MY JOURNALISM

Not every woman has been raped or sexually assaulted. But it’s an incredibly rare woman who hasn’t at some point feared she might be. You may or may not be aware of it, but it is almost a statistical certainty that you know someone who has been through this ordeal.

We have a rape crisis that is reaching such dramatic levels that rape is at once becoming prevalent and normalised. While rates of reporting have sky rocketed, rates of prosecution and conviction have fallen dramatically. Victims commissioner for England has described the situation as akin to the “decriminalisation” of rape.

“Have you or someone you know been affected by the Labour Party? Perhaps you fell into some anti-Semitism at work and your employer refused to support you? Well the law firm of Ohmigod, Whatamess and Shotshiw are here to represent you. You too can have your day in court – everyone else is.”

The Labour Party has apologised to the staff whistle blowers and the maker of the Panorama documentary “Is Labour Anti-Semitic?” for its reaction to the programme and has paid both costs and damages. This should have been the beginning of the end of the affair. The end of the legal wrangling over this documentary and an end to the legal side of Labour’s anti-Semitism nightmare. It’s not.

If you ask some people, Labour has left behind the radical politics of the Corbyn era and given up on its soul. Listen to others and you’ll hear that its moved beyond the chaos of the Corbyn years to become a professional — and electable — political party.

When this crisis started I  wanted the government to succeed, but was afraid that it wouldn’t. My concerns were ideological. My beliefs tend to clash with those of Boris Johnson and his chief advisor Dominic Cummings. We disagree about how society should be managed and about how to achieve the greatest outcomes for the greatest number of people.

When it comes to coronavirus, what’s the difference between The USA and New Zealand? Or the UK and Germany?

Their responses to the crisis have been at variance, with New Zealand pursuing a – so far – successful elimination strategy including very strict lock down conditions, while Germany has ramped up testing, numbers of critical care beds and levels of PPE.

abour has a new leader and a chance to turn the page on the divisiveness of the last five years. But under these extraordinary national circumstances, will that be possible?

There will be no chance for Keir Starmer to meet his party’s members face to face; no nationwide tour where he can bring them all together in a wave of excitement and anticipation of the new. All interaction between the incoming leader and his prospective voters will be online.

t’s finally, nearly over. No not coronavirus, sadly. But that which has been going on even longer — the Labour leadership contest.

If as is widely expected Keir Starmer beats Rebecca Long Bailey, this will signal a shift in power in the party. And while Keir’s non-Corbynite status has sometimes been exaggerated in policy terms his political approach is significantly different.

Roy Jenkins once famously said of Tony Blair’s approach to being leader of the opposition that it was “like a man carrying a priceless Ming vase across a highly polished floor”. This “caution first” approach clearly paid off for Blair, who went on to win in a landslide. Could this go some way to explaining the somewhat cautious campaign run by Keir Starmer?

Starmer won’t particularly thank me for comparing him to Blair. He’s trying to build a coalition across a fractured Labour Party and has refused to be pigeon-holed into one faction or another. This can be seen in his extraordinary team, which includes Kat Fletcher and Simon Fletcher (no relation), both of whom worked for Corbyn. His staff also includes Matt Pound, who previously worked for the moderate Labour First faction.

Budgets are generally there to do two jobs: to define the priorities of the government and set traps for the opposition. This Budget delivered on both — for now. That it was delivered during a crisis that is likely to have a significant and damaging impact on our economy wasn’t lost, but didn’t feel like the big story. For now, the response has largely been driven by standard politics.

Rishi Sunak’s calm and polished delivery seems to have calmed Tory nerves after an early rebellion over Huawei slashed the government’s majority. But massive programmes of government borrowing and spending aren’t a natural policy offering for Tories. If the economy — as seems almost inevitable — takes a hit this year, this change might find it has fewer champions than is currently the case.