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Multi- Millionaire Blair Blasted By The FBU For 'Disgraceful' Grenfell Fire Comments In a TV interview, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that tragedies like Grenfell cannot be completely avoided, and that people are "going to make mistakes" even in "well-intentioned systems".
Many Trade Unions, Fire Safety Officials in the Fire Brigade, and Safety specialists opposed the Regulatory Reform Act which removed legal requirement to have a Fire Safety Certificate, and the responsibilities of issueing fire certificates from local authorities and the Fire Brigade and local authorities and handed responsibility to have a Fire Risk Assessment only, to builders and building owners allowing them to self-police. All businesses must now undergo a Fire Risk Assessment — which puts the responsibility on the business owner or designated person of responsibility. Local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and local council Private Sector Housing Teams are both responsible for enforcing fire safety standards and legislation. However, due to massive cuts in Local Authority grants, cuts in the Fire Brigade across the UK, and in HSE's remit and loss of almost 50% of Inspectors and a shift to a commercial remit, it is only after a fire and deaths and injuries that enforcement authorities become involved. Blair was warned at the time that his changes and abolition of the need for a Fire Certificate issue by the Local Authority/Fire Brigade; would cost lives. Without the 'Blair Fire Safety Order', his and subsequent government cuts to the HSE, local authority budgets and the Fire Brigade personnel and infrastructure; Grenfell would probably have never happened. Here is the interview with Tony Blair that has sparked the outrage:
"Tony Blair’s despicable comments are the remarks of a multi- millionaire who has lost touch with the reality of people’s lives. Every single person has the right to a safe, decent home. Every single one of the deaths at Grenfell Tower were unnecessary and wholly avoidable. "The Grenfell fire was not the result of well-intentioned people making mistakes, but of a systematic disregard for the safety of residents – and the prioritisation of private profit over human life. As Prime Minister, Tony Blair was an enthusiastic supporter of the same agenda of deregulation that led to the Grenfell disaster. "At the heart of this agenda of deregulation is a disdain for working class people, and a view that sees their living standards, and even their lives, as expendable in pursuit of free market economics. It is no wonder that the public are losing faith in politicians when politicians like Tony Blair make it clear that they have no regard for ordinary people." Source: FBU
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He of course is partly responsible for the disaster and is trying to excuse himself and the policies of his and future Labour Governments, by watering down &S legislation, cutting the number of HSE inspectors and its funding, and privatising big business over worker's lives!
Responding to Tony Blair's comments, Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary, said: