs in the Houses of Parliament was part of a plan to 鈥渟eek political support鈥� for resisting a ban on its combustible insulation in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower fire, the inquiry has heard.

Richard Burnley told Wednesday鈥檚 hearing he attended the dinner in January 2018 along with other senior staff including then-UK technical and marketing director Adrian Pargeter and building technology director Mark Harris.

The dinner was also attended by Democratic Unionist Party MP Jim Shannon and Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake and a possible unnamed third MP.

Burnley said that Harris had shown the MPs a video of a BS8414 test, a type of large-scale fire test on cladding systems rather than individual products, to 鈥渄emonstrate the robustness鈥� of this form of testing on proving fire safety.

The firm had been arguing that cladding systems could pass these tests and be proven safe for high rise buildings even if they contained individual components which were combustible and would fail if tested in isolation.

The inquiry has already heard that Kingspan had hired PR firm Portland Communications following the 2017 Grenfell fire as part of a lobbying campaign to persuade the government not to ban combustible cladding products.

The strategy aimed to ensure that Kingspan鈥檚 combustible K15 insulation could continue to be sold on the market alongside rival non-combustible brands.

Counsel to the inquiry Richard Millett QC asked Burnley: 鈥淲ould it be fair to describe this dinner as or as part of a plan by Kingspan to seek political support for your attack on the linear route to compliance?鈥�

Burnley replied: 鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 believe so, I think we were trying to demonstrate the robustness of BS 8414.鈥�

He added that the firm had been trying to explain to the MPs that full-scale fire testing was a 鈥渞oute that we believed could show that systems could be used to meet the 好色先生TV Regulations鈥�.

Millett suggested that the dinner had been held with MPs to seek 鈥減olitical support. Not scientific support, not popular support, political support.鈥�

He asked: 鈥淭he truth is, isn鈥檛 it, that this is Kingspan accessing political power in order to seek to improve its own commercial position in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire? That鈥檚 the reality, isn鈥檛 it?鈥�

Burnley replied: 鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 agree with that.鈥�

Millett then pointed out that the Kingspan staff at the dinner had been trying to demonstrate the robustness of the BS8414 test while the firm鈥檚 K15 insulation had by then been sold on the market for over a decade without having passed a test.

The inquiry has already heard that Kingspan had changed the chemical composition of K15 in 2006 but had continued to market the product using the successful 2005 fire test of the 鈥渙ld technology鈥� version of the insulation, only withdrawing the test report last year.

Millett asked: 鈥淎t that stage, did you know 鈥� just think about this 鈥� that the K15 being sold and which had been sold for a number of years had failed ever to obtain a pass to a test under BS 8414?鈥�

Burnley replied: 鈥淎t that point 鈥� yes, no, I鈥檓 sure I must have done.鈥�

Millett asked: 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 tell the MPs that, did you?鈥� Burnley replied that testing was 鈥渙nly part of a product development process鈥�.

Millett then said: 鈥淵ou were trumpeting the virtues, weren鈥檛 you, at this dinner, of the BS 8414 test, when you knew by this point that for more than a decade K15 had been sold without that product having achieved a pass to a test under BS 8414?鈥�

Burnley replied: 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure at that stage I did know that, no.鈥�

Millett said: 鈥淵ou said you had a moment ago.鈥�

鈥淚 said I had what, sorry?鈥� Burnley replied, adding: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I can鈥檛 remember saying that.鈥�

The inquiry heard earlier this week that as part of Kingspan鈥檚 lobbying campaign to stop a ban on combustible insulation products, it had carried out tests on non-combustible cladding systems in 2018 to show the government and a select committee investigating the dangers of cladding that these could also be dangerous.

Kingspan鈥檚 combustible K15 was never specified for Grenfell tower but was one of the insulation products found to be included in the building鈥檚 cladding system after the fire in June 2017.

The first phase of the inquiry found that the insulation products in the tower鈥檚 cladding system, which also included Celotex鈥檚 RS5000, 鈥渕ore likely than not鈥� contributed to the rapid spread of flames up the side of the building.

The inquiry into the fire which killed 72 people continues.