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Closed Circuit: misdirected spotlight
The Sunday Times ’investigates’ Grenfell survivors and Dominic Raab (maybe) gets a promotion
It’s good to see the forensic eye of Fleet Street honing in on those responsible for the disaster at Grenfell Tower, and using the investigative sense of the country’s best journalist to expose the wrong-doing of… er… the victims of the fire and campaigners.
The Sunday Times this week published an “investigation” into Joe Delaney, a campaigner and resident who lived in Grenfell Walk – which neighbours the tower and was damaged and left without heating by the fire – looking at the amount of cash he’s been claiming for hotel accommodation and food.
The paper has previously slammed campaign group Justice 4 Grenfell for being left wing, and warning – along with many British news outlets including the Daily Mail – that the death count might have been higher than originally feared.
Closed Circuit feels The Sunday Times is shining its spotlight in the wrong direction with these stories.
If there’s one positive to come out of the housing minister merry-go-round it’s the ever refreshed opportunities for mickey-taking in Closed Circuit.
First we had Brandon Lewis’ endless triathlon preparation, then Gavin Barwell’s regular clowning around on social media and finally Alok Sharma’s… OK, Alok wasn’t around long enough to do anything funny but you get the drift.
Thankfully the latest occupant of the role, Dominic Raab, is providing a wealth of opportunities for minor diary column chuckles.
Last week, Mr Raab’s own department, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, got his job title wrong. In a tweet, the MoHoCoLoGo quoted “Dominic Raab – housing secretary”.
Mr Raab is in fact housing minister.
The housing secretary is his boss, Sajid Javid. Unless of course, he has been quietly promoted. If that’s the case, Closed Circuit apologises in advance for this fake news.
A quiz for Closed Circuit’s readers: can any of you tell us what the government’s homelessness taskforce has been doing since it was promised by government seven months ago?
- Working on a strategy to eliminate rough sleeping based on prevention and affordable housing
- Something else
If you answered ‘a’ then you have too much confidence in the government, and a limited understanding of the purpose of a sarcastic diary column.
The taskforce is, in fact, yet to have a meeting of any kind. Closed Circuit assumes the government has set up a WhatsApp group and all the other members are leaving its messages unread.
All this comes as the government has promised to cut rough sleeping in half by 2022 – a promise which it set out to meet by overseeing a 15% rise in 2017.
While ministers sit staring at their blue ticks, a friendly reminder from Closed Circuit: you can notify local support services online at streetlink.org.uk if you see someone sleeping rough. In this freezing weather you may save a life.
