Kelly’s Eye
I LEARNED long ago that life is far too precious to waste watching Newsnight (there’s more genuine debate on The Masked Singer). But after being alerted to an incredulity-defying section of the BBC Two programme last week, I’ve come to realise the latter show – which last week revealed a well-known TV presenter to be masquerading as a boiled egg – is more anchored in reality too.
The Newsnight item concerned the horrific corrosive substance attack on a mother and two young children in London, and featured Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, in whose constituency the crime took place, and Caroline Nokes MP, the sort of Conservative who makes Ed Davey sound like Nigel Farage.
Neither detained themselves for long on the attack suspect Abdul Ezedi being granted asylum on his third attempt despite being convicted of two sex offences.
Worse than that, Ribeiro-Addy actually denied that his asylum status was even the issue, while Nokes preferred to concentrate on supposed “micro-aggressions” in society rather than the chilling enormity of the aggression just perpetrated in Clapham.The wilful refusal of our political leaders to see any link between an immigration policy that effectively allows anyone in and the growing violent threat to our society was further reflected by Tory MP Mike Freer’s standing down from Parliament because of the vicious intimidation he’s faced for supporting Israel.
I’ve previously drawn attention here to how in the aftermath of MP David Amess’s murder at the hands of Islamist fanatic Ali Harbi Ali (who also targeted Freer), many in Parliament were more concerned about blaming his killing on people being rude to one another online.
Yet astonishingly, following Freer’s announcement, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle wittered on about wanting “a nicer and kinder politics within the chamber” – because of course honourable members behaving more decorously is the key to stopping future murderous fanatics.
It’s not so much that the elephant in the room’s being ignored. More that it’s now trampling everything underfoot while our leaders tut about it being down to the furniture’s design.