Jacob Rees-Mogg thinks it would be “common sense” to have tried to leave Grenfell Tower rather than follow the fire brigade advice to “stay put” (Rees-Mogg condemned over remarks on Grenfell, 6 November). The “stay put” advice was based on the assumption that maintenance and materials were of the highest standard, regular inspection happened and regulations were followed.
There were clearly major failings at Grenfell, which the second phase of the inquiry will identify, but there is a strong suspicion that the drive to cut costs on cladding and/or drive up profits played its part.
Surely it is common sense for politicians to wait until the second part of the inquiry has been completed to see if policies on austerity and cost-cutting contributed to this disaster. Grenfell families deserve so much better than these thoughtless comments – a lot more consideration and practical help, perhaps?
Stuart Taylor
Wantage, Oxfordshire
• As prime minister, David Cameron promised to abolish the “albatross” of “overregulation” in the building sector, insisting that his Tory government would “kill off the health and safety culture for good”.
The Tory “Cutting Red Tape” initiative, launched by Sajid Javid in 2015, boasted: “Businesses with good records have had fire safety inspections reduced from six hours to 45 minutes, allowing managers to quickly get back to their day job.”
As mayor of London, Boris Johnson closed 10 London fire stations, took 30 fire engines out of service and slashed over 500 firefighter jobs to “save money”. When challenged on this policy, he told a Labour assembly member who criticised his cuts to “get stuffed”.
It was the Tory-controlled Kensington and Chelsea council that covered the homes of working-class people with flammable cladding. The council “saved” £293,000 by draping Grenfell Tower with this rather than fire-resistant cladding.
It was the Tory doctrine of the unfettered free-market pursuing profit above all other considerations that paved the way to the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people.
Yet leading Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests that those who died in the Grenfell fire did so because they lacked “common sense”. Rees Mogg sums up the essence of Toryism – it is a merciless doctrine, without conscience, without compassion, without empathy and with absolute contempt for working-class people.
Sasha Simic
London
• Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments regarding the Grenfell fire are not only crass and – despite his protestations – seemingly rooted in class prejudice, they also show a total lack of understanding of the causes of the Grenfell disaster and the science of human behaviour in major fire situations.
I have suggested to Rees-Mogg that he attends a session at the Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh to gain some kind of understanding what it is actually like being caught in a blazing, smoke-filled building.
He really needs to spare us from his wisdom and keep his mouth shut on the many things about which he is entirely ignorant.
David Amess
Pershore, Worcestershire
• One wonders what Jacob Rees-Mogg will make of the “common sense” of all those who approved the use of inflammable cladding on a building rising hundreds of feet into the air and housing hundreds of people? Perhaps they aren’t as clever as he is either.
Peter Tippetts
Botley, Hampshire
