Jeremy Corbyn accuses Tory MPs of faking their sympathy for Grenfell Tower firefighters
The Labour leader's comments come after his right-hand man described the fire as 'social murder'
JEREMY CORBYN has accused Tory MPs of not caring about the Grenfell Tower disaster in a fresh Labour bid to politicise the tragic fire.
The left-wing leader said Conservatives had “crocodile tears” when they claimed to pay tribute to the work of the emergency services.
His comments come just a day after his right-hand man John McDonnell described the tragedy as “social murder” which was caused by politicians’ failures.
Mr Corbyn was speaking yesterday at a ceremony to honour the Tolpuddle Martyrs, 19th-century workers who were arrested for forming a trade union.
He told the crowd that only Labour could be trusted to strengthen the emergency services in the wake of tragedies such as Grenfell and terror attacks, .
The Labour leader said: “I get so sick of Tory MPs lining up with crocodile tears for those who have helped out in the most terrible circumstances such as the fire in Grenfell Tower, the crisis in Manchester when the bombing went off there, in London Bridge and in Finsbury Park.
“Thanking the emergency services for all their work, we all do that, we admire them, we applaud them, we recognise the dangers they put themselves in so that the rest of us may be safe.
“But the difference is that we also believe they should be paid properly for doing the work that they do.”
Public-sector pay is limited to a rise of just 1 per cent every year as part of the ongoing Tory austerity measures.
Philip Hammond has resisted calls to ditch the cap and let pay rise to match inflation, but hinted yesterday that he is still considering a rethink.
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Left-wing activists have used the Grenfell Tower disaster - which saw at least 80 residents of the block in West London burn to death last month - to advance an anti-austerity agenda, arguing that it would not have happened without budget cuts.
Yesterday Mr McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, described the tragedy as “social murder” and argued that politicians should face prosecution over alleged wrongdoing.
Mr Corbyn is currently engaged on a tour of Tory-held marginals and left-wing events in a bid to show that Labour is ready to fight a second snap election.
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival is held in the Dorset village of Tolpuddle, where six workers formed an illegal trade union in the 1830s.
They were transported to Australia as punishment and have been honoured ever since as fighters for the rights of the working class.
