Another Past Is Impossible

I cannot imagine why anybody who had been the Director of Public Prosecutions would go into politics. I mean, there's having a back catalogue, and then there's that.

Yet the success of the Board of Deputies in forcing thousands of left-wingers to leave the Labour Party, or not to join it, or not to vote in the Leadership Election, is on the verge of handing that Leadership, via the crucial second preference votes, to Keir Starmer.

Starmer declined to press further charges against John Worboys. He promised to send "benefit cheats" to prison for 10 years; so much for saving money there. He refused to press charges in relation to the deaths of Jean Charles de Menezes and Ian Tomlinson. He has been central to the persecution of Julian Assange. 

Even the Stephen Lawrence thing does not do him as much credit as he seems to think. It involved abolishing the protection against double jeopardy. As for the stuff about the miners, or the P&O seamen, or what have you, then yes, unions do indeed use sympathetic chambers, and he was obviously in one. But he was at an early stage in his career, and he was operating under the cab-rank rule. He did not choose those cases for himself.

But no matter who had become the Leader of the Labour Party or anything else, I will be standing for Parliament again here at North West Durham next time, so please give generously. In any event, please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.