A survivor of the 2017 Grenfell tower fire which killed 72 people has hit out at Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after he claimed the victims lacked ‘common sense’.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC, Rees-Mogg said: “I think if either of us were in a fire, whatever the fire brigade said, we would leave the burning building. It just seems the common sense thing to do.“
The MP has since apologised for his comments, but firefighters and survivors of the fire have still criticised the MP..
Natasha Elcock, who lived on the 15th floor and fortunately survived the fire, told James O’Brien on Tuesday that “the fire was inescapable”, and added Rees-Mogg has no idea what living in a tower block is like.
Elcock, who is the chair of the Grenfell United survivors group, said: “It’s not as easy as saying leave. If everyone ‘used common sense’ and left everyone would have been trampled.
“I got down those steps in a matter of seconds, I was running for my life. At every opportunity I tried to get out that evening. There was no way.
“I am speechless – you don’t understand the level of infuriation.”
Elcock said her eight year old daughter is still in therapy to deal with the trauma she endured in the fire.
“Rees-Mogg absolutely cannot do anything to make amends,” she said.
“All we have heard is sorry. We need those responsible for the fire, who contributed to putting the material on the building, they need to be put to justice and held to account.
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