People impacted by the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, have every right to be angry, demand answers, and protest about mistakes, past and present, but are some groups trying to use what happened to their own political advantage.
Socialist Worker Party banners ready for distribution
Like most people in the country, I was horrified when I heard the news about Grenfell Towers, and like everybody else, as the story unfolded, I was trying to figure out the answers to a hundred questions, from the limited information available.
The obvious question was how many people are dead, missing, or injured, and even though the Police, and Fire Brigade were loathe to estimate the figures, the enormous scale of the disaster soon became apparent.
Other questions quickly followed:
How did the fire start?
How did it spread so quickly?
Why was there no sprinkler system installed?
Was it really true that there was no central fire alarm?
Did the fairly recent renovation follow all current building regulations?
Were there any doubts about the safety of the external cladding used?
Why was there only one escape route?
How many similar tower blocks are there in the UK?
It was heartening to see the way the local community rallied around. The response of local, and national leaders wasn't as quickly forthcoming, and although they seem to be finally catching up, it gave people a legitimate reason to express their anger.
What I find distasteful, is the way some people, such as the Socialist Workers Party, seem to have taken over the original protests to use to their own advantage, and have since organised other anti-government protests, using Grenfell as an excuse.
As the public enquiry unfolds, we will learn what mistakes were made, how any blame can be apportioned, and what will be done to prevent a similar disaster. In the meantime, Social Justice Warriors, and Corbynistas etc. should hold their fire, until they're sure they have been presented with the correct target, rather than try to use Grenfell as part of some attempted coup of a legitimate government.
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