DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Time to rein in toxic political discourse
There is a temptation for Britain to look at the shocking assassination attempt on Donald Trump and consider it a uniquely American problem.
After all, we have no prevalent gun culture. Political discourse is many magnitudes more toxic there than here. But we have no room for complacency.
In the past decade alone, Britain has mourned the loss of two MPs – Sir David Amess and Jo Cox – both murdered by extremists.
And no British election has been more blighted by intimidation and harassment than this year’s campaign, mostly from male pro-Palestinian activists.
In recent years the crimson-faced intolerance for those possessing different opinions has made discussion not just difficult but, in some quarters, dangerous.
Trump's first appearance since a rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained injuries from an alleged bullet grazing his ear
A young woman threw a milkshake at Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, during a campaign event in Clacton-on-sea, Essex this June
Far too many people are becoming comfortable with political figures being assaulted in public, for instance milkshakes being hurled at Nigel Farage.
Such attacks are not edgy, or amusing. They deserve severe and exemplary punishments. For a functioning 21st century democracy, this is positively unhealthy.
It dissuades many from playing a part in politics. It behoves us all to rein in the demonising language that many consider an acceptable substitute for calm, reasoned debate.
Hampering growth should the copious leaks prove well-founded, Labour’s first King’s Speech will relentlessly focus on economic growth.
There will be new housebuilding targets and a radical overhaul of planning in favour of infrastructure development.
So far, so promising. But much of Sir Keir Starmer’s programme for government seems designed to kill off jobs, strangle business and thwart productivity.
Laws to extend workers’ rights, give the unions more power, pile red tape on to firms, and ban new oil and gas drilling will cause nothing but economic harm.
While the IMF is not always the most reliable of crystal-ball gazers, it is troubling for Labour that its growth forecast for next year remains unchanged at 1.5 per cent.
Sir Keir Starmer on July 5th, the day he delivered his first speech as Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, USA in July
The danger is that prosperity could be sacrificed on the altar of Labour’s socialist, statist instincts and Net Zero zealotry.
Dodgy migrant deal with 1,100 people in dinghies gatecrashing Britain since Labour took office, ministers warn we face a ‘difficult summer’.
So Sir Keir reportedly hopes to forge an alliance with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in a bid to tackle illegal migration.
But how will he persuade her to help? Offer to accept even more migrants, of course!
From what Sir Keir has let slip, the UK would receive perhaps tens of thousands of asylum seekers a year from the EU in exchange for Brussels taking back those who arrive here in small boats.
However, Europe would almost certainly send us many more migrants than it accepted in return.
Yes, such a deal might physically ‘stop the boats’. But it would hugely increase the asylum burden on our society
Cervical cancer is usually curable if detected early. The problem is that too often it is not, and nearly 1,000 women in Britain each year die.
Yet many miss smear tests because they can’t get an appointment or find the check-up uncomfortable. But there is now a new weapon.
Giving women testing kits to use at home substantially boosts screening. This will inevitably save lives – and spare more families the agony of losing mothers, wives and daughter.
