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A councillor has refused to apologise after being accused of making “deeply inappropriate” remarks about the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Labour’s Jordan Blyth said Grenfell victims were “not respectable sorts of citizens” during a special session of Middlesbrough Council held on Wednesday.

He went on to label residents of the 24-storey block, in which 80 people died, as the “lowest rungs of society” who were most likely “immigrants”.

Clarifying his comments today, the 22-year-old said he had phrased his comments badly and did not intend to cause offence.

Cllr Blyth said he was trying to criticise the Conservative Government’s failure to listen to working class people who live in tower blocks.

But his speech was met with boos and hisses from around the council chamber - and one rival has called for Cllr Blyth to apologise.

Newly-elected Conservative Jacob Young said the remarks brought “shame” on him, his party and Teesside.

He said: “Whatever their background or current situation, these people are victims of an awful tragedy.

“It should not matter whether he considers them to be respectable or whether they are migrants – they are our fellow human beings.

“The mothers and fathers, children and family members, friends and colleagues who died are all equally deserving of our respect, regardless of the socioeconomic labels people choose to put on them.”

When contacted by The Gazette, Cllr Blyth, who appeared on a Middlesbrough Town Hall panel with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, said he phrased his comments “extraordinarily badly” in the “heat of the moment”.

But he refused to say sorry, saying: “I don’t believe I have anything to apologise for.”

(Image: Ian McIntyre)

The Kader ward councillor said: “I didn’t mean to cause any offence to them. The only people I don’t mind causing offence to are the Tories who are responsible.”

He added: “I am outraged that the Government has allowed the tragedy to happen by cutting regulation and, as a result, making this tragedy possible to happen in the first place.

“I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the residents of Grenfell Tower. What they went through is unimaginable.”

His comments were made during an extraordinary meeting called to coordinate Middlesbrough Council’s response to the tragedy.

Speaking during the debate he said: “It is because of government deregulation and government cutting red tape and health and safety that tower blocks have been covered in essentially rocket fuel.”

He added: “People lived in those houses in Grenfell. They were not wealthy, they were not well-heeled, they were not your typical respectable sorts of citizen if you like.

“They were most likely low income. They were most likely immigrants. They were most likely from the lowest rungs of society.”

:: The full meeting can be viewed on the council's YouTube channel here .