Shadow minister: Politicians who support neoliberalism have 'blood on their hands' for Grenfell
2 min read
Politicians who supported "neoliberal" economics have "blood on their hands" over the Grenfell Tower tragedy, a Labour frontbencher has declared.
Shadow fire minister Chris Williamson said the ideology had led to building control standards being diminished.
At least 80 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the blaze in North Kensington, west London, in June.
Theresa May has set up a public inquiry into the blaze, but the Government has been accused of setting its terms of reference too narrowly to take account of the wider factors which led to the fire.
Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Williamson said: “It’s important we do find out how and why it started but there are deeper questions that relate to the political culture that allowed it to happen.
“It’s a culture that has afflicted both Labour and Conservative governments, starting with Margaret Thatcher. That whole culture is built on deregulation, privatisation and cuts.”
Mr Williamson said politicians who had “foisted neoliberal brutality on this country” had contributed “directly to Grenfell Tower and these people have blood on their hands who have pushed this approach”.
He added: “Because neoliberalism is underpinned by privatising and not fettering business, that has actually resulted in things like building control being subject to competition, which has meant the private sector coming in and cutting fees, and inevitably the quality has gone down."
Elsewhere in the interview, the Derby North MP also suggested that Labour leaders in future be elected solely by the party's members, without having to win nominations by MPs.
He said: "Who are the PLP (parliamentary Labour party)? They are a tiny percentage of the party."
WOMEN-ONLY CARRIAGES
Mr Williamson sparked anger last week when he told PoliticsHome he supported women-only train carriages to prevent sex attacks.
But he was slapped down by Jeremy Corbyn, who said the idea had been rejected when he floated it himself two years ago.
"It was there [during his leadership campaign] as a discussion item which was taken out of context," he told HuffPost. "The response was that people don't want them: end of."
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