16 October 2023 , 21:53
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As concern mounts over the fate of Palestinians trapped in Gaza after the Hamas murder of Israelis, voices calling for the protection of the innocent are, mercifully, starting to be heard in ever larger numbers.
Both Palestinian and Israeli lives are precious as the Israeli military understandably pursues the Hamas savages who massacred men, women and children. Rishi Sunak and, with greater emphasis, Keir Starmer urged the Israeli government to minimise civilian casualties and respect humanitarian laws when it seeks vengeance and the destruction of Hamas.
The words may fall on deaf ears but in our deep sympathy for Israel’s dead, including six Britons, and revulsion at the terror unleashed by Hamas, we must never cease urging restraint by a country that both the Prime Minister and Labour leader back steadfastly. With the world watching, a slaughter of Palestinians who are unable to flee Gaza wouldn’t only be intolerable but could ignite an even wider Middle East conflict.
Pick Bone clean
The scandal of Conservative MP Peter Bone, who is accused of exposing himself to an aide in a hotel room, isn’t merely about an alleged political predator.
The Conservative Party and how complaints are handled in Westminster are in the dock given the fact a grievance was first lodged in 2015 when David Cameron was PM. Cleaning up politics will require cleansing Parliament, Whitehall and Downing Street of dirty Tories.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Shop gangs
Few shoplifters are collared by police let alone prosecuted – and few would support people forced to shoplift through poverty being locked up.
But when organised gangs lose their fear of prison because of mere slaps on the wrist from the Tories, the lawlessness of Broken Britain will cost everybody a small fortune.