The Cover Up Has Already Begun

“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” - John F. Kennedy

Happy Father’s Day. In the shadow of the most horrifying tragedy British tragedy in living memory, like most of you I feel truly blessed to be able to enjoy the warmth and splendour of the beautiful weather and more importantly, my loved ones. But I certainly am not feeling in a celebratory mood today. The images and stories of distraught human beings, cowardly politicians and absent leaders are too raw, too visceral and too agonising to dismiss. And as angry, frustrated and heartbroken as we are, we should in fact be feeling a lot worse. Because by all accounts, the story of Grenfell Tower is very much untold. Yes, there is a requirement for multiple investigations to be conducted, which need to be as thorough and rigorous, as possible; and as such these investigations need to take as long as is required. But the truth remains that there is a desire to conceal as much of the real horror as possible; because if we know the truth at this stage the powers that be know that the waves of protest they are experiencing now are likely to become a tsunami. Well f*** that, the truth is more important, and the truth is as follows.

The real reason why the Government, the media and Kensington and Chelsea Council (KCC) haven’t released the known numbers of victims of the Grenfell inferno is because they want the media coverage surrounding this story to dissipate and die down. The Fire and Ambulance services have both freely confirmed that the numbers of deceased are well in to the 150’s or 160’s. The ‘official’ number, four days after the event, was 30 with 28 ‘missing, presumed deceased’, and this number creeps up daily. This is a strategic approach being implemented by the Government and it’s agencies – KCC and other local councils – to ensure that this story does not retain the same coverage. They do not want this story to go in to next week. After all, Theresa has to start Brexit negotiations tomorrow. I digress here but just think about that for a second. A woman who can’t debate members of the general public and couldn’t stand face to face with Jeremy Corbyn is going to negotiate the most important agreement in decades with European Union on behalf of this country. We’d better start learning to speak German and French now.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Presently, the authorities have been reliant on allowing the visual images of Grenfell Tower burning to assault our consciousness and thus provoke the understandable response that it has. But they know that if they actually release the CORRECT number of bodies located and found it would have an incalculably greater emotional impact and connection. And this is what they are clearly seeking to avoid. Don’t take my word for it. If you go to the locality and speak to residents they are readily giving numerous interviews and what they are saying is being freely corroborated by the Ambulance Service and the Firefighters. All are confirming the same thing – that on Friday they were already up to approximately 150 bodies and around 160 on Saturday. And they have even confirmed roughly how many of those bodies were babies. So please, please, please, don’t let them kill this story in the same way that their policies killed numerous innocent people in their homes. If the media, KCC and the Government have their way then this story will start to become a by-line rather than a headline, softening us up with an incremental increase in the number of bodies officially ‘confirmed’ as deceased.

The Police don’t want these figures released. I understand that. They are rightly concerned at the possibility – no, the probability – of protest and potential civil unrest. The last thing they need is a plethora of images released on social media in which they are accused of violently supressing the demonstrations of grieving residents. The Government, already reeling from a disastrous election campaign, a recognition that they are on the back foot with Brexit negotiations and mind bogglingly inept leadership and support in the aftermath of the fire, are desperate for something, anything, to distract us from this catastrophe. To make us forget that they have actively reduced the numbers of police, firefighters, ambulance services and indeed, experienced council support staff that are best equipped to help people in circumstances such as these. To make us ignore the fact that they did nothing to act on the 2015 recommendations after the Larkanal fire in Camberwell. And as for the leaders of KCC? Well clearly they just want to stay hidden under the rock that they’ve been occupying since even before the disaster, emerging recently to offer interviews to their media chums they went to university with. Take a bow Nicholas Paget-Brown – your courage in defending the ineptitude and invisibility of your staff in the aftermath of the conflagration of Grenfell is a credit to your sense of entitlement, your callous indifference and your disconnection from the realities of ordinary people.

A lot of people will say that this is the ranting of a conspiracy theorist. I get that. Conspiracy theory is the definitive sanctuary of the powerless, because if you can’t change your life, it’s because of some greater, malign force controlling the world. But over time I’ve learnt something about conspiracy theory, and that is that it’s comforting. The truth is that the world is chaotic and this is partly because our leaders are so maladroit and incompetent. There is no Illuminati, New World Order or Zionist Banking Conspiracy pulling the strings. The truth, as terrifying as it is, is that NOBODY is in control - as has been proven here. And that is why it is crucial that people ask questions of those who were in the front line of Grenfell in order to get the truth and dispel any suggestion that what I am highlighting is a conspiracy theory. It is why we must call out the media when they say locals are using Grenfell as a means of expressing their frustration at other long-standing social issues (years of social housing neglect and mismanagement have not been imagined by residents all over the country). And it is why we MUST maintain our outrage and act on it. Because if we don’t, one day the poor will have nothing left to eat but the rich.