MAY’S GRENFELL CLAIM ‘DISGRACEFUL’ says FBU

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Young people at a Grenfell memorial. The FBU has condemned PM May for her legacy speech hailing the Grenfell whitewash inquiry

FOLLOWING Theresa May’s resignation speech, in which the Prime Minister spoke of her response to the Grenfell Tower Fire, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) issued the following statement.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: ‘Many of the underlying issues at Grenfell were due to unsafe conditions that had been allowed to fester under Tory governments and a council for which Theresa May bears ultimate responsibility.

‘The inquiry she launched has kicked scrutiny of corporate and government interests into the long-grass, denying families and survivors justice, while allowing business as usual to continue for the wealthy. For the outgoing Prime Minister to suggest that her awful response to Grenfell is a proud part of her legacy is, frankly, disgraceful.’

The ‘shambolic’ Conservative party is incapable of governing and a general election is the ‘only honourable’ way forward the leader of the Unite union said yesterday after May announced that she is standing down as prime minister.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ‘Theresa May’s announcement today underscores what a mess the Conservative party is and that this party is actually now incapable of governing.

‘The shambolic handling of Brexit, the yawning inequalities in this country, our fraying public services and our once-proud manufacturing industry sliding into decline are the legacy of this prime minister and her woeful Tory government.

‘It is a grave insult to the people of this country that our fate now lies in the hands of scheming Tory MPs and a few thousand Tory members.

‘This farce has to end. The challenges before our country are too great and the need to restore fairness to our society too urgent, they are ill-served by this pantomime. A general election now is the only honourable and sensible way forward.’

  • Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: ‘Theresa May will go down in history as one of the worst prime ministers.

‘She has done nothing to repair our broken public services, forgotten all about families struggling to get by, brutally mistreated the Windrush generation and woefully mismanaged the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

‘However, working people should fear what comes next. Her replacement will be chosen by the hard right of the Tory Party, who want more austerity, increased privatisation and fewer rights for working people.

‘That’s why there must now be a general election. The decision about who leads the country must be taken in every community, not by the Brexiteer boys’ club in the tea rooms and bars of Westminster.’

The GMB has called for a general elections after the Prime Minister announced her departure date this morning.

Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said: ‘We cannot let Britain’s workers, industries and communities become the casualties of the next round of Tory internal wars.

‘Let’s have a general election and let the people decide.’