国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / From the Press

Kensington horror ignites a revolutionary mood

By Heiko Khoo | China.org.cn | Updated: 2017-06-19 15:11
Share
Share - WeChat

Last week was perhaps one of the most dramatic in modern British history.

Although Theresa May's Conservative party won the most seats in the general election, this was a Pyrrhic victory. This is one where an army nominally wins a battle, but does so at such a huge cost to itself that another such battle would bring catastrophe.

May's incompetent misjudgment of the popular mood continues unabated. Meanwhile the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn has seen its ratings race ahead and, incredibly, everything indicates that, if there were a new election tomorrow, Labour would win a landslide majority. What a difference a week makes!

There are times when necessity is expressed through an accident. Such was the case with the horrific fire engulfing a high-rise tower block called Grenfell tower in Kensington, one London's wealthiest boroughs, but one where, only the week before, Labour scored its most dramatic and unexpected electoral victory.

The fire swept up the 24 story-building in the early morning so fast that many residents were unable to escape. The occupants of this 1970's building had for years prophesied impending disaster, indeed issuing a chilling warning last November that a fire with significant loss of life was inevitable.

The Conservative-led council, like many local governments around the country, had long worked hand-in-glove with property developers. Under the auspices of regeneration and improvement, unaccountable bodies systematically manipulated the local residents and signed contracts for all sorts of unnecessary building work.

At the same time the elementary needs of residents were ignored and their interests trampled on. Fire in such concrete high-rise blocks should remain isolated within the apartment affected. However, it appears that cladding attached to the exterior of the tower block during renovation work was responsible for the blaze sweeping up the building in minutes.

The death toll may well exceed 100. Most of the dead have either not yet been found, or not identified. On Friday, I was at the scene, where hundreds of people were milling around shell-shocked, some were wailing in grief. Soon, this mood turned to anger and then rage.

Whilst emergency response teams did what they could to save lives and comfort the injured, the local government has proven utterly incompetent; and Theresa May exacerbated the unpopularity of the national government by initially refusing to talk directly with those affected.

By contrast, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went to the community, shared their grief, and promised to ensure that those responsible would be brought to justice. In addition, he called for empty luxury houses and apartments in the area to be requisitioned to house those made homeless by the fire.

This is the first time in my life that I sense the mood in British society is turning revolutionary. The Russian Marxist Vladimir Lenin identified the preconditions for a revolution as follows: That the ruling class is unable to rule in the old way; and the oppressed classes are unwilling to be ruled in the old way; and that an organization or leadership exists that is prepared to lead a movement for change.

The Conservative party would like to be rid of Theresa May. Her former chancellor, George Osborne, described the prime minister as "one of the walking dead." However, the party's leaders are terrified to remove her for fear of the consequences if this triggered a new election.

Yet, May has still not been able to form a government, although one is due to be announced this week. And, in an unprecedented move by the establishment, the 91-year-old Queen of England issued a somber letter to her subjects in an attempt to pacify popular anger.

Last Friday, a march by the enraged community around Grenfell Tower led to the storming of Kensington Town Hall to demand truth and justice. The police seemed unable, or perhaps unwilling, to use force lest the situation escalate out of control and copycat rebellions sweep the country. Small, but angry protests erupted that evening in central London.

Within the Labour Party, the majority of MPs despised Jeremy Corbyn only a month ago; however, when he walked into Parliament last week, these same MPs gave him a standing ovation. Now, one after another of his opponents have eaten humble pie and declared how wrong they were.

They hope thereby, to cling to their positions despite the anger of ordinary party members at their two-year campaign to sabotage his leadership. Now Corbyn and his team have called a giant demonstration for July 1 to draw on his growing popularity.

In this climate of seething anger, a radical switch in Britain's political direction is certainly on the cards.

 

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
肃北| 九龙县| 渝北区| 鹤庆县| 濮阳市| 密山市| 永吉县| 顺平县| 都兰县| 马尔康县| 溧水县| 黔西县| 灵璧县| 宝鸡市| 霍山县| 海口市| 镇赉县| 夏邑县| SHOW| 宜城市| 黄大仙区| 辉县市| 石渠县| 曲麻莱县| 理塘县| 香河县| 阆中市| 宜兰县| 博野县| 锦州市| 周口市| 台江县| 凤城市| 东阳市| 萍乡市| 大邑县| 离岛区| 馆陶县| 乐陵市| 桂东县| 枣阳市|