Holding the powerful to account is no "politicising the tragedy"

A new trend is appearing in British political discourse and it's a particularly dismal one. It involves the manufacturing of synthetic outrage in order to demand that people don't attempt to hold the government to account over fatal tragedies.

I'm sure you will all have seen people using this tactic to try to silence criticism of the government over the preventable terrorist atrocities that happened during the general election campaign, and now it's happening again after the Grenfell Tower fire.

Let's just consider what we know about these three incidents.

Manchester Arena: The Manchester Muslim community tipped off the government several times that the bomber was an Islamist fanatic; the Americans tipped us off that he was planning a terrorist attack against the UK; the French tipped us off that he was hanging out with Islamists in Libya and Syria - Somehow he was allowed to pass unhindered through the UK border, then left unwatched as he planned and executed his attack.

London Bridge: Once again the Muslim community tipped off the government multiple times that the ringleader was an Islamist fanatic; he was such a well known Islamist he even appeared on a TV documentary called "The Jihadists Next Door" - He was left unwatched as he went around trying to hire a HGV just days after ISIS had instructed Islamists in the West to attack civilians with vehicles and knives. He eventually got hold of a hire van and led a deadly knife rampage through the streets of London.

Grenfell Tower: The Tory government were handed a report in 2013 that detailed fire safety improvements that should be made to 4,000 tower blocks in the UK which they ignored for four years; Boris Johnson shut down 10 fire stations in London; and Eric Pickles refused to bring in rules requiring fire sprinkler systems with a statement that "we consider a regulatory requirement is unnecessary and disproportionate" - At least six people died when Grenfell Tower rapidly turned into an inferno.

Each of these three tragedies was obviously preventable, but after every one of these incidents people have tried to shut me up with synthetic outrage displays and claims that talking about the political implications of these appalling incidents is somehow beyond the pale.

This censorship strategy seems to make the case that as long as the government cock up is so big that people actually die then they're suddenly beyond criticism or reproach because any attempt to hold them to account is "politicising the tragedy".

The world these people would like to inhabit is one where if the government lose count of the paperclips then we're allowed to get angry at them, but if people actually die then it's "shut up", "shut up", "shut up"!

It is extraordinary the lengths people will go to in order to defend the government from criticism.

Imagine the kind of person you'd have to be to work yourself up into a fit of faux outrage that some people want to hold the government to account over tragic and blatantly preventable deaths, but have no anger or outrage whatever at the government for having allowed the deaths to happen.

Presumably these people are the same the kind who get totally outraged if Jeremy Corbyn doesn't bow deeply enough at the cenotaph, can't remember a number off the top of his head in a live interview, doesn't wear a smart enough suit, or remains silent but respectful for the national anthem.

Next time you see someone trying to shout down criticism of the government in this manner, make sure you tell them to put their synthetic outrage away and ask them why they're so keen to absolve the government of responsibility by directing outrage at the people trying to hold the powerful to account for their negligence.

 Another Angry Voice  is a "Pay As You Feel" website. You can have access to all of my work for free, or you can choose to make a small donation to help me keep writing. The choice is entirely yours.

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Tories sat on tower block fire safety report for 4 years

It's not fair to blame Gavin Barwell alone for the shocking lack of government action on the damning fire safety report he sat on, after all, he was only the latest in a succession of Tory housing ministers who failed to act on the report recommendations.

The report was produced after the Lakanal House fire in Camberwell cost the lives of six residents. It recommended the instillation of sprinklers in 4,000 tower blocks across the United Kingdom and was completed in 2013.

Ever since then successive Tory housing ministers have fobbed off these fire safety concerns by saying they're looking into it. Theresa May's newly promoted Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell succeeded Brandon Lewis, Kris Hopkins and Mark Prisk who also sat on the report.

The deadly fire at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington is exactly the kind of incident the ignored report was intended to prevent.

The #fire is now spread to the other side. Ash falling in front of my window down. #GrenfellTower #Kensington #london #PrayersForGrenfell pic.twitter.com/Zbg5eTJttf

— ✯ Natalie ✯ (@Natalie_Oxford) June 14, 2017

Aside from the parliamentary report into tower block fire safety measures, there is also the heartbreaking blog post from the Grenfell residents' group warning about the lack of fire safety measures in the block and the fact that residents had actually been advised to remain inside their properties in the case of fire, which would certainly have cost residents their lives given the size of the fire.

This kind of fire safety negligence from the building management is certain to be prosecuted, but no doubt Tories like Gavin Barwell and his predecessors will be allowed to get away with their role in this tragedy.

Had they acted on the report instead of sitting on it for 4 years, surely the negligent building owners would have had to have acted to comply with any new fire safety laws.

It seems Barwell and his predecessors will get away with it in much the same way as Theresa May and Amber Rudd are being allowed to get away with letting two avoidable terrorist incidents happen on their watch. Manchester Arena happened because an Islamist extremist who was known to be plotting a terrorist attack against the UK was allowed to pass unhindered through the UK border, then left unwatched as he planned and executed his depraved attack. The ringleader of the second was such a well known extremist that he'd been featured in a TV show called "The Jihadists next door".

This shockingly indifferent Tory attitude to public safety costs lives. But they're only the lives of "the lower orders" so Tories simply don't care. If the report had detailed how the Houses of Parliament were a deadly fire trap (rather than 4,000 tower blocks across the UK) do you honestly think they'd have done nothing but sit on the report for four years until parliament burned down with them inside it?

Of course not, because in their minds they are important, and we're just disposable plebs. If they died in a fire or a terrorist attack it would be a terrible tragedy, if we die in a fire or a terrorist attack it would be an unfortunate incident that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things because there are plenty more ordinary plebs to replace us.

Gavin Barwell and his Housing minister predecessors need to be questioned immediately about how this tower block fire safety report came to be sat on for 4 years.

 Another Angry Voice  is a "Pay As You Feel" website. You can have access to all of my work for free, or you can choose to make a small donation to help me keep writing. The choice is entirely yours.

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