Jacob Rees-Mogg apologises for his Grenfell fire remarks

Jacob Rees-Mogg was doing the broadcast round for the Tories this morning, to discuss the Conservative party’s plans for Brexit and the country, as the general election campaign gains pace. But instead of singing the government’s praises, the Leader of the Commons instead ended up being embroiled in a row about the Grenfell fire disaster after he appeared on LBC with Nick Ferrari.

Asked about the fire, and in particular whether racism or class were to blame for making the disaster worse, the MP began by drawing attention to the cladding itself, and criticised the ‘stay put’ policy of the London Fire Brigade, which meant people stayed in their homes rather than flee the tower block. But Mogg then went further when he appeared to suggest the residents themselves should have left the building anyway:

‘If you just ignore what you’re told and leave, you’re are so much safer. And I think if either of us were in a fire, whatever the fire brigade said, we would leave the burning building.