How Labour’s leader won the PR battle
THE two main party leaders went to see the disaster site yesterday – but their visits could not have been more different.
Theresa May finally saw the aftermath of the inferno but did not meet any of the scores of residents who survived. Instead the Prime Minister was pictured speaking to the emergency services. Officials said Mrs May had made a ‘private’ visit.
By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn spent 40 minutes at St Clement’s Church, which is being used as a refuge. He was pictured meeting volunteers and residents, talking to a local councillor and hugging a woman who told him about a missing 12-year-old girl who was on the 20th floor of the tower.
He was shown donations of food and clothing that have been pouring in.
One local reportedly told the Labour leader: ‘Theresa May was here but she didn’t speak to any of us. She was s***.’
Last night a Tory MP said: ‘She is not a very empathetic person and when you get an event like this it is painful to watch.
‘She should have been there on the first day, taking supplies, helping people, talking to them. It is a problem.’
Labour MP John Mann compared Mrs May’s behaviour to that of President George W Bush, who visited New Orleans by helicopter following the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
‘The Prime Minister needs to listen to the residents and the country wants to see her listening to them,’ Mr Mann said.
Government sources said criticism of Mrs May was ‘entirely unfair’, pointing out that she had ordered a rapid public inquiry while also juggling talks on an electoral pact, drawing up a Queen’s Speech and preparing for Brexit talks next week.
One source said: ‘She wasn’t going there for a photo opportunity. She was going there to meet members of the emergency services to assess the case for a public inquiry.
‘She was taken aback by what she saw and heard and returned to Downing Street to organise an inquiry immediately.’
Mrs May, who had been criticised for hiding away in Downing Street on the day of the catastrophe, said: ‘I have visited the scene of this terrible fire this morning. I wanted a briefing from emergency services.’
She said she had heard ‘heart-breaking’ stories but offered no explanation as to why her visit was shut off to the public.