The Government's Weak Response To Stormzy's Brits Performance

Stormzy not only won two of the biggest gongs at Wednesday night's Brit Awards, he also stole the show with a blistering attack on Theresa May over her handling of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, forcing the government to respond on Thursday morning.

After picking up the award for Best British Male and Best British Album for Gang Signs and Prayer, the south London MC closed the show with a powerful, politically-charged performance that included a question for the Prime Minister.

"Yo, Theresa May where's that money for Grenfell? What you thought we just forgot about Grenfell?," he asked. "You criminals and you got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, we should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.”

Stormzy was one of the artists who took part in a charity single to raise money for the survivors of the fire which killed 71 people in June 2017 and is a vocal supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who congratulated the grime artist on Twitter in a tweet that included '#Grenfell'. "What a powerful performance," he wrote.

Number 10 addressed Stormzy's performance on Thursday morning, but the response was lacking. An official spokesman said the Prime Minister had not seen Stormzy's performance herself, but that the government was "absolutely committed" to supporting the victims, as reported by ITV News. The spokesperson added there were no plans for the pair to meet.

"The Prime Minister has been very clear that Grenfell was an unimaginable tragedy that should never have happened and must never happen again," the spokesman said. "She's determined that the public inquiry will discover not just what went wrong but why the voices of the people of Grenfell were ignored over so many years.

"In terms of support for the people affected by this tragedy, more than £58 million has been committed."

During Stormzy's freestyle rap he also slammed the Daily Mail, saying the newspaper could “suck my...” – leaving viewers to fill in the blank. He also praised fellow Brits, the model Jourdan Dunn and Oscar-nominated actor Daniel Kaluuya, and gave a shoutout to the fact that he was “raised up by black girl magic”.

Labour MP David Lammy, a prominent campaigner on behalf of Grenfell victims, congratulated Stormzy for "changing the game", "giving a voice to a generation of young people living in our inner cities", and "speaking truth to power" with his performance.

Earlier on in the ceremony, Liam Gallagher gave a heartbreaking rendition of Oasis' "Live Forever", which was dedicated to the 22 victims of last year's Manchester terror attack. Ariana Grande was originally due to perform in the slot but had to pull out due to illness.

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