Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell repeats claim Grenfell Tower blaze was 'social murder'

Jonathan Mitchell16 July 2017

John McDonnell has repeated his claims the victims of the Grenfell Tower inferno were killed by “social murder” and called for the people responsible to be held to account.

The shadow chancellor insisted he has no regrets for saying the victims of the disaster were murdered by political decisions.

He reiterated the claim while appearing on BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

At least 80 people are believed to have died when a huge fire broke out at Grenfell Tower on June 14.

Chanceller Philip Hammond branded the comments disgraceful and said there was not a "shred of evidence" to support the claims.

Mr McDonnell was asked if he regretted saying people were murdered by political decisions.

He replied: "No I don't regret that. I was extremely angry with what went on. I'm a west London MP, this site is not far from me.

"Political decisions were made which resulted in the deaths of these people. That's a scandal."

Pressed on the use of the word "murder", Mr McDonnell replied: "There's a long history in this country of the concept of social murder where decisions are made with no regard to consequences of that, and as a result of that people have suffered.

"That's what's happened here, and I'm angry."

He added: "I believe social murder has occurred in this incidence and I believe people should be accountable."

John McDonnell has blasted Conservative politicians' handling of the fire
PA

Mr McDonnell, asked to explain who are the murderers, said: "I think there's been a consequence of political decisions over years that have not addressed the housing crisis that we've had, that have cut back on local government so proper inspections have not been made, 11,000 firefighter jobs have been cut as well - even the investment in aerial ladders, and things like that in our country."

Presenter Andrew Marr asked if the Labour MP was suggesting the politicians who sanctioned the cuts are murderers.

Mr McDonnell replied: "I believe politicians have to be held to account. I remain angry at how many people have lost their lives as a result of political decisions made over years."

He added: "I remain angry at the loss of life that has taken place not far away from my constituency."

Mr McDonnell made his original comments - that people at Grenfell Tower were "murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades" - during a debate at Glastonbury Festival's Left Field tent, which asked whether democracy is broken.

His claim that the fire was "social murder" was roundly condemned by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

"It is a disgraceful suggestion in line with many other things John McDonnell has said over the years. There is absolutely not a shred of evidence to support that," he told The Andrew Marr Show.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in