May: Post-fire support insufficient

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday that support for families immediately after the Grenfell Tower disaster was “not good enough.”

At least 58 people are thought to have died in this past week’s London highrise fire, Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy said Saturday.

And May said support for families “who needed help or basic information in the initial hours” after the disaster “was not good enough,” according to the Press Association.

The admission comes after angry protesters took to the streets Friday and Saturday to criticize May’s response to the fire, and to demand her resignation.

The prime minister has faced criticism for not speaking to those affected immediately after the fire.

Her deputy came to her defense, insisting in a radio interview on Saturday that she is “distraught” by what happened.

First Secretary of State Damian Green described the criticism as “totally unfair.”

In a visit to the scene the day after the fire, May spoke with fire safety officials but not with local residents. On Friday, she visited victims privately at a local hospital.

May’s critics were quick to compare her somewhat reserved public approach to footage of opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn embracing distraught victims and London Mayor Sadiq Khan being interrupted repeatedly by locals as he made a speech at the scene.

On Saturday, May held a 2½-hour meeting with people affected by the fire, the Press Association reported.

The government has promised a public investigation into the fire. Green told BBC that someone would be appointed to head the inquiry in the coming days.