The former leader of Kensington and Chelsea council has said he feels “desperately sorry” for the victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze.
Nicholas Paget-Brown resigned within weeks of the fatal fire at the 24-storey block of flats in his borough.
He told an inquiry “systemic failure” had occurred and lessons must be learned.
The blaze in West London in June 2017 claimed 72 lives.
Mr Paget-Brown said: “I was very proud to be leader of Kensington and Chelsea.
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"I am desperately sorry for everybody who was in the tower on the morning of June 14.
"I will never forget what I saw.
"It was utterly, utterly terrible.
“The memorial to those who lost their lives and lost everything and have had their lives ruined must be the work this inquiry is doing to find out what happened.
"I am so sorry for all of them.”
The inquiry has heard Grenfell was clad in a polyethylene core between aluminium composite material panels.
The Reynobond panels were combustible and found to be a key factor in the fire’s rapid spread by acting as fuel.
On whether the fire could be a local or a systemic failure, he said: “This is a systemic failure, this material is in widespread use everywhere”.
The Tory said he is now “very nervous” about high-rises and suggested a shift is needed in how they are run.
He had thought “an awful lot” since 2017 about what he could have done differently.
Councillor Quentin Marshall, who chaired of the Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee, later apologised for the council’s attitude towards residents after the blaze.
He told the inquiry: “I don’t think we addressed the emotional side. We lacked humanity and could have done better.”
The inquiry continues.
