Grenfell Shows Tories Are 'Not Human Beings', Says Kensington Labour Activist

'The Conservatives cause nothing but destruction and pain.'

The Tory Government are “not human beings” and “need to be removed” from office, a woman grief-stricken by the Grenfell Tower fire has said. 

Portia Thaxter, a Labour member from Kensington, made an impassioned speech at the party conference in Brighton, telling delegates she lost four friends in the blaze on June 14. 

Laying the blame squarely at the door of the “procedures and methodologies”of Government, she said the UK had a “responsibility and a duty” to vote out Theresa May’s administration. 

She said: “As a resident of the Kensington and Chelsea for 30 years, I can boldly stand here and say that the Conservatives cause nothing but destruction and pain to our residents and they need to be removed.”

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Portia Thaxter at the Labour Party conference in Brighton
Portia Thaxter

She went on: “The face and complexion of our society has changed and it is out duty to make sure it adapts and caters for all our citizens, not just a subsection of it, and I am by no means a singular voice. 

″The Conservative Government needs to be removed and I would urge every UK citizen to vote them out cause they don’t have no use. 

 “They are not human beings. They need to leave 10 Downing Street.” 

Thaxter said survivors, many of whom are still living in hotels, were being treated with contempt by ministers, adding: “This brutal inhumane treatment emerged from the inequality that the ethnic minorities face within our society.”

She said: “The Grenfell massacre affected the entire community and still nothing has been done. 

“The trauma that the community faced watching their friends and family die unnecessarily is still lingering too.”

She added: “We all have a responsibility to ensure that society learns from this lesson and that we can demonstrate that by our actions and attitudes to empower the community that are suffering.”