Put heinous crime top of the agenda

DOMESTIC violence is at a five-year high. The latest stats show that last year in England and Wales, 173 people were killed by domestic violence.

The trend is getting worse. But still there is a refusal across the board to acknowledge the current state of affairs.

Knife crime dominates the headlines. Of course, that is a terrible scourge - all crime is.

But why is it that we can see a moral panic developing around that phenomenon, while every couple of days, without fanfare, someone else is killed by their partner, ex-partner or relative? There are lots of theories.

That these are difficult crimes to quantify, that they are somehow taboo, that the victims are overwhelmingly women and thus treated differently by various agencies. Perhaps there is a debate about the language we use. Maybe “domestic violence” is not stark enough to describe these sickening events.

But this horrific problem needs addressing urgently.

A domestic violence bill – designed to protect victims and save lives – has been put on the back burner. If ever there was a more damning illustration of the priorities of this government, this is it.

Silly posturing and pointless games have suspended Parliament. That means vital legislation on hold. Because of this, people are going to die.

One of the previous PM’S final acts was to award a knighthood to a convicted wife-beater. The current PM has a great line in sexist banter. They are not setting any kind of example. These heinous crimes must be dealt with in the most severe manner.

And rather than treating this as a game or a sideshow, our government should be forcing it to the top of the agenda.