There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Labour's attack ads bang the Tory drum of hatred and division
When politicians are demonising Asian men, the rest of us must stand strong against dog-whistle politics, writes Claudia Webbe MP
Gutter politics: Sir Keir Starmer
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
LAST week saw the shameful scene of Labour publishing an attack ad that claimed that Rishi Sunak does not care about protecting children or jailing paedophiles. The ad appalled many, including Labour supporters — such behaviour is expected from the Tories but Labour is meant to be better. The ad was rightly and heavily criticised as dirty politics that exploited abused children.
It was also inaccurate and misleading. The Tories are an appalling party of government, but sentences are decided by the courts, not by Sunak — and the sentencing guidelines were not written in the short period since he took over as Prime Minister. As former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal put it: “There are a thousand reasons to attack the Tories on a broken criminal justice system better than one that Rishi Sunak doesn’t control.”
The Labour campaign tweet was also hypocritical, as Keir Starmer as director of public prosecutions had played a central role in setting sentencing recommendations.
More from this author
The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Israel’s monopolisation of ‘aid’ to slaughter Palestinians means there is no other option: direct international intervention now, says CLAUDIA WEBBE
With missiles penetrating the air defences to strike Haifa and Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s transparent appeal to Trump demonstrates the Israeli underestimation of Iranian retaliation, and they are desperate to drag their allies in, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Starmer should not need to wait for the High Court’s decision on F-35 parts in order to do the right thing, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE
