Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 14

The real reason Sunak and Braverman have criticised Mark Rowley? To boost their profiles | Simon Jenkins

In their different ways, the prime minister and the home secretary clearly just wanted to be seen to be acting tough

How to police a London demonstration should not be a political decision, whether for the prime minister, the home secretary or even an elected mayor. It is a decision for the police commissioner. The rally and march in London on Saturday is to protest against the stance of the government and the opposition on the Israel-Hamas war and to call for a ceasefire.

Staging it on the weeken...

We cannot turn away from suffering, but I can no longer watch the news coverage from Israel and Gaza | Simon Jenkins

Right now we have tabloid television, not broadcast news, offering a ghoulish voyeurism and simplified spectacle

For the first time in my adult life I cannot watch – or read – the news. Its presentation makes me profoundly upset. For over a week I have not read, heard or watched the news from Israel/Palestine. I am afraid doing this has made me feel better. I have asked around and many other people are doing the same.

I would normally consider it shocking to not know what is going on elsewhere in ...

This pantomime in Paddington is no way to right the wrongs of the Covid pandemic | Simon Jenkins

The search for blame rather than truth at the inquiry is fuelling a theatre of humiliation

The story of the Covid inquiry is becoming clear. The plot has a useless clown called Boris Johnson who gains access to Downing Street with his chums, ignores scientists and lets thousands die. A foul-mouthed mob of beta-politicians and officials fight tooth and nail against a star villain, Dominic Cummings. There is a background chorus of a delighted media and weeping victims. It is all yours for three ye...

There is a route out of this Israel-Gaza hell – an intermediary will be crucial to plot it out | Simon Jenkins

No one should be squeamish about a state such as Qatar acting as a broker and bringing Hamas to the table

The BBC reporter was aggressive. How could Qatar possibly play host to representatives of Hamas during the present Israel/Gaza conflict? The Qatari official patiently explained that his country had long acted as an intermediary. It organised prisoner swaps, humanitarian aid and peace initiatives. It negotiated the recent Israeli and US hostage returns. It had mediated conflicts in Afghanistan...

Subpostmasters betrayed, contaminated blood victims forgotten: why is Britain so bad at righting wrongs? | Simon Jenkins

Interminable public inquiries won’t give the victims of medical scandals and miscarriages of justice their lives back

Andrew Malkinson is sitting in a tent somewhere in Spain, released from jail after 17 years for a rape that he did not commit. After one rejected appeal and two unsuccessful reviews, he finally had his conviction overturned this summer after forensic testing linked another man to the crime. He is clearly entitled to compensation. This is capped in such cases at £1m, but Malkinson...

Rishi Sunak is fuelled by Fomo – so he postures in the Middle East like a latter-day Tony Blair | Simon Jenkins

The tragedy unfolding in Israel and Gaza demands serious humanitarian action, not this pointless showing off

Nothing eases pressure on a leader like a foreign trip. Thatcher took herself to Paris the day before her downfall. Tony Blair took himself to Moscow, Delhi and Islamabad before invading Afghanistan. The floundering Boris Johnson could not stay away from Ukraine. Last week, assailed by two byelection defeats, Rishi Sunak sought consolation on the red carpets of Riyadh, Cairo and Tel Aviv.

T...

Why the collapse of Britain’s prison system is good news | Simon Jenkins

Our overflowing jails are academies of crime and dens of violence. A less punitive approach could break this harmful cycle

Britain’s prison system is collapsing and Britain’s penal policy with it. This is good news. Both are lost in the back alleys of social policy. This is not the result of soaring crime but of mindless populism, which equates more prisons with more votes.

Britain’s prison population is now approaching capacity at 88,016. This has tripled since 1960 and is at an all-time record. ...

Labour’s supposedly bold ‘new towns’ idea has been tried before. And it failed | Simon Jenkins

These vast sums should be spent improving our ‘second-tier’ cities – not on costly, carbon-guzzling developments in the rural south

Keir Starmer’s speech to the Labour party conference was good. It was that of an expectant prime minister, of sonorous phrases and few promises. Then came two words that fell flat: new towns. There would be “Labour new towns”, whatever they are, referred to in later briefing as in the south, on the “M1 corridor”, brooking no local opposition and “the equivalent of fi...

Labour’s plan for ‘the builders not the blockers’ is a capitulation to developers | Simon Jenkins

Of course Britain needs renewable energy infrastructure and more houses. But Rachel Reeves has laid out a ruinous path

A Labour government would be “for the builders not the blockers”. So Rachel Reeves told the Labour conference today. It went down well. The shadow chancellor’s attack on the “blockers” was specific. Not only did she give not an inch to the blocking cause, she offered a reward of “something in return” to nimbys who agree to turn builder. In exchange for not objecting to a wind tur...

Rishi Sunak’s new A-level exam is the HS2 of educational reform: it’ll never happen | Simon Jenkins

The rotten system is crying out for a bipartisan inquiry, not a last-minute fudge like the ‘Advanced British Standard’

Guess which policy in Rishi Sunak’s busy conference speech will never see the light of day. The answer is the “Advanced British Standard”, the exhilaratingly titled successor to the A-level. He promises it will offer more exams, more classroom time, more maths, £600m in extra cost and not arrive for 10 years. It is the HS2 of educational reform.

The reason it will disappear is bec...