Grenfell Tower fire shows that the poor and working class are once again left behind to live in danger
Get politics updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
We are still searching for my friend Khadija Saye .
All we have to go on is her last Facebook posts at four o’clock this morning saying the fire was getting closer and she couldn’t get out of the building.
We are praying and hoping she is in one of the hospitals.
We are desperate to find her and her mother Mary who she lived with on the 20th floor of the Grenfell Tower .
(Photo: AFP)
As a Member of Parliament I am very conscious of the fire at Lakanal House in 2009 in South London and the aftermath when we were told that lessons would be learned.
The coroner said there should be a sprinkler system and a review of the building regulations.
Where were the sprinklers in Grenfell Tower? Why were people told to stay in their homes as flames tore through the building? Why did the fire spread so quickly?
(Photo: PA)
The face of Grenfell is like the face of so many tower blocks across Britain.
The people coming out of that building are working class and poor and they rely on the state to keep them safe.
I fear they have been failed.
(Photo: PA)
The residents’ association raised in November their concerns about the building and it fell on deaf ears.
Someone has to be held accountable. We already know that 12 people have lost their lives and that number could rise.
(Photo: Steve Bainbridge/The People)
We know today that the tower block experiments of the 1960s and 1970s are a disaster.
There are real questions about the viability of these buildings.
New high rises being built across the capital are largely luxury apartments and pent-houses, and of course they are equipped with sprinkler systems, fire-proof walls and fire escapes.
Yet again we have one rule for the rich and the poor are being left behind and left in danger.