Warming Hysteria and Grenfell

Over at Spiked is a piece titled, "Grenfell: Don't Let the State Off the Hook." Although there are several aspects of the analysis I don't agree with, I'm glad I'm not the only person to have noticed how eager the left has been to pin the blame for the Grenfell fire on (their misconception of) capitalism.

The most poignant example of how little regard is given to social-housing tenants can be seen in the reason why cladding was installed in the first place. [The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO)] said the refurbishment at Grenfell was an attempt to 'enhance energy efficiency and help reduce residents' living costs'. As James Heartfield has pointed out previously on [Spiked], KCTMO was in fact following the orders of the government's committee on climate change -- the refurbishment was not requested by residents. Many blocks in the area were fitted with insulating cladding, new boilers and double-glazed windows, and tenants often complained about overheating. Day-to-day life for people was made more uncomfortable in the name of achieving government-set energy targets. Tenants were effectively used as fodder in the pursuit of environmentalist goals, ordered from on-high by the state. [link omitted, bold added]

Such contempt for individuals -- and not just those for whom government housing is intended -- goes hand-in-hand with that for the truth shown time and time again by the enemies of the one social system to have lifted so many from destitution to prosperity in so short a time.

-- CAV