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24th May 2019

Theresa May labelled ‘disgraceful’ by Fire Brigades Union for listing Grenfell response as part of legacy

Wayne Farry

theresa may

May described the Grenfell response as part of her legacy during her resignation speech

The Fire Brigades Union has labeled outgoing prime minister Theresa May as “disgraceful” after she referred to her government’s response to the Grenfell fire disaster as part of a proud legacy.

During her resignation speech in front of 10 Downing Street on Friday morning, May said that part of her legacy had been the fact that the office of prime minister had handed her the “platform to give a voice to the voiceless, to fight the burning injustices that still scar our society”.

“[That] it is why I set up the independent inquiry into the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, to search for the truth so nothing like it can ever happen again, and so the people who lost their lives that night are never forgotten.”

In response to her comment, Mark Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, blamed May’s government for allowing the conditions under which Grenfell took place to foster.

“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,” he said in a statement.

“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.”

Grenfell Tower caught fire on 14 June 2017 and led to the deaths of 72 people, including a stillbirth.

An enquiry by the government’s equalities watchdog later stated that Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and central UK government bodies “knew, or ought to have known,” that their management of the tower was breaching the rights to life, and to adequate housing, of the tower’s residents.

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.”