Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 68

Online anonymity has turned a global village into a lynch mob | Simon Jenkins

We don’t actually know who is behind the antisemitic abuse on social media groups associated with the Labour party. We must unmask them

There is something strange in Labour’s antisemitism row. The abuse described by Labour MPs in the Commons on Tuesday was awful. Attacks on anyone on grounds of their race or religion are indefensible. Jeremy Corbyn’s support for certain lobbyists (and murals) indicates a serious lack of judgment, but being anti-Israel does not make him antisemitic, a...

Why high streets don't need shops to survive | Simon Jenkins

Shoe shops and banks may be dying out but the ‘experience economy’ offers a future for town centres. They must grasp it

Is it really goodbye shop? This has been another terrible month for retailing. Monday’s figures show March footfall down 6% on last year, and almost 9% down in high streets. Clothing is in freefall, down 20%. My two local high streets – one rich, one poor – both look as if they’ve been hit by the plague, with naked windows pockmarked by “For Sale...

High streets put the heart into cities. The web can’t compete with that | Simon Jenkins

Shoe shops and banks may be dying out but the ‘experience economy’ offers a future for town centres. They must grasp it

Is it really goodbye shop? This has been another terrible month for retailing. Monday’s figures show March footfall down 6% on last year, and almost 9% down in high streets. Clothing is in freefall, down 20%. My two local high streets – one rich, one poor – both look as if they’ve been hit by the plague, with naked windows pockmarked by “For Sale...

Look at Syria, and you can see all the elements that have led to world wars | Simon Jenkins

It’s hard to believe the west’s leaders are letting this escalate. Have we learned nothing from history?

What on earth are we doing? I have not heard a single expert on Syria explain how dropping missiles on that country will advance the cause of peace or lead its dictator, Bashar al-Assad, to back down. It will merely destroy buildings and probably kill people. It is pure populism, reflected in the hot-and-cold rhetoric of Trump’s increasingly whimsical tweets. Heaven forbid that British poli...

Only Assad’s victory will end Syria’s civil war. The west can do nothing | Simon Jenkins

The chemical attack in Douma was horrific. But western military intervention would only prolong Syria’s suffering

The only option now open to the west in Syria is whether or not to make it worse. No amount of grandstanding, feelgood rhetoric or intermittent bombing is going to impede the Assad regime’s path to victory in its civil war. It must now be obvious that every ounce of aid given by the west to the Syrian opposition since 2011 has just prolonged that country’s agony. Seven years ago, w...

Resist the calls for ‘solutions’ to London’s murder surge | Simon Jenkins

Any upturn in the crime rate is a tragedy. But beware those who offer quick-fixes or New York-inspired crackdowns

An intruder is stabbed to death during a burglary in London’s Hither Green. Across town in Hackney, two men are killed by stabbing. The killings sent London’s 2018 death tally to 50, up by a half on the same period last year. Britain is facing a “murder crisis”. Or is it facing a crisis in the journalism – and politics – of statistics?

Personal tragedies are hard not to report. Carn...

The UK justice system is in meltdown. When will the government act? | Simon Jenkins

Rising violence, a creaking court and prison system – drastic cuts have brought us to this crisis. They must be reconsidered

Britain’s criminal justice system is in disarray. The head of the crown prosecution service, Alison Saunders, is resigning amid rows over failed convictions. The head of the Parole Board has been forced to resign over the Worboys case. London’s murder rate has overtaken New York’s, with fatal stabbings in Britain at their highest level since 2010. Prison violence and sui...

Happy Easter to you. Now let’s nationalise our churches | Simon Jenkins

Church buildings should revert to places of congregation, comfort and enterprise – through liberation from the church

Lonely this Easter, depressed, in need of company or just escaping Facebook tyranny? Why not go to church? Or rather go not to church but to “a church”, one where no one preaches or expects you to pray? The number of beautiful but deserted churches in England is turning from an Anglican anguish into a national scandal. There are 16,000 Church of England churches in England alon...

It’s just not cricket. But ball-tampering is what you’d expect in today’s world | Simon Jenkins

If we cannot trust each other in sport, we can hardly put our faith in an election result – or a president

So sportsmen cheat. Big deal. Sometimes they get caught. Bad luck. Sometimes they cheat blatantly and are accused of “stupidity”. Australians used to pride themselves on the belligerence of their cricketers, as against the genteel northern hemisphere’s “sportsmanship”. What seems to have hurt most in the latest ball-tampering scandal is not the tampering but the idiocy. From booing terrac...

At last, good news on Brexit: Britain is heading for Norway | Simon Jenkins

Theresa May’s transition deal hints at the best option: remaining in the single market – plus the customs union

Norway here we come. This is the good news on the Brexit front. It will take two years. The voyage will be stormy and the destination messy. But plus-or-minus Norway offers the only sensible way for Britain through the Brexit morass. Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer agree. Nick Clegg agrees. Most of the cabinet and the Tories’ remainers publicly or privately agree. So do those...