Posted on 2017-06-19 | 12:26

My thoughts and condolences go to all those affected by the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower. Ordinary people and families suffered unimaginably in this awful fire, and for those who have lost family members and homes recovery will be an extremely long and difficult process. As ever, the emergency services did a brilliant job in incredibly difficult circumstances, and the fire service showed so much bravery and dedication.

In the last few months, as tragedies have hit this country, we have been reminded of the importance of our essential public services in keeping us safe. The police and fire services, as well as medics in A&E, do an amazing job in conditions that most of us couldn’t begin to imagine. However, questions must be asked about the circumstances in which these awful events happen. The police and fire services have undergone years of cuts and are having to do their best with reduced capacity, while the Conservatives have insisted on cutting public spending, cutting funding for local government services which the poorest people rely on, and slashing health and safety regulations.

The primary, essential role of any Government is to keep the people living in this country safe from harm, and to properly resource the essential services that are required to do this. As well as the emergency services, this must include properly constructed and maintained public housing which is safe for people to live in. The Government must stop abdicating from and outsourcing this responsibility. They need to accept that it is the Government’s duty to put in place properly funded public services, along with regulations that protect people’s wellbeing and prioritise safety over profit margins. We cannot allow a situation to continue where public housing is unsafe and the poorest people in our society are placed at risk.

I fear that, sadly, this horrendous disaster is a symptom of much broader problems—the systematic underfunding and undervaluing of the public sphere by a Government which puts profit for the wealthy before security for all. We must stop allowing funding for essential public services to be sliced away, while corporation tax is slashed and the rich allowed to grab more and more of our society’s wealth—at everyone else’s expense. People in this country deserve better.