London Fire - Glenfell Tower blaze was 'corporate manslaughter', says David Lammy
David Lammy, the Tottenham MP described the fire as “corporate manslaughter” as he criticised the country for the way citizens have been treated. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, the Labour MP insisted that tower blocks, similar to Grenfell Tower, should have been demolished. He said: “Many of us across the country have been caught up in an election, knocking on housing estate doors right across the country, travelling up to the top floors of tower blocks and we know as politicians that the conditions in this country are unacceptable. “We built buildings in the 70s, those 70s buildings – many of them should be demolished.
GETTY David Lammy has called for arrests to be made over the Grenfell Tower blaze
“They haven’t got easy fire escapes, they’ve got no sprinklers, it’s totally, totally unacceptable in Britain that this is allowed to happen and people lose their lives in this way. “People should be held to account.” Mr Lammy said that he had “heard nothing” regarding a close friend of the family who lived in the Grenfell Tower block with her mother. “We hope and pray that she is amongst them [in hospital] and not perished in that building as I suspect hundreds will have done by the end of this count,” he said.
The Labour MP continued speaking about the fire before he described the tragedy as “corporate manslaughter”. He added: “This is the richest borough in our country treating its citizens in this way. “We should call it what it is, it's corporate manslaughter, that's what it is and there should be arrests made, frankly. It is an outrage.” Theresa May is expected to visit the scene of the tragedy latest on Thursday and speak with emergency services.
We should call it what it is, it's corporate manslaughter David Lammy
Dany Cotton, the London Fire Commissioner revealed that around 300 firefighters over the last 24 hours worked to rescue people from the building. She said: “My crews that turned up did absolutely sterling work. They got in there they were very committed, even though the building was alight top to bottom, they were in fear of their own lives. “They went into that building, time after time, to rescue the people that we knew were in there, there was never any hesitation. “As the commissioner of London Fire Brigade, I was truly anxious for a long time about the safety of the building and my firefighters in there. But they were not going to stop until they physically couldn’t get in there anymore.”
London fire: Grenfell aftermath latest images Thu, June 15, 2017 At least twelve people have been confirmed dead and dozens missing, after the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road was engulfed in flames in the early hours of June 14. The number of fatalities are expected to rise Play slideshow PA 1 of 45 Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building