LBC has learned that Transport for London and the Met Police are working to protect Grenfell Tower from selfie-takers, as two million people pass through Notting Hill for the carnival this weekend.Wait, what?
Their work includes using barriers to block off streets around the site, with extra police officers in place to make sure only residents can access the area close to the tower, as well as preserving the many tributes which have been left out on railings and walls.
Locals tell us it’s to stop thousands of what they call ‘grief tourists’ from making detours during Carnival to get close to the building and take pictures and selfies.Now, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to do so but...it's a free country. And it's also one supposedly in 'austerity measures' (Ed: *hollow laughter*) isn't it?
So why can we apparently spend money on this sort of mawkish twaddle?
TfL, meanwhile, are doing even more. LBC’s been shown an email that shows they’ve started putting up barriers along the railway line at Latimer Road station, and will be keeping tubes on the platform for longer to obscure the view of the tower.So if your journey takes longer, you know why. Because we've lost all sense of proportion in this country.
There will also be automated messages at stations and on the trains between Hammersmith and Paddington, reminding people to move quickly when they get off at Latimer Road station, to be respectful and not take pictures of the ruins.When does Teresa May make her horse a consul?
H/T: @MaraudingWinger via Twitter
Yes I agree this is embarrassing. I can't see what legal right there is to stop people taking pictures of a building. I will actually be there outside Grenfell Tower tomorrow and I'll be interested to know what powers we will be using to stop selfies.
ReplyDeleteJaded
PS I hate doing Notting Hill and I can guarantee that I will not be the PC on the front page of Mondays Evening Standard dancing with the "yoof".
Would it not be simpler and cheaper to just make announcments or put up a sign saying that anyone taking a selfie will be shot?
ReplyDeleteI've never taken a selfie in my life and never dreamed I would ever want to.
ReplyDeleteBut now...
If only Caligula had invaded Britain and taken over. How different it might have been.
ReplyDeleteJust give all the "survivors" a million quid each and tell them to fuck off back to where they came from then dynamite the block, it would be cheaper and less hassle in the long run.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there should be a 'Grenfell Tower Day' when all us guilty ones wear sack-cloth and ashes and fast for 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteIt's what Princess Di would have wanted....
ReplyDelete"PS I hate doing Notting Hill and I can guarantee that I will not be the PC on the front page of Mondays Evening Standard dancing with the "yoof"."
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that. Sadly, there's always some who want their face on the news.. *sighs*
"Would it not be simpler and cheaper to just make announcments or put up a sign saying that anyone taking a selfie will be shot?"
There's ALWAYS a danger of that during Carnival, isn't there? ;)
"If only Caligula had invaded Britain and taken over. How different it might have been."
Less curry, more pasta?
"Just give all the "survivors" a million quid each and tell them to fuck off back to where they came from..."
And have another 20 tower blacks catch fire..?
"It's what Princess Di would have wanted...."
SNORK!
NH update. Police have no powers to stop people taking pictures of the Tower-as I suspected but we were asked to "persuade the public not to take pictures out of respect". Not me mate. Crack on.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside a group of residents had set up a memorial and sat next to it all day getting sympathy from passers-by. Call me cynical but they are going to be "professional mourners"-state funded no doubt. Shades of Hillsborough.
Jaded.
'Not me mate. Crack on.'
ReplyDeleteAfter 29 years of plod 'service', a belated pledge to parade a soupçon of integrity and grow a pair, WC Jaded? Awww...bless.
Thanks Melvin so kind. If you ever need a character reference then call me. My number is 101.
ReplyDeleteJaded
Should an unforeseeable occasion arise when I have need of your services and you are able to write anything worth more than the obligatory 15p investment on a 101 call, I will bear the offer in mind, WC Jaded.
ReplyDelete