DON’T HIJACK OUR GRIEF
Tower inferno families’ anger at ‘opportunist’ Day of Rage protesters
FAR- LEFT protesters were condemned last night for trying to ‘hijack’ the grief of Grenfell Tower victims.
Several militant groups will converge on Westminster today for a ‘Day of Rage’ against Theresa May’s Conservative government.
But organisers were branded ‘opportunistic political point- scorers’ for using last week’s fire disaster to encourage people to march. Furious Grenfell victims said the militant mob was exploiting their anguish before they had even buried their loved ones.
Thousands are expected to descend on Westminster under the banner: ‘Grenfell Tower: the government is guilty… Bring Down the Government – Shut Down London.’
Scotland Yard are flooding the streets with extra officers amid fears an angry mob could run riot.
Several different marches will coincide with today’s Queen’s Speech, under the themes of anti-austerity and Brexit. But the organisers of the original ‘Day of Rage’, the Marxist group Movement For Justice By Any Means Necessary ( MFJ), have changed the focus to Grenfell, prompting outrage.
Two churches in North Kensington, which have been helping survivors of the devastating blaze, said last night that they ‘cannot emphasise enough’ how much Grenfell residents were against the ‘Day of Rage’, adding: ‘They do not want their grief hijacked for any violent or destructive means.’
They added: ‘They’re angry, they’re grieving, but they are working to bring about positive change and action through conversations with the right people. They want their voices about this to be heard just as loudly. [But] if any violence ensues, the issue takes a whole new direction.’
Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said: ‘What is particularly shocking is that they are pretending it is about the tragedy at Grenfell Tower.
‘It just seems like the hard-Left using it as an excuse to forward their agenda, which is despicable.’ Fellow
tory mP nadine Dorries said it was ‘wholly irresponsible’, ‘simply disgusting and the actions of the lowest of the low’, while Jacob rees mogg said: ‘ Inciting a day of rage when Parliament reassembles after an election is an attempt to replace democracy and the rule of law with mob power. no democrat can support it.’
An mFJ pamphlet entitled ‘ Justice for grenfell tower residents’ urges: ‘Walk out of school, take the day off, call in sick, strike… class war – no justice, no peace, bring down the government.’
Class War veteran Ian Bone is among the firebrands demanding ‘revenge’ over grenfell tower, and his fellow activists include gary mcFarlane, who took part in Black Lives matter protests to shut airports and called police ‘pigs’ after the shooting of mark Duggan led to five days of riots in London in 2011.
Another organiser is veteran revolutionary tony gard, 76, who was convicted of assaulting the then Conservative Party chairman Lord mawhinney in 1996.
Sir Alan Duncan, a Conservative mP who cornered Lord mawhinney’s attackers until police arrived, said it was ‘disgusting’ that the group was now ‘exploiting’ the grenfell tower fire. the now Foreign office minister said: ‘ these are obviously agitators with two decades of form. It is disgusting beyond measure that they should exploit the grenfell tower fire for their own revolutionary politics. But then that is exactly what the hard Left do.’
even fellow revolutionaries slammed the militants. A group called London Black revs, wrote on mJF’s Facebook page: ‘Were [grenfell] residents consulted on this?
‘It is disgusting beyond measure’
they are really against having a demonstration without being told, asked or leading it, especially for other political agendas, which may or may not be important.
‘there is a lot of anger locally that things are being done in grenfell’s name and they’ve not had the time to even bury their family members.’ mFJ claimed in response that it had ‘ been in the community’ and had spoken to ‘hundreds of people, many who have friends and loved ones missing or dead’. It insisted it had ‘tonnes of support’ from grenfell locals.
But critics called this ‘utter garbage’ and said London needed a ‘Day of rage’ like it needed ‘a hole in the head’. one local, graham Benton, wrote to mFJ: ‘You’re kidding yourself that this protest had anything to do with grenfell. this is just a bunch of opportunistic lefties using a tragedy for political point-scoring.
‘Bringing the city to a standstill... yeah, that’s just what we need in the wake of the terrorist attacks and this tragedy. our police are working all hours, everyone stretched to the limit, and you want to throw your toys out cos you didn’t get the result you wanted. Appalling!’
Last Friday, fury over the grenfell inferno – which claimed 79 lives – led to protesters storming the offices of Kensington and Chelsea council in West London. Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn were accused of stoking the baying crowd, some of whom carried Socialist Worker placards that read: ‘tories have blood on their hands. Justice for grenfell’.
Activists wearing the red t-shirts of mr Corbyn’s grass-roots momentum movement were also seen at the protest, which was organised by mustafa al-mansur.
mr al-mansur was arrested ten years ago on suspicion of terrorism offences, but was subsequently released without charge and strongly denied any wrongdoing. He organised last week’s march by claiming the media had been ‘muzzled to not release actual death toll numbers to prevent public furore and outcry’ and said there were more than 100 bodies from grenfell taken to one hospital alone.
outspoken singer Lily Allen also whipped up the conspiracy theory, accusing responsible newspapers of covering up the ‘true’ scale of the deaths which she claimed was 150 – only for Scotland Yard to humiliate her by announcing the grim death toll was believed to be 79.
rabble- rousers are offering ‘ bust cards’ to help activists dodge police questions if they are arrested.
the cards can be downloaded from the internet and carried during today’s Day of rage.
entitled ‘Legal advice – arrest’, they recommend: ‘Say “no comment” to all questions from police, even during interviews and “casual chats”. Police often need more evidence and may try to deceive and pressure you into incriminating yourself.’
the cards say that if police conduct a stop-and- search, ‘you do not have to give your name and
address or answer questions’. The cards have been produced by Green & Black Cross ( GBC), which describes itself as a group to ‘support rebellions and protests’, set up ‘in the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity to support autonomous social struggles within the UK’.
Phone numbers for firms of solicitors such as Bindmans and Irvine Thanvi Natas are included on the cards.
IF Jeremy Corbyn truly believed in democracy, he’d roundly condemn today’s ‘Day of Rage’, organised by the storm troops of the hard Left to bring London to a halt and help overthrow the Government.
Leave aside the sickening way his Marxist supporters have exploited the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire to promote their hate-filled agenda – ‘hijacking our grief’, in the words of local residents and churches.
The very thought of a revolutionary mob seeking to overturn an election result should horrify anyone who cherishes our constitution and rule of law.
Yet from the Labour leader, deafening silence. Worse, he has pandered to protesters’ thirst for class war by echoing their demands to seize the empty homes of the rich. As for Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, yes, he has said half-heartedly that he ‘repudiates’ the Day of Rage. Yet as the Mail reveals, he has given his backing in the past to the protest’s organisers from the chillingly-named Movement for Justice by Any Means Necessary. Meanwhile, this man who would be chancellor has egged on union militants to topple Theresa May in a ‘Red October’, with mass protests and a summer of strikes that could do untold harm to the economy.
During the election, Messrs Corbyn and McDonnell presented themselves as misunderstood idealists. How quickly the mask has slipped. And what a warning to anyone tempted to give them power.