UK shadow chancellor: Democracy isn't working, Grenfell residents 'murdered' by political decisions

RT
Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:41 UTC

© Stephen Chung / Global Look Press

The Labour Party's second in command, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, said Britain's lack of democracy is to blame for the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Speaking at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, McDonnell blamed "financial speculation" trumping good housing policies for the June 14 tragedy that is so far known to have left 79 people dead or missing.

"Is democracy working? It didn't work if you were a family living on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower," the frontbencher said during a debate on housing hosted by the music festival.

"Those families, those individuals - 79 so far and there will be more - were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades."

Thousands more people have since been displaced in London and other cities, where tower blocks were found to be covered in combustible cladding similar to that used in Grenfell.

It is believed the metal sheets and insulation used in the building's refurbishment in 2014 were in part to blame for the fire's violent spread.

The Kensington and Chelsea borough council, which was responsible for Grenfell Tower's Lancaster estate, as well as the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), have been severely criticized for the response to residents' concerns over fire safety in the building.

"The decision not to build homes and to view housing as only for financial speculation rather than for meeting a basic human need made by politicians over decades murdered those families," McDonnell said.

"The decision to close fire stations and to cut 10,000 firefighters and then to freeze their pay for over a decade contributed to those deaths inevitably, and they were political decisions."

Cladding from all the 60 high-rise buildings subjected to fire safety exams have failed tests. An estimated 600 tower blocks across England have used the materials.

Conservative Housing Minister Alok Sharma complained about the politicization of the tragedy.

"It is very disappointing that people should want to turn this into a party political issue. What I am sensing is that what the nation demands is that we work together and make sure we keep people safe," the MP told the BBC.

The list of cities with buildings declared unsafe has grown over the last few days, with residents in London, Manchester, Plymouth, Sunderland, Norwich, Doncaster, Portsmouth, and Stockton-on-Tees being warned about the hazardous situation they live in.

Insurance warnings

Insurers were found to have warned government officials about the dangers of flammable external surfaces on buildings, a mere month before the Grenfell disaster.

A statement by the Association of British Insurers published in the Financial Times revealed on Sunday that the body had been calling on Prime Minister Theresa May's ministers to review fire-safety regulations since 2009. Last May, it specifically warned about the risks of cladding in high rise buildings.

Comment: New Tory Housing Minister Alok Sharma gave a car crash of an interview in which he repeatedly evaded giving clear answers and denied a cover-up surrounding what really happened at Grenfell. Despite repeated questions on the legality of the fire cladding, he would only tell viewers, "From what we've seen it would suggest that the material used was combustible."

In a separate interview with the BBC, Sharma was forced to respond to allegations of a cover-up over the true death toll. Presenter Sarah Montague tried to get to the bottom of a "gap" in the figures between the number of people thought to have been in the building - up to 600 - and those so far confirmed dead or re-housed.

When asked to say how many people are missing, Sharma dodged the question by repeating the figure of 79, relating to those confirmed dead.

Pressed on the fact that up to 600 people may have been in the building but far fewer have been relocated or reported missing, he said: "That's exactly why we need to build up the picture and I would appeal to people who are listening to this who know people who were in that building to come forward and tell us. "It is not about a cover-up, it's about making sure we have a complete picture."

He also dodged questions over how many of the families who had lost their homes have been relocated so far. Refusing to give a number, he said: "We are in the process of talking to the families who were affected."

Pressed on the issue again, Sharma would only say: "There have been a couple of hundred households that have been affected by this, that we are talking to."

Sharma's performance has been criticized on social media, with many accusing him of refusing to give clear answers. His name was trending on Twitter on Monday morning.