Pictures of Camden residents being offered camp beds in a sports hall shame our nation and they deserve aid now
WE now know that at least 34 tower blocks in councils across Britain have unsafe cladding. Tens of thousands of people are affected.
Be in no doubt this is a major national crisis.
But if the chaos surrounding the evacuation of Camden residents is any guide, local councils and the Government are clueless over how to respond properly.
The stories of people finding out they had to be evacuated from TV news bulletins are appalling but entirely believable.
From day one, since the Grenfell Tower fire, the only group of officials to have emerged with any credit are the emergency services.
While they have been heroes, Kensington council has been hopelessly out of its depth.
Scenes of Camden residents being offered camp beds in a local sports hall shame our nation. The people affected must be offered proper accommodation as a basic right.
This crisis is far too severe for local government to deal with, but this is not a party political issue. Camden is Labour-run so it’s not the fault of the Tories.
The Government has started to make some of the right noises, but it has so far shown woeful leadership.
It needs to get a grip and throw all its weight behind dealing both with the short term mess and the long term solution.
That means spending whatever it costs.
In a crisis as deep as this the usual rules disappear and there is only one option: Spend first and ask questions later.
Security disservice
IT’S one thing to have learned that the security services knew about trips to terror hotspots by Manchester bomber Salman Abdi, and were aware of the jihadist views of London Bridge terrorist Khuram Butt.
But it’s almost unbelievable to discover that in 2011 they approved as a guard for the Prime Minister a terror suspect who had been under a Control Order.
When David Cameron visited Libya in 2011 he was protected by “Detainee M”, who had already admitted being a member of an armed Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda.
The security services do a brilliant job protecting us. But they have some serious explaining to do.
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New-faced Nigel
ACCORDING to Nigel Farage, his newly baby smooth features have nothing to do with cosmetic treatments.
After bumping and grinding with his twerking dance partner, the former Ukip leader said his youthful appearance was down to his political commitment.
There’s only one conclusion . . . Nigel must have been dyeing his hair grey all these years.