Towering injustice at heart of this tragedy
How could PM go to Grenfell Tower and ignore victims?
How much more can one city take? London is already reeling from two savage terrorist attacks. Now a ferocious tower block blaze has piled yet more tragedy on our shaken capital – on a scale we can barely comprehend. The loss of life, in the most harrowing ways imaginable, has been almost impossible to cope with.
Factor in the Manchester suicide bomb, and in a few short months our civilised, western nation has begun to feel like a warzone.
So much heartache and so much loss. But precious little leadership.
Because what this latest tragedy has made clear is that no matter how loud and long ordinary people shout, most of the time our political masters just aren’t listening.
Members of the Muslim community report potential terrorists in their midst. And no one listens.
Residents of a deathtrap apartment block fight for FIVE YEARS to get action on the disaster waiting to happen that was Grenfell Tower. And no one listens.
Our leaders ask for our help and pretend to consult us. But if what we tell them doesn’t fit their agenda, or threatens to blow a hole in their austerity budget, they just don’t listen.
Those now being crucified by unbearable grief will never know for sure whether swift responses, better resources and tougher regulation by the politicians supposed to protect them would have saved their precious lost loved ones.
But what they do know for sure is who they CAN rely on. Who laid their lives on the line? Who faced death and danger and didn’t falter? Who gave and gave, and carried on giving even when they were scared, traumatised and exhausted?
Despite years of budget cuts forcing them to work harder for longer, our amazing emergency services answered the call again and again while doing gruelling shifts and unsocial hours for wages our political leaders and captains of industry wouldn’t get out of bed for.
Most nurses make about £23,000 a year. The average copper might get £30,000. Firefighters pull in about £29,000, and if they want a decent pension they can’t quit this most physical of jobs until they’re 60.
Cabinet ministers meanwhile rake in over £140,000. Then there are the 100-plus local government officers on more than £200,000.
Which is peanuts to police chiefs and NHS bosses with pay packages worth over £700,000. But maybe those eye-watering salaries help them cope with the guilt over the axing of 19,000 police jobs and 10,000 firefighting jobs and the crea- tion of a massive NHS cash crisis. The injustice is palpable, and at last people are looking at those in charge and asking hard questions about their suitability to govern.
These are extraordinary times. Our pace of life is faster than ever, our living standards some of the highest in the world and tech advances have transformed our lives.
But we are led by people who act like the upstairs lot in Downton Abbey. How could Theresa May go to Grenfell Tower and ignore the people whose lives have been destroyed by it?
OK, she’s declared a public inquiry, but we need action now. If she had a clue, she’d order every tower block in Britain to be inspected now with findings acted on immediately.
Our nation needs some tender loving care. And the only people providing it are locals putting race and religion aside to help their own community.
We look to our politicians for action, guidance and solace. If they can’t deliver that, then what is the point of them?