Woeful May not fit to lead our people

THE shocking scale of the Grenfell Tower disaster is still hard to grasp.

In the richest council area, in the wealthiest city, in the 21st century, people were left waving from smoke-filled windows, waiting to be consumed by flames.

Why that happened will become apparent in a public inquiry to which we already know the answer.

Any investigation will conclude that people died needlessly because the state failed to provide the most basic requirement of enforcing building and fire regulations.

They were failed by a right-wing, pro-business culture that has eroded the public sphere until the very foundations of us all being equal and protected by the law have collapsed.

They were failed by political contempt that shaved away and belittled laws in the name of a smaller state and business efficiency.

That meant, fatally, that the cheapest quote and the cheapest cladding materials were acceptable. That meant, fatally, that the warnings of residents about the dangers of fire were wilfully ignored.

That arrogant attitude to the needs of ordinary people was symbolised in an offensive offer of a £10 note by Kensington council to survivors who escaped Grenfell in nothing but their underwear.

This response from a council with reserves of £270million displays the same casual contempt for their poor that contributed to the catastrophe in the first place.

The response of the Prime Minister was no better. When leadership and compassion were needed, she was found lacking.

While survivors and churches and the community organised themselves, she floundered as much as the council.

Her woeful response simply cements the conclusion that she is not fit for office.

The Grenfell Tower stands as testament that should shame us all.

Lives were needlessly lost because there was institutional disregard for regulation and for the concerns of ordinary people. It is hard to escape the conclusion that, in Kensington, the poor didn’t matter.

Regardless of what Theresa May said in her speech when first elected about governing for “every one of us, whoever we are and wherever we’re from”, she can’t be a servant of the people.

It is time for her to go, and if good can come of bad, it is for Britain to set a new course that places more value on the lives of people than on austerity.