WATCH: John McDonnell stands by claim Grenfell fire victims were ‘murdered’

Agnes Chambre

John McDonnell has insisted he has no regrets at claiming the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were "murdered by political decisions”.



The Shadow Chancellor sparked controversy when he initially made the comments at last month's Glastonbury festival.

Labour frontbenchers were among those who distanced themselves from the remarks.

But despite the furore, Mr McDonnell today said he stood by the comments - and insisted politicians should be held account for what happened.

Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said: "There's a long history in this country of the concept of social murder where decisions are made with no regard to the consequences of that and as a result of that, people have suffered.

“That's what's happened here and I'm angry. I believe social murder has occurred in this instance and I believe that people should be held accountable to that.”

He added: "Political decisions were made which resulted in the deaths of these people, that's a scandal.

“No, I don't regret it. I was extremely angry with what went on and I'm a West London MP, this site is not far from [my constituency].

“I believe the politicians have to be held to account, I remain angry at how many people have lost their lives as a result of political decisions that have been made over years.”

Watch Mr McDonnell's comments here:

.@johnmcdonnellMP says he does not regret saying Grenfell tower victims were "murdered by political decisions" #marr pic.twitter.com/GJe0E3rVVq — The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) 16 July 2017

But Chancellor Philip Hammond said Mr McDonnell's latest comments were "a disgraceful suggestion, in line with many things he has said over the years".