How appalling that volunteer poppy sellers now need to be guaranteed police protection against thugs
Poppy shock
WHAT have we come to?
How appalling that volunteer poppy sellers doing an unimpeachable job for our war heroes now need to be guaranteed police protection against thugs.
Naturally we welcome Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s vow to keep pro-Palestine crowds out of the stations where they have staged sit-ins.
And that police will shield any Royal British Legion collectors from their aggression.
But none of it should be necessary.
It says much about the moral rot among Islamists and hard-left morons that they see poppies as a shameful symbol of Western military aggression.
They commemorate brave men and women who died defending Britain against tyranny and keeping us free.
It is great to see more sellers return. And we hope Mr Harper has reassured would-be volunteers for Saturday.
Because without them the Legion’s appeal this year may be badly hit.
That will be an undeserved victory for a deeply disrespectful mob.
Copping flak
ANYONE paying attention can see our police’s double-standards over protests.
From dancing with Extinction Rebellion, joking with Just Stop Oil and taking the knee at Black Lives Matter marches during Covid, to far more aggressive displays at anti-lockdown protests or even the Sarah Everard vigil.
More recently they have largely turned a deaf ear to the explosion of racism from a pro-Hamas hardcore, causing fear among Britain’s Jews.
There is a suspicion they no longer police “without fear or favour”. That they go easier on more fashionable causes.
But pointing that out is the job of campaigners and commentators, not Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
She is in charge. She has the power to read police chiefs the riot act. Instead she hit out in The Times, giving the impression she has no control of events.
That, plus the squabble it has ignited with No10, have been a gift for Labour and its broadcast media friends.
They are now able to sideline their party’s own deep splits over Gaza…
And pretend Ms Braverman’s bluntness is the cause of our unrest, not the terrifying anti-Semitism spewing from the Left.
Pump pirates
THE case for a Pumpwatch regulator with powers to hammer profiteers is now overwhelming. Why is it not already in place?
The latest Competition and Markets Authority report finds yet again that wholesale fuel costs have fallen but pump prices remain high.
Profit margins are still far higher than they once were. Which proves, the RAC says, that “major retailers cannot be trusted” and must be forced to lower prices by a watchdog with teeth.
We couldn’t agree more. Where is it?