I never thought that I would think, let alone write, that our sleepy, tolerant and laid back little island is sleep walking into becoming a totalitarian state. You probably think that I am exaggerating to prove some obscure political point. I wish that I was.
Let’s look at the evidence. Starmer is a prisoner of the left. He stands for nothing, believes in nothing and his only workable policy is based on the primal urge to survive. His human shield is Rachael Reeves. Weak, mind bogglingly incompetent, someone who doesn’t understand how the economy or politics works. A disaster not waiting to happen. We live in its rubble already as small businesses close, unemployment rises and the striving many find themselves paying for the feckless and the work shy. If you thought that the horrors of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss damaged trust in politicians, Starmer and Reeves have destroyed it. What is so depressing is that this was all avoidable. For generations politicians of all parties had a formula to deal with pesky journalists asking questions about tax rises. Its was simple and effective. ‘We have no plans to increase’ whatever tax was being mentioned. The politician would then waffle on about aspirations to lower taxes. But it held no hostages to fortune. No room for accusations of lying or breaking manifesto promises.
So what is the fallout of the Starmer/Reeves death pact? They have thrust voters into the arms of the snake oil salesmen. It won’t last. It really won’t. They will have their last hurrah at the May elections. Farage and the Greens are just replacing the Lib Dems as a spittoon for disillusionment.
Starmer does what he does best. Wavers and then panics. He is postponing the unitary elections for a second time to avoid s wipe out by Reform and the Greens. The only time elections are postponed is during war time. This is dangerous, wrong and not British. Meat and drink for the snake oil salesmen.
Then there is the mad and cynical drive to give sixteen year olds the vote. I suppose nobody has warned Starmer that the courts have overriding principles in sentencing children. They are considered to be immature and make bad decisions. Which is probably why opinion polls predict that they will be voting Green. Oh, and they would be entitled to sit on juries.
Here is the next red light. In totalitarian regimes first they come for the juries. What is so utterly disgraceful about limiting jury trials which will lead to the eventual abolition, is that they work, they are trusted and they are cheap. It is the politics of the mad house to pretend that by judges sitting alone the back log caused by years of underfunding by all political parties will reduce unless the legislation is retrospective. I suspect that the Supreme Court will deal with that one.
The magistracy, as any pupil barrister will tell you, is the Wild West. That’s why there is no confidence in it, particularly by ethnic minorities. The jury system works because it is a totally random selection of people. I have been prosecuting and defending for nearly fifty years and and I can assure you that it is fair and that they rarely make catastrophic mistakes. Justice is done and seen to be done.
The trouble is that the left don’t trust ordinary people to make decisions. Government knows best. This will be the end of Lammy, not just because he is as thick as mince, but because he has convinced himself that this will help victims. This is despite the fact that he is on record as saying how juries are the cornerstone of our democracy. The way to reduce the back log is to allow more sitting days, appoint more judges amd make the criminal bar more attractive. There are about 2,300 of us left. We are stressed, overworked, prepare cases at weekends and late at night. Many are burning out. But Lammy doesn’t give a damn. He has convinced himself that he is on a crusade against the enemies of the people; the judges, barristers and solicitors. And the Ministry of Justice? They have never been friends of justice. They are a nest of vipers and a nursery of traitors. Do you remember how they persuaded the hopeless Chris Graying to try and destroy the criminal bar and defence work and put it in the hands of the likes of Tesco and the Co-op? They nearly succeeded. People like me will man the barricades to stop the destruction of a system, when properly funded, is the envy of the world.
But Starmer has a cunning plan. He intends to flood the House of Lords with his cronies. One source was quoted in the Times today that Starmer doesn’t want Labour peers to grow consciences about eroding juries.
Now do you think that I am wrong about sleep walking into a totalitarian state?
But there is hope. Kemi Badenoch has found her voice. I always knew she would. Feisty, funny, authentic and taking no prisoners. Even mutinous MPs are beginning to realise they they made the correct choice. Like all weak men Starmer hates having the piss taken out of him. And every Wednesday the laughter gets louder. Poor little Rob will be crying into his Cheerios. Would someone please tell the poor dear that the concept of night courts are quite insane as there would be no people prepared to take part in them?
And a message to all those failed Tories who have jumped onto the Farage bandwagon. Good riddance. When the polls begin to move and you want to save your own miserable skins you will be as welcome as a rat sandwich.