GRENFELL TOWER : APPROPRIATE RESPONSE NEEDED

No one can deny that the Grenfell Tower fire was almost certainly exacerbated by a failure to ensure adequate fire safety measures, in particular, that the cladding affixed to the outside of the building was fire proof. However, the subsequent reaction of the media and some politicians has been, to say the least, questionable.

Labour's John McDonnell, a man whose ambition it is to bring down the government and replace it with a communist-style dictatorship, has claimed that the victims of the fire were "murdered" by political decisions. Presumably he would also claim that the victims of other disasters and atrocities were also killed by the state as this is an easy way to blame the whole capitalist system for anything that befalls its people. He is, of course, using this tragedy to further his political ambitions, seeing those who lost their lives at Grenfell Tower as little more than collateral damage and a weapon to use in his on-going war with capitalism. McDonnell is a nasty little man who has spent most of his political life hiding in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity like this to arise; don't be fooled by him. We are all no more than pawns in his attempt to climb the greasy political pole.

While McDonnell tries to make political capital at the national level, many local councils are now running around like headless chickens trying to discover if they might also have a Grenfell Tower disaster in the making. It seems that a very high proportion of similar tower blocks may also have the same cladding as was on the tower in Kensington and councils have been panicking mightily as a result. Tenants have been ordered out of their homes in the middles of the night, special 'fire wardens' have been appointed and fire engines are on emergency standby; all of this even though the buildings in question have stood happily and safely for many years, even decades, without the slightest sign of any problems. While taking additional precautions might be sensible, the over-reaction in some areas has been almost risible.

With all of this going on, the media has been having a field day of its own. Interviews with tenants from here, there and everywhere, coverage of demonstrations, constant badgering of politicians and daily updates on developments, particularly on the number of buildings now thought to be potentially dangerous. Rather than sticking to facts and investigating the veracity of those facts, the media prefers to make the most of every bit of perceived 'bad news', reporting and commenting on such snippets in such a way as to ramp up fear and distrust. Instead of reporting dispassionately, the media loves all that is dramatic and so the truth is all too often overlooked and unreported.

The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy will be with us for a long time to come, but we really should not get carried away by it. We need a measured and appropriate response, not the wild flailing around that is currently going on, and certainly not political points scoring or finger pointing.