Peter Rhodes on secrets, pot holes and a warning of slavery in Whitehall
By coincidence, news reports of English villages being overwhelmed by tourists appear in the same week as the Government demands that local councils disclose how many pot holes they have repaired. I am reminded of the old tale of an American tourist telling a friend that he had just driven through five English villages, all called Loose Chippings.
Discover a link to slavery 300 years ago and everyone rushes to claim the moral high ground and demand compensation. But discover a link to slavery that's happening here and now and it seems no-one gives a damn. It is alleged that some materials used in solar panels are produced by forced labour in China. As the Labour MP Sarah Champion warns: “The public deserves a guarantee that their money won’t be used to fund human rights abuses”. The House of Lords urged a ban on procuring such stuff if there was “credible evidence of modern slavery.” Our Government's response is to pressure all its MPs to vote against such a ban. Keir Starmer may approve but Keir Hardy must be spinning in his grave.
A supposedly top-secret discussion concerning US air raids on Houthi rebels ends up in the address box of an American journalist. But if this clear and present breach of security is alarming, so is the language used in texts by Trump's finest, not to mention those damn silly emojis showing an American flag, fire and a fist. How old are these people, about 14?
One the same day the above story broke, we had another dazzling display of American diplomatic wizardry when Trump's mid-East envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Putin is “operating in good faith.” Which bit of invading a neighbouring country, sending hundreds of thousands of your own soldiers to slaughter and lobbing ballistic missiles into housing estates doesn't Mr Witkoff get?
The Home Office minister Jess Phillips warns us of a "really concerning" rise in sexual violence among teenage pupils that politicians must take seriously. So here's a serious suggestion. Why don't we try educating boys in boys' schools and girls in girls' schools?
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