Tory failures are stark as poor lay dead in the blackened Grenfell Tower block after fire so close to Britain’s most opulent homes

DESPITE the chaos in Downing Street, it has immediate priorities over the Grenfell Tower catastrophe.

First, to house survivors fast and locally. Second, to pinpoint every tower block with flammable cladding and replace it. Then to fit sprinklers in each.

In the medium term the Government’s public inquiry must find out  what went wrong, why complaints were ignored and act against those responsible.

Theresa May made a bad mistake not facing residents in person. She should have braved their rage and indeed shared it, promising to prosecute anyone for provable negligence.

And her inquiry won’t be nearly enough. The Government must now take inequality far more seriously.

Figures indicate it has flatlined for years. They look irrelevant  when scores of neglected poor people are dead in the blackened hulk of a tower block  so close to some of Britain’s most opulent homes.

The Tories once had a powerful social justice message. They have abandoned it to Labour. They once wanted to be a “ladder” to those aspiring to improve their lives. Where is it?

Where is the vast building programme giving young people their first chance to buy a home and a permanent stake in our economy? What hope did any Tory policy offer those in Grenfell Tower?

Without one, they are in deep trouble.

Rich pickings

FOR a split second it seems fair, doesn’t it? Seize rich people’s empty homes to house the Grenfell survivors. After all, the country is broken-hearted for them.

But think where Jeremy Corbyn’s class-war populism leads.

State bailiffs seizing private property in violation of one of our most fundamental laws. Then what? Vast legal ­battles and compensation payouts funded by poor people’s council tax.

Corbyn has impulsively revealed a glimpse of the sinister regime he would run. Where private citizens’ rights are cast aside on a whim by a Marxist state.

The rich first, then the rest.

The Shadow Chancellor wants a mob to eject the Government. Corbyn would override property laws. See a pattern?

Their fans, whipped into a frenzy by habitual liars on social media, are breathtakingly naive about how dangerous their socialist revolution would prove.

About Dam time

WE are delighted Dambusters hero and charity worker Johnny Johnson has  got the gong he deserved and  we campaigned for.

But why only an MBE?

By contrast, Jean-Claude Juncker’s top official  is made a Sir. A knighthood for a career of fostering relations between Britain and the EU, only to see us vote Leave. An MBE for risking your life helping liberate Europe from Hitler.

The honours system is still broken.