After the tragedy comes the cover-up – or at least, the attempted cover-up. It seems the Tory politicians and the mass-media mouthpieces aren’t going to be allowed to get away with it this time.

You all know the broad details by now: A fire broke out in the Grenfell Tower block in Notting Hill and spread rapidly because cladding that had been installed as part of a £10 million ‘refurbishment’ turned out to be highly flammable.

It is now known that the landlords cut corners in their decisions:

https://twitter.com/tompeck/status/875465866124697604

As a result, there have been at least 17 deaths – probably many more, but the authorities are trying to hush up the numbers.

The way the disaster has been handled is stoking rage – ‘anger’ is not a strong enough word – among anyone able to understand what it means: That political expediency was considered more valuable than human lives. These people died because they were poor and could not influence decisions made about their homes by the people who owned and ran the building.

Look at this, from 2017 Lawyer of the Year Aamer Anwar:

https://twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/875488842010243072

“People died in Grenfell Tower because they are poor.” And the Tory reaction was to hold a public inquiry. Why?

Here’s the reason:

The Independent clarifies:

Grenfell Tower residents should demand an inquest rather than a public inquiry to get answers about the tragedy, according to a solicitor who acted for people affected in the 2009 Lakanal House fire.

Sophie Khan said that in an inquest the Government would “lose control” and a jury would be able to deliver its conclusion regardless of whether it was uncomfortable to hear.

In a public inquiry, such as that ordered by the Prime Minister into the fire that killed at least 17 on Wednesday, a minister will set the terms of reference, which guide how the hearings proceed.

“I’m very concerned as to why Ms May came out so quickly to say, ‘public inquiry’. What is there, that she knows, that needs to be hidden?”

We know that many more than 17 people have died – but there seems to be a mass-media conspiracy to obscure the true number. Look at the way Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow tried to shut Lily Allen down when she raised the issue yesterday evening (June 15):

And what happened? The BBC’s Newsnight cancelled her appearance on the programme:

Apparently there was unhappiness with the way Ms Allen had been politicising the situation:

Her attitude has won support from members of the public:

The simple fact is, it should be easy to work out how many people have died; you simply compare the number of people who have been reported as alive with the number of residents according to the landlord’s records.

That will provide a rough figure – but nobody in the Tory mouthpiece media will do this – because they know it will ignite public feeling against the government?

Well, this should not come as news: Public feeling is already against the government – it is growing angrier by the minute.

And people know that the mass media news bosses are trying to hide the facts.

Take a look at these comments by an ex-firefighter. Not only does he point out that the number of official deaths attributable to the Grenfell Tower fire will be reduced because they won’t include people who die in hospital, but he (correctly) points out collusion between the government and its media:

“This from ex-firefighter Justin Plimmer, commenting on the Grenfell tragedy:

“If any of those poor people fighting for their lives die in hospital, they will not be counted in the government figures. Which means that when they say fire deaths are reducing, year on year, they are talking utter bollocks!! They have changed the goal posts to reduce funding in the emergency services. None of this was ever mentioned in the Commons or the press (surprise).

“We need a voice but the propaganda machine continues to whir!!!

“To those giving me shit for ‘politicising’ this terrible event, it happened because of politics. It happened because of years of Tory policies putting profit before people, keeping the wealthy rich and ignoring the impact on and the voices of the poor.

“This is politics in action, politics killing people.”

Meanwhile the Labour Party – long derided by the Tory-loving mass media – is working on behalf of the voiceless people, trying to give them a voice and get answers.

“Will we get to the bottom of this?” asked Channel 4’s Jon Snow of Kensington’s new MP, Emma Dent Coad.

Her response: “I’ll make sure we do; I won’t rest until we do.”

That is the kind of attitude we need in our public servants. But who thought Labour would have an MP in Kensington before last week’s election?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ran into criticism from this reporter, when he outlined Labour’s plan to deal with the disaster:

https://twitter.com/gaurangmorjaria/status/875421971483381760

But people aren’t prepared to put up with this any more. Look at the following, if you can tolerate the strength of the language being used:

https://twitter.com/UKDemockery/status/875396273096060929

(Poor Michael Crick – it seems to be him – he’s one of the good guys!)

Here’s a tweet that sums up the mood of the country right now:

I think we are sitting on a powder keg and the fuse has been lit.

The election result last week (and the fact that the Conservatives are refusing to go), coupled with the Grenfell Tower disaster that is a direct result of Conservative policies, means feelings are boiling over.

We are not ‘people’ to Conservative MPs and ministers. We are ‘stock’. They think they can do whatever they like to us and we can have no say in it; no influence on it.

And if we die, that’s just too bad. They’ll weep crocodile tears on the news (or say they did it in private, like our so-called prime minister Theresa May).

Or they’ll go back to their ‘divide-and-rule’ tactic and try to blame immigrants:

https://twitter.com/xugla/status/875610535818969088

(Laura Perrins is co-editor of The Conservative Woman website.)

Anything to shift the spotlight away from the real culprits – themselves.

Look at this – listen to the anger in these people’s voices:

The authorities put disabled people on the highest floors. We all know how the Tory government treats the disabled; it is as though they were waiting for this disaster to happen.

Isn’t it?

And now the Tories are trying to kick it into the long grass.

They’ll have an inquiry, on which they’ll dictate the terms.

They’ll hide the true number of deaths.

They’ll delay any action to make safe the 4,000 other tower blocks in the UK that could be just as dangerous as Grenfell Tower.

Because that would cost money.

They are playing games with people’s lives.

But they have misjudged the mood of the nation.

All it would take is one ignorant toff saying the wrong thing on the TV news or a politics show – and we all know that there are plenty of ignorant Tories who’ll do it.

That’s all it would take for the seething bitterness and resentment in the UK to ignite. Unless we get real answers, it’s just a matter of time.

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