Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 20

Prosecuting Donald Trump is right. But is it politically wise? | Simon Jenkins

Many voters back the ex-president despite – or perhaps because of – his alleged crimes. A trial might only entrench that support

The best reason for arraigning Donald Trump in New York this week is that he is guilty. It is possible that the jury might agree and he might go quietly to jail, thus being unable to return to the White House were he to be elected. That is a good reason, but it does not make it a wise one.

American justice is not political but it can be highly politicised. We won’t know ...

Prince Harry has every right to take on the Daily Mail. But is phone hacking yesterday’s problem? | Simon Jenkins

It was a scourge in the 90s and 00s. Now, though, what we need is new privacy laws to regulate the excesses of social media

Never did a stranger Magnificent Seven ride into town. It includes a royal prince, an ageing pop star, two B-movie film stars and a former Lib Dem MP. All were chosen as wounded heroes by the champions of privacy against the mighty Daily Mail. Heaven knows what this grievance-fest is costing but someone can afford it.

We all know tabloid newspapers in the 1990s and 2000s coul...

A tragic accident should not have landed Auriol Grey in prison. The UK justice system is stuck in the dark ages | Simon Jenkins

The UK’s obsession with jail time is counterproductive and cruel. There are better ways to deal with wrongdoing

Auriol Grey, who has cerebral palsy and lives in specially adapted accommodation, was walking along a footpath in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and was infuriated to see a bicycle coming towards her. She waved her arm at it, making the 77-year-old rider swerve, lose her balance and fall into the road, where she was hit by a passing car and died. An act of what might be called antisocial b...

A tragic accident should not have landed Auriol Grey in prison. Our justice system is stuck in the dark ages | Simon Jenkins

The UK’s obsession with jail time is counterproductive and cruel. There are better ways to deal with wrongdoing

Auriol Grey, who has cerebral palsy and lives in specially adapted accommodation, was walking along a footpath in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and was infuriated to see a bicycle coming towards her. She waved her arm at it, making the 77-year-old rider swerve, lose her balance and fall into the road, where she was hit by a passing car and died. An act of what might be called antisocial b...

The people of Northern Ireland want their assembly back. The DUP must not be allowed to block that | Simon Jenkins

A health and cost of living crisis is causing real problems that must be addressed. Democracy cannot be hamstrung any longer

Nothing in Boris Johnson’s post-Downing Street antics has been more cynical than his dodging from the privileges committee hearing on Wednesday to vote against Rishi Sunak’s Windsor framework. That reform was a hard-won attempt to rescue and reorder Johnson’s own hard-Brexit shambles. The least he could do was say thank you and shut up.

Fleeing to Northern Ireland’s extremis...

Of course Boris Johnson is guilty of misleading parliament – stand by for another Tory civil war | Simon Jenkins

Just when there are more important things to be debated, it appears the Commons will again be distracted by party feuds

They fiddle while Rome burns. Forget Ukraine, the Brexit protocol or asylum seekers in Rwanda. What really has MPs worked up this week is whether Boris Johnson lied to them. They may as well ask, “Does he breathe?”

It has already taken nearly three years for the House of Commons to call the former prime minister to account for holding parties during lockdown. The Metropolitan pol...

Instead of killing HS2 bit by bit, ministers should just put it out of its misery | Simon Jenkins

The latest delays to this colossal folly offer a golden opportunity to cry halt – and use railway money where it’s really needed

It is death by gangrene. No government seems to have the guts to kill HS2, Britain’s biggest and craziest infrastructure project, so each merely lops off another limb. In 2021, it was Leeds. Now the opening of the Birmingham-to-Manchester and Acton-to-Euston lines has been delayed.

This railway is a southern project on which the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is blowing a stag...

Ministers are staging another Brexit coup – and only the House of Lords can save us | Simon Jenkins

The retained EU law bill is an outrageously undemocratic attempt to transfer law-making powers from parliament to Whitehall

The House of Lords may be doomed, so reformers say, but it has a last chance to redeem itself. It is currently being asked to approve a Boris Johnson legacy, the retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill. This bill is so outrageously undemocratic that it would have been flushed down the loo by any parliament before the gutless one that Johnson ushered in after the 2019 el...

A (partial) defence of Matt Hancock: leaders must be free to discuss policy in private | Simon Jenkins

His WhatsApp messages look embarrassing and chaotic, but such leaks could do genuine harm to political debate

Matt Hancock may be a complete idiot, but even idiots have rights. As the former health secretary charts his uncertain retreat from politics, he must suffer piles of ordure heaped on his head. Someone leaks CCTV footage of an office embrace to the Sun. Then his ghostwriter breaks a non-disclosure agreement not to divulge his private messages. Cue intense embarrassment to the image and rep...

Britain’s defence policy is not British, not defensive and not even a policy. It’s a mess | Simon Jenkins

There are no easy answers to what Putin’s war means for British defence. But mindlessly spending more and more won’t cut it

One tank that is not on its way to Ukraine is Britain’s latest super-tank, the Ajax. It has been more than 10 years in the planning and £5.5bn in the building, but it doesn’t work. Its tracks suffer from speed bumps and its interior keeps injuring its drivers. If I were the god Ajax, I would sue for my reputation.

It is nearly a quarter-century since Tony Blair unveiled his d...