Europe

Grenfell Fire: Disaster and Explosive Mood

The disastrous Grenfell fire in London. Theresa May was run out of the community by protesters.
Something similar is bound to happen in the US under Trump.

The mood is explosive. There are mass protests on the streets. This horrifying event sums up perfectly contemporary Britain: a systematically neglected run-down warehouse crammed with marginalised poor people (largely migrants, unemployed or zero-hours wage-slaves), situated alongside billionaires’ palatial mansions on the fringes of the richest borough in the country. There are probably over 100 dead, but we’ll never know because all that remains of their charred bodies are a few scraps of tooth and bone. The residents had warned the local council repeatedly of the fire risk and lack of fire alarms, fire extinguishers or adequate means of escape, as well as rotting, decay and infestation. It was left to the generosity of local charities and neighbours to provide shelter and support. Theresa May arrived to talk with local fire brigade chiefs, but wisely avoided meeting victims and survivors due to amply justified “security concerns”. Corbyn came an hour later to a rapturous reception. This is probably the final nail in the coffin of an already despised government, led by a discredited prime minister already humiliated at the general election and surviving only by grace of a bunch of sectarian bigots. This is the beginning of a new era in Britain.
Roger Silverman from London

Categories: Europe

Leave a Reply