The latest attempt to get the Establishment off the blame-hook it’s rightly squirming on over the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower is to try to spread the blame to everyone.
The BBC’s Andrew Neil and others were, at the weekend, spinning the line that because the flammable cladding is being found in nearly every building checked for it, it’s a ‘systemic’ fault.
And because the buildings are in Labour council areas as well as Tory ones, ‘it’s nothing to do with austerity’.
This is so transparently false that it’s almost embarrassing that they’re trying it.
Yes, the buildings are in areas run by local authorities controlled by both parties – but the decision to impose austerity and slash local authority funding was made by Tory and Tory-controlled governments.
The Tories are absolutely not absolved by the widespread occurrences of the problem. In fact, they are damned still further. Their cuts have been so severe that even relatively lightly attacked Tory councils are in severe trouble.
And Labour councils – poorer to begin with – have been hit far harder.
Severe funding shortages have forced councils to cut every possible penny, with dire consequences for the people who live in those areas – and the very, very few councils that are not short of cash (Kensington and Chelsea were running surpluses in the hundreds of millions of pounds) and skimped on the safety of their residents anyway are all Tory-run.
Because only Tory-run councils, let off lightly by Tory governments, stand a cat in hell’s chance of having some spare cash.
And of course, the ignored reports, delayed law changes and kicking into the long grass were all done by Tory governments.
The false media narrative is nothing more than an attempt to get a useless, criminal government off the hook. It won’t and can’t succeed.
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It is not just austerity which is to blame for Grenfell.
The very cornerstone of Conservative economic policy for the last 35 years, neoliberalism, is ultimately to blame.
Neoliberalism is based upon three key concepts. Austerity, deregulation and privatisation. These concepts combined led to the fire which engulfed the tower and killed the residents of the building.
Is that the whinging, lying, hypocritical snitch oakeshott, next to neil?
How she hasn’t been shunned by every news outlet in the country is beyond me….Oh, hang on – she’s at the daily heil now, isn’t she?
Quelle surprise.
She pops up everywhere like a proverbial rash. Funny how real people are overlooked for Tory apologists like her.
She offers nothing to public debate, and just smears Labour at every opportunity.
ANOTHER PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST FOR THE TORY PARTY!
PUTTING OVER THEIR RETHORIC AND LIES ON A DAILY BASIS!
TRYING TO BLAME LABOUR FOR THEIR WRONG DOINGS!
IT MAKES ME SICK TO THE GUT!
THEY THINK THEY CAN KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER WHILE MAKING VAST PROFITS FROM SHODDY WORK AND CORRUPT INSIDER DEALINGS!
I totally agree. Tory cuts for Labour Council have been hit for a long time. But in the name of cuts the Council became very bully not listening to people but they do their own way. It appears the the authorities are giving power for some certain officers and people in power and those officers orchestrate other officers even senior levels to solve the problem in their own hand, bully out. And the Council keep blind eyes on them. Grenfell Tower Inferno problem could go back to very deep problem how to handle the problems but relying on some certain people given the power and the system which only made for the authorities convenience and the system is almost dictatorial, in my opinion.
‘Systemic’ fault, eh?
Remind me who’s been the major factor in running the ‘system’ for the last 7 years, again?