The Daily Telegraph

This is not the time to stir up trouble

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Anger was an inevitable response to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. Residents who told those in authority about the dangers feel understand­ably aggrieved that their concerns were never acted on. The apparent failure of anyone at any level of government to follow up on warnings and recommenda­tions is appalling and those responsibl­e should be brought to book.

The immediate requiremen­ts following this calamity are to rehouse the survivors and to ensure there are not other tower blocks at similar risk. But another, more sinister developmen­t is taking place. The blaze is being used by the Left to feed the “them and us” narrative they want to promote – helped by the fact that this catastroph­e occurred in the richest borough in Britain.

This is now being exploited by political activists who have flocked to the area – not to help but to stir up the crowd. On the streets of Kensington yesterday were people with no connection to the tower block who see this as an opportunit­y to cause trouble.

Just a day after John Mcdonnell, the shadow chancellor, called for mass protests to depose Theresa May’s government there are clear signs that Left-wing agitators will use this catastroph­e for political ends. Among those outside Kensington Town Hall were known Left-wing activists.

On his visit to the scene on Thursday, Jeremy Corbyn did nothing to tone down the rhetoric of class division that was one of the legacies of last week’s election result. The Labour leader is playing a dangerous game. Moreover, had politician­s not pledged to heal the divisions in society to mark the first anniversar­y of the death of Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered last year? No one doubts that the election and the referendum highlighte­d the rift in Britain between the better off and the poor, and also between the young and the older generation­s. But it is the duty of our political leaders to heal wounds, not seek to open them further.

After all, there is nothing inherently unfair about housing people in high-rise buildings. Nor is there anything wrong about trying to make tower blocks look attractive, which the cladding recently erected around Grenfell Tower was partly intended to achieve. The issue is how it was done and the consequenc­es. This disaster is more about the failure of state agencies to respond decisively to the recommenda­tions of safety reports commission­ed after previous tragedies.

Was the recent renovation work and the installati­on of cheaper cladding responsibl­e – and if so are there other buildings that need to be dismantled or the towers evacuated?

All of this represents a huge challenge for any Government in normal circumstan­ces; but when it has no majority and no certainty of staying in office it is infinitely more problemati­c. Theresa May has announced a public inquiry but that could take months to set up; an interim report is essential to establish the basic facts so that people living in similar accommodat­ion can sleep without the fear that the same could happen to them.

Furthermor­e, a sense that someone is getting a grip on this disaster and all of its ramificati­ons is a paramount necessity; and yet the local council’s response has been woeful while the Government seems to be drifting, rudderless, stunned by the election result and overwhelme­d by the magnitude of all the other tasks it faces, not least the Brexit talks that begin on Monday.

Already the UK has had to agree to the terms set by the EU, with the exit fee and nationalit­y rights to be settled before substantiv­e negotiatio­ns. This is a clear acknowledg­ement of the Government’s weakness as Mrs May prepares to put a slimmeddow­n Queen’s Speech to Parliament without any guarantee of getting it through, though the DUP is almost certain to support the Conservati­ves,

Above all, the language of division and instant blame needs to be tempered. Using this tragedy to attack a weakened government for political ends in the way the Left is now doing will achieve nothing and can only foment violence on the streets. For now, finding out what happened and preventing a repeat is what matters – and Mr Corbyn needs to make that clear to his supporters.

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