Wednesday 1 May 2019

The Biggest Grenfell fire scandall of all

Pic courtesy USA Today
So finally, we are to see prosecution of someone following the Grenfell Fire.  Given that 72 people died, it is not a surprise that someone is finally being taken to court. What is shocking is that the person being prosecuted is someone who filmed a model of Grenfell being burned on a bonfire. Whilst it was crass and tasteless and I have no sympathy for the silly man who did it, how can it be that the the only person in the dock, following criminal negligence of a scale beyond belief, is this complete chump?

When we saw the fire at Notre Dam Cathedral, a rather unkind thought crossed my mind. Just suppose for a second, that Parliament had been clad in highly flammable panels and 72 MP's had been incinerated as a result, would we have seen no prosecutions? The sad truth is that because the people who died were not of  a social class that matters to the powers that be, nothing will be done (apart from to the shmuck who made the tower).

In my adult life, I've seen train crashes caused by negligence. I've seen fires caused by negligence. I went to school with a guy who had been disfigured by Thalidomide. Grenfell is only the latest in a long line of terrible tales, with one thing in common. No one ever went to prison for anguish they caused.

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