Grenfell cladding firm president agrees to give evidence at inquiry

Claude Schmidt of French firm Arconic gives way after refusing to be a witness for seven months

A senior executive at the firm that made the combustible cladding used on Grenfell Tower has agreed to give evidence to the public inquiry after refusing to do so for the last seven months.

Claude Schmidt, the president of Arconic Architectural Products, the French company that supplied the plastic-filled panels that were the main cause of fire spread, was one of several witnesses wanted for questioning by the inquiry into the disaster who had refused, citing an arcane French law.