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Grenfell Tower judge is being subjected to a politically-motivated witch hunt, his allies said yesterday, as
a Labour MP demanded he be replaced by someone “who understands human beings”.
Friends of
Sir Martin Moore-Bick have been taken aback by the sustained attacks on him since his appointment as Grenfell inquiry chairman just five days ago.
They point out that Emma Dent Coad, the Labour MP for Kensington, who called on him to resign yesterday on the grounds he is a ‘technocrat’ with a lack of understanding of ‘human beings’ has never even met the judge.
Chris Williamson, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s most loyal lieutenants who was appointed shadow fire minister on Monday, also demanded Sir Martin quit as chairman, insisting his inquiry be far wider-reaching.
But Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, accused Mr Corbyn of trying to make political gain from the tragedy. “I’m afraid that Jeremy Corbyn has treated this like a bit of political football and that is a shame,” Mr Javid Channel 4 News.
The clamour for Sir Martin to resign came as the Government admitted just nine families had been rehoused since the fire. Many had been offered unsuitable new accommodation outside of Kensington and in one case in a tower block but that had also been refused.
Justice4Grenfell, a campaign group set up in the immediate aftermath of the fire, wrote to Theresa May last night saying it was
withdrawing its support for the public inquiry until Sir Martin was removed from his post.
The group was set up by local campaigners, including a veteran activist Ismahil Blagrove who called for a revolution in the wake of the fire and Sue Caro, a former BBC diversity manager and a staunch Corbyn supporter, who posted on Twitter that Adolf Hitler was “inspired by US racist laws”, which explains America’s ‘guilty conscience and support for Israel”.
None of the Justice4Grenfell’s key organisers was a resident in the high rise building in which at least 80 people perished although the group is keen to stress it is an umbrella organisation with widespread backing in the community.
Dominic Grieve QC, the former attorney general, said he was dismayed by the attacks on Sir Martin. “I find all this extraordinary,” he said, “There is overwhelming evidence of his competence in the course of his career and if someone of his standing is rejected it raises the question who in fact exists who could do the job.
“It has been suggested that he doesn’t have sufficient humanity to do this job but he is a human being like the rest of us and there is not a shred of evidence to support the view he doesn’t have the necessary qualities.”
A senior Tory source said: “This feels like a political witch hunt orchestrated by the left. Jeremy Corbyn has not called for the judge’s sacking but he is hardly slapping down his MPs either.”
One friend of Sir Martin said: “It is clear that some people regard the fire as not just a tragedy in itself but indicative of wider problems in society about the way people are housed and they want to use the fire as a catalyst to examine these issues.”
Another ally said: “I don’t know why Emma Dent Coad has criticised the judge. They have never met. I would say Martin is a normal human being like she is.
“Martin is anticipating this to be a rough ride and he is prepared for it and he is willing to get on with it. He wants to be judged by what he does in the inquiry.”
