We need to talk about Grenfell Tower

“either they don’t know, don’t show or don’t care about what’s goin’ on in the ‘hood”

That was Doughboy’s poignant monologue from Boyz N the Hood. It’s fairly apt for anyone or any community that has felt their existence has been ignored by their government and wider society. But I cannot recall a time when it resonated more than with the Grenfell Tower fire, the actions and neglect that caused it and the subsequent handling of the incident.

Every resident of Grenfell Tower has lost everything and the death toll is expected to rise. The crude reality is that the scores of people that haven’t been accounted for have already perished and are in the building. When you look at the probable numbers of residents that were in the building at the time of the fire, and the number of survivors that have identified, it’s a given that the balance are bodies that are still in the building.

The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council (RBKC) and the government will be well aware of this and I imagine have directed that bodies shouldn’t be removed en masse given their desire to stifle already negative media and public reaction to the fire. Not advising the media and public of this is a likely ploy to quell anger, while downplaying the extent of the tragedy in the hope that media scrutiny will lessen, and to give false hope to the victims’ friends and families.

Instead, a periodically rising death toll every few days, with bodies being removed from the building on a similar basis, doesn’t show the scale of what’s happened. It’s a strategy void of empathy and one that puts PR before compassion and ethics. However, it’s a likely one that some firefighters have concurred is happening, albeit not being confirmed officially.

The official and immediate cause of the fire is yet to be identified and it could be months before it is. Although if the Grenfell Tower fire was an accident, the attitudes, neglect and actions that led to it certainly weren't.

I’m pretty familiar with North Kensington and Grenfell Tower has been a fixture of the Ladbroke Grove skyline all my life. Now, the burnt out shell of a building is juxtaposed against the luxury apartments, coffee shop chains and middle class residences as a last stand of the old North Kensington that succumbed to the flames of neoliberalism and neglect.

As gentrification spread throughout the area as an aggressive neoliberal cancer, Grenfell Tower was nevertheless a reminder of the area’s previously working class, ethnically diverse identity. Perhaps too strong a reminder for RBKC as they sought to dilute the old identity, making it more palatable for the middle class residents they were trying to court and those who already lived there.

So much so, that when the block was refurbished, cladding fitted to the building was sought to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the wealthier neighbours in the vicinity. The same cladding that was deemed responsible for the fire spreading so quickly.

It’s been claimed that using fire-resistant cladding would have cost £2 more per panel at an additional cost of £5000. However, the contractors responsible for the refurbishment opted not to spend the extra cash. Why? Because a social housing block, home to low income, working class residents wasn’t deemed worthwhile.

To RBKC, the price of these residents’ lives is cheap. They didn’t deserve adequate social housing. Their residence was seen as an eyesore in any event. And with that, it’s safe to say that the fire, the deaths, the loss of everything for the residents, is down to ideologically driven neglect, disdain and disregard by RBKC and the wider political class.

RBKC is a Conservative controlled council with a smattering of Labour seats, represented by dedicated councillors who will always find themselves outnumbered on the Council, in the working class pockets of the borough. Ideologically, the borough is conservative through and through, something that’s permeated the Council’s management and senior officers too, and could be considered as being in the vanguard of local authorities when it comes to delivering Conservative national policy. That means social housing and deprived communities, some of the most vulnerable people in society, couldn’t be less of a priority.

Throughout contemporary history, RBKC has considered North Kensington as an unwanted annex to the borough and the Grenfell Tower fire somewhat manifests their stance toward the area. As Ra’s al Ghul sought to let Gotham burn to rid it of what he and the League of Shadows deemed as undesirable, RBKC and the government have literally facilitated the same conclusion for Grenfell Tower and its residents in their stance on social housing and the provision of quality housing for the most deprived in society. And if there was any doubt of this, their respective responses to Grenfell Tower have refuted otherwise.

Theresa May visited Grenfell Tower but she didn’t visit victims who have lost everything. She doesn’t care about them. If they were mostly white, middle class victims only a stone’s throw away from Grenfell Tower in the luxury apartments or multi million pound houses nearby, she’d be consoling, shaking hands and hearing stories before a sincere and impassioned public announcement of immediate action. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, a man that the media and the right have claimed isn’t prime ministerial, had the compassion to visit victims, speak to them and console them. Even the Queen and Prince William attended, genuinely moved by what they’d seen.

Similarly to May, RBKC’s presence has been minimal and in no way meaningful. As far as May, the government, RBKC and the establishment, like Doughboy said, “they don’t care about what’s goin’ on in the ‘hood”.

This is our Hurricane Katrina. An inept leader representing the party of the privileged, lessons of risks for the location (or in this case construction) of housing for low income residents being ignored yet exacerbating their fate and a beyond lacklustre response by the government and public agencies. And that nonchalance being fuelled by a disdain and disregard for the most vulnerable people in society who are instead left helpless. The parallels are eerily familiar. Even images of Westway, providing refuge to now homeless victims, have shades of the Louisiana Superdome providing shelter for evacuees. And all the while this is happening in the fifth richest county in the world.

Where the state failed, local people rallied to assume what should be the state’s role. Local resident and club owner, Ben Bolton, altruistically opened his warehouse and club for donations to be housed and organised by volunteers. Within two days, over 60 tonnes of donations had been received and sorted and Ben is delivering goods to families directly and around the clock, based on exactly what they request and need.

Working with Ben, Beth Foster has amazingly organised training and laptops to donate to surviving victims who are now homeless and immediately began fundraising to help victims with cash they can be given directly. Local resident Reece Saint had barely slept in the three days following the fire, volunteering in any way possible to provide any modicum of relief and sanctuary for the victims that were still alive. They are all a microcosm of the heroic, inspiring and incredible generosity seen in the aftermath of the fire and of local people fulfilling a role and responsibility that the state has shirked because they don’t care about the people who need their help.

When you walk through Ladbroke Grove, the feeling of grief and distress now turning to anger is palpable. If victims of the fire and local people didn’t know they were considered second rate residents before, they do now. Kensington Town Hall was subject to protests fueled by indignant anger at the lack of RBKC’s response but that’s also being directed at the government. It’s that indignation that could result in worse as the have-nots realise just how little they have and how their status quo has been exacerbated by the same attitudes that led to the Grenfell Tower fire. I previously questioned if society was so jaded with socio-economic inequality that it no longer had the inclination to revolt. This could be an instance where the answer is a definite no.


If you’d like to donate to the relief efforts, please do not donate to anything related to RBKC or the government. The needs of the victims can change daily but local groups are best placed to identify and advise on what is required. If you’d like to donate directly to the victims of the fire, you can donate here as a trusted recipient of any donations received www.shareagift.com/Pages/18630 Any donations received will also be matched by Google.

Even without a Labour government this election was a victory

As the dust settles in the wake of the general election, the political landscape is not what it was when the election was called on 18 April. Theresa May, full of what we now know was hugely misplaced hubris, was confident in a whitewash. A landslide victory that would decimate Labour, capitalise on the Conservatives’ lead in the polls and maul an opposition leader in Jeremy Corbyn who didn't have the backing of his own MPs. Nor did he seemingly have the backing of an electorate that appeared to lack an appetite for his left-leaning policies. And there was no need to make an effort in bashing Corbyn and assassinating his character as the media were already doing it. They were providing the familiar narrative that Corbyn was unelectable and would be bad news for Britain.

Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the Labour Party General Election Launch 2017 by Sophie Brown is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

While Labour supporters backed Corbyn and his policies, and the marked departure from the Blairite era that so many of his shortsighted MPs yearned to return to, many of us struggled to be optimistic about Labour experiencing success in the election. I include myself in that. I wanted to see broad support within the electorate for the policies and ideals I believed in but I just couldn’t see how the tide could change before the election. We’d effectively allowed the establishment and media narrative to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Much of my earlier doubt over this election came from precedents in politics of late. Take Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Usually moderate societies had opted for radical, right-wing and ill-considered choices in the voting booth. Wouldn’t a convincing re-election of the Tories therefore be a logical conclusion?

For May, calling an election wasn't a political gamble, it was a no-brainer. Increase your majority and get a mandate for a hard Brexit with the ability to claim that it’s what the country voted for. Yet unbeknownst to May and many others, the electorate didn't get the memo.

As campaigning began, there was a palpable shift within the electorate. Labour was gaining on the Conservatives in the polls and Corbyn's popularity was surging. This wasn’t part of the plan for the Conservatives and their assumed increased majority didn’t seem so sure after all. The youth vote was being mobilised and in a significant first for a British election, the ‘grime vote’ was too. Traditionally apathetic sections of society were planning to vote and it would be a vote for Labour.

Like a sure fart that actually followed through and materialised as an unanticipated poo, there was now no turning back. But May and the Conservatives had now politically soiled themselves and everyone could smell it.

The morning after the election, what might have been tears shed over Labour taking a shellacking at the polls was replaced with jubilation. It was a hung parliament so Labour hadn’t won the election. They hadn’t even won the most seats; the Conservatives had. Nonetheless, this was a victory for Labour, and indeed Britain, on so many more fronts than being able to form a government.

When you consider the respective campaigns of the Conservatives and Labour, the former’s was beyond lacklustre and Alan Partridge-esque at times. This was not the campaign of a party that was expected to win big and was riding high in the polls. It was the campaign of a party whose support had been seriously eroded and it took the election for everyone, including them, to realise it.

Conversely, Labour’s manifesto was applauded and it was clear that it was underpinned by a desire for a fairer Britain. Supporting Labour was considered the right thing for a better Britain.

The Conservative manifesto, however, was lambasted and they were forced to make a U-turn on the so-called ‘dementia tax’. Beyond disliking the Tories, the public really didn’t like Theresa May either. Calls of her being a bottle job for refusing to debate Corbyn became common and she didn’t seem to be resonate with anyone. She was mocked on social media and her claims of representing strong and stable leadership became more laughable by the day.

I don’t know one person who articulated in person or via social media that they were voting for the Conservatives or even vague support of any of their policies. Not one. That’s probably more of a reflection of my circle but it’s a first in any election I can recall. Usually there’s at least a few lost, middle class minorities working in finance or similar (did somebody say Priti Patel?) who’ll openly back the Conservatives but this time they’ve also piped down.

Admitting to voting Conservative was something people were seemingly ashamed of because voting Conservative was now roundly considered synonymous with being selfish or deluded. Or being a douchebag who was voting for a fellow douchebag. Douchebags who represent the privileged few with unchecked and encouraged greed at the expense of the less fortunate. If I wanted to vote for the Conservatives, I’d be ashamed too.

The Conservatives’ label as the ‘nasty party’ was back and in full effect. People had seen the Conservatives for what they are and they didn’t like it. Consequently, they stopped listening to the media’s narrative about Corbyn and started making up their own minds. They decided that they actually liked Corbyn and what he stood for and supporting him became en vogue.

The alternative Corbyn presented was credible and underpinned by a fairness and integrity that couldn’t be argued against without being seen as a wrong’un. Modern politicians can rarely engender such support organically. Although here, a left-leaning agenda had managed to garner sizeable endorsement that clapped back against the establishment and the media and dispelled the myth that such politics couldn’t experience support from the public.

Corbyn managed to convert apathetic sections of British society into electors. After years of being eligible, this election was the first that some people had ever registered and voted. They finally felt there was a party with a leader that could make a difference and was worth their vote. That’s a major endorsement and measure of Labour’s success.

For the Labour MPs who didn’t back Corbyn, like the media they too now need to pipe down. Calls of Corbyn being unelectable hold little weight when Corbyn being the leader probably saved some of said Blairite MPs’ seats. Oddly, many of them don’t seem to have an issue with Uncle Jezza now either.

“you’re also missing your majority…”

As Ned Flanders would say, May and the Conservatives are now faced with a dilly of a pickle; one that is the gift that just keeps on giving to Labour. May has refused to resign, despite leading her party to a sham result that has lost them their majority. So much for being strong and stable eh? Her position is untenable, her own MPs will now be against her and she has lost their respect.

The electorate and the Conservatives will increasingly resent May for staying on and what little authority she thinks she might have is dwindling by the day. Corbyn will therefore become even more attractive as Prime Minister the longer she remains and continues to dig her heels in. Given her government will fall and she will either resign or be ousted imminently, he’ll soon get another chance to prove it too.

Without a majority, May has also been forced to enter into a confidence and supply deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) It’s essentially an arrangement where the DUP will support the Conservatives in voting with them on key issues. If the Tories wanted to lose the tag of the ‘nasty party’ that lacked ethics, a deal with the DUP has just seared it into their skins like the Dark Mark of the Death Eaters.

For anyone not familiar with the DUP, their socially conservative stance on a few matters significantly calls the ethics of the Tories into question with their new arrangement. They oppose abortion, are staunchly and openly homophobic and are climate change deniers. Oh, and they’re backed by terrorists in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). That’s right, terrorists.

After May’s claims that Corbyn was a terrorist sympathiser (he actually said that he condemned both the loyalists and the IRA), she’s actually sought an alliance with a terrorist backed party. You couldn’t make this up. Nor could you envisage such desperation. May has also undermined the Northern Ireland peace process by entering into an agreement with the DUP as the British government will hardly appear impartial in Northern Irish negotiations when they’re backed by the DUP.

This only serves to reinforce the ethical vacuum that is the Conservative Party and the lack of moral fibre within Theresa May. You could despise Corbyn but right now you can’t deny he isn’t a more appealing Prime Minister than May on morals and ethics alone.

May argued that the snap election was a way to ensure she had a strong hand in Brexit negotiations. Well, that’s backfired, hasn’t it? Contrary to popular opinion, I’ve maintained that Brexit, or at least a remotely hard Brexit, may not be realised due to the outlandishness of any potential deal and how much of a disaster it would represent for Britain. But with this election result, May has edged Brexit that bit closer to the long grass. How’s she going to push ahead with Brexit negotiations now? With the DUP’s goons bringing a new meaning to the position of Chief Whip? For we Bremainers, May has possibly done us a favour because Brexit isn’t moving anywhere with her at the helm. So much for her aspirations in using it as a xenophobic and ideologically driven vehicle for Tory ideals.

Millennials may not remember the economic and social scars of Margaret Thatcher’s governments but they captured exactly what the Tories were, and still are, about as a party of the privileged that has often been on the wrong side of history. Theresa May, a far less adept politician than Thatcher, has now managed to create her own narrative that also shows a new generation their true colours.

Today’s Conservative Britain is a Britain where food banks and poverty are accepted alongside crippled public services, underfunded schools and a health service being primed for privatisation by stealth. Meanwhile, the Conservatives ignore the tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance of their backers and friends. However, the electorate has finally realised this and rejected it. Presented with Corbyn’s alternative, they’ve expressed their preference for the latter in their droves.

So Labour didn’t win the election and Jeremy Corbyn isn’t the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, Labour and its supporters have much to celebrate and it’s a new day for Labour and British politics with the foundations for a better and fairer Britain finally being established.