DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Disgrace of Just Stop Oil’s crude tactics

Britain is cutting carbon emissions faster than any other major country.

But that hasn’t persuaded Just Stop Oil to end its moronic traffic-blocking protests.

Yesterday, these hysterical eco-militants lay down illegally in Parliament Square.

Recently, the police have appeared more concerned with the welfare of this lawless minority than the working people whose lives are made a misery by their antics.

Not this time. Deploying new powers, Met officers swiftly arrested 61 activists and reopened the highway in just ten minutes.

Far from being despondent, however, Just Stop Oil leaders claim to be cock-a-hoop.

Met officers swiftly arrested 61 activists and reopened the highway in just ten minutes

The police should be focused on keeping the public safe – especially the fearful Jewish community – not distracted by the self-indulgent stunts of green zealots

Yesterday, these hysterical eco-militants lay down illegally in Parliament Square

While Just Stop Oil’s aims would be a recipe for disaster, they’re not remotely achievable

This is, they insist, all part of a cynical plan to cause maximum havoc by wasting valuable police time and resources.

When the crisis in the Middle East has led to hate mobs on our streets and a worsening terror threat, such actions are not simply irresponsible, but downright dangerous.

The police should be focused on keeping the public safe – especially the fearful Jewish community – not distracted by the self-indulgent stunts of green zealots.

While Just Stop Oil’s aims would be a recipe for disaster, they’re not remotely achievable. But it doesn’t care about mere practicalities. Like other Left-wing groups, it’s interested only in rabble-rousing.

That’s why its activists blocked a coach taking migrants to the Bibby Stockholm barge, and marched with a pro-Palestine mob calling for Israel’s extinction. These tinpot revolutionaries care less about saving the planet than toppling a democratically elected Tory government they despise.

Humility, not apology

The past, wrote LP Hartley, is a foreign country. They do things differently there.

Some of the deeds done in Britain’s name over the centuries are deeply regrettable. But our history – warts and all – made us what we are as a nation. We can’t change it, only try our best to learn from it.

The Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, for which the King is now being asked to apologise, was a particularly bloody chapter.

However, as David Elstein argues, much of the blood was spilled not by the British but the rebels.

Some of the deeds done in Britain’s name over the centuries are deeply regrettable (Pictured: British policemen hold men at gunpoint while they evidence for their participation in the Mau Mau Rebellion of 1952)

David Elstein argues, much of the blood was spilled not by the British but the rebels

The Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, for which the King is now being asked to apologise, was a particularly bloody chapter

The Mau Mau slaughtered thousands of their fellow tribespeople if they supported British rule or refused to join the uprising.

Whole villages were wiped out, with beheadings and disembowelment commonplace. A small number of white farmers and their families were also killed.

As a response, the authorities brutally suppressed the Mau Mau. Around 12,000 were killed in fighting and at least 20,000 interned in squalid prison camps.

These dark times brought shame on all sides. But apologising now is simply futile. Where does it end? Should the Kenyan president say sorry to the descendants of those the Mau Mau murdered?

Kenya has been independent for 60 years. Isn’t it time to move forward rather than cleave to the grievances of the past?

Backbench Budget

Sensible tax cuts to stimulate growth. Measures to help small firms and the self-employed thrive. Easing the cost of living by cutting fuel and energy levies. And axing the tourist tax to attract foreign visitors.

These are good, reassuringly Tory ideas that could help revive the economy – and, with it, Rishi Sunak’s electoral fortunes.

This Budget blueprint has been drafted by Conservative backbenchers, not the Chancellor

How disappointing, then, that this Budget blueprint has been drafted by Conservative backbenchers, not the Chancellor.

Yes, Jeremy Hunt wants to balance the books and tame inflation. But he should be bold and slash public spending to free money for tax cuts. Experience shows this creates prosperity, jobs and investment – and brings more revenue for the Treasury.

If he can’t signal as much in his Autumn Statement, it will beg the question: What is the point in voting for the Tory party?

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