
PETER HITCHENS: If any person acted like this Govenment, they'd be confined in a locked ward for delusions
If the British Government were a person, it would long ago have been sectioned and placed in a locked ward because of its severe delusions of grandeur.
It is like a man who rushes into the street and picks fights with large strangers for no reason, or a man who offers to buy a generous round in the pub and turns out to have no money, just a few American nickels and a piece of string in his dusty pocket.

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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Andrew Malkinson ‘not finished' fighting for reform after wrongful conviction
Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, says his fight to reform the legal system's handling of miscarriages of justice is far from over. The 59-year-old had his conviction overturned in 2023 after years protesting his innocence. Mr Malkinson, who told The Sunday Times his 'life was desolated' by the wrongful conviction, says he is determined to change the justice system, starting with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). 'I haven't finished. I want to change a lot more,' he said. 'It's a good feeling that something so dreadful and tragic is leading to real change.' It comes amid news Dame Vera Baird KC will become the interim chairwoman of the CCRC. The barrister will take up the post from June 9 until December 8 next year, and is tasked with carrying out an urgent review into the running of the independent body and making sure lessons have been learnt from previous cases. Mr Malkinson said he remained 'incandescent' at the CCRC, as well as the Government's compensation scheme, which makes it difficult for wrongly-convicted people to receive payouts. 'This is an assault on innocent people,' he said. 'It's an assault on the public, because any member of the public could end up where I was. Anybody could be the next victim, because there will be more.' Despite having his conviction quashed in 2023, he had to wait until February to get his first compensation payment. Mr Malkinson had been living on benefits and food banks from his release until then. Under the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, payments are only awarded to people who can prove innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. Ministry of Justice data showed that only 6.5% of people who had applied for compensation due to a miscarriage of justice between April 2016 and March 2024 were awarded payouts. Of 591 people who applied, 39 were granted compensation. Figures showed that 35 have since received money, with average amounts totalling £68,000. In a statement in February, lawyer Toby Wilton welcomed the payment, but said the £1 million cap on compensation payouts should be lifted. This is currently the maximum amount that can be paid to victims of miscarriages of justice who are wrongly jailed for at least 10 years. 'The Government should lift the current cap on compensation, and end the twisted quirk that whilst awards under other compensation schemes are excluded from assessment for benefits,' he said.


Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Colombian presidential hopeful in critical condition after being shot during assassination attempt
A Colombian presidential candidate was shot in the head at a campaign rally in the capital city of Bogotá on Saturday. Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was talking to a group of about 250 residents in Fontibon neighborhood when two shooters, including a 15-year-old boy, opened fired, the National Police said. The lawmaker was shot between the head and neck and was rushed to in ambulance to a neighborhood clinic, where he was stabilized. He was later transferred to Fundación Santa Fe Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Disturbing video footage showed Uribe Turbay addressing how we would handle mental health crisis when he crashed to the ground as three shots were fired. At least four more shots followed as the shocked crowed dispersed. A separate video showed three men holding the presidential hopeful and adding pressure to the wound on his neck and head while a multitude of people screamed and cried for help. A surveillance video showed the teen suspect racing out of the park and running down a street as Uribe Turbay's bodyguards chased after him. A second video showed the teenager hobbling towards a gated residential complex and then turning around to aim his gun at the guards. 'Respect life, that's the red line,' Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a message posted on his X account. Shortly after making the post, Petro canceled a planned trip to France 'due to the seriousness of the events,' according to a presidential statement. His office condemned the cold-blooded assassination attempt in a separate statement. 'The National Government categorically and forcefully rejects the attack that recently targeted Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay,' the statement said. 'This violent act is an attack not only against the senator's personal integrity, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia. Any act that seeks to silence those who participate in public life through intimidation or violence is unacceptable and deserves the deepest condemnation from the state and its citizens.' Uribe Turbay's conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling the the attack 'an unacceptable act of violence.' Former president Alvaro Uribe, who founded the right-wing party and is of no relation to Uribe Turbay, denounced the shooting. 'They attacked a hope for the nation, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague,' President Uribe wrote on X. 'We pray to God for Miguel's recovery. We place our trust in the doctors, the Armed Forces, and the justice system. We appeal to the public for reflection.' Colombian police chief General Carlos Triana said that at the time of the attack Uribe Turbay was accompanied by Councilman Andrés Barrios and 20 other people. The teen was apprehended at the scene and is being treated for a leg injury, he said. A firearm was also seized. 'I have ordered the Colombian military and police forces and intelligence agencies to deploy all their capabilities to urgently clarify the facts,' said Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez. The federal government said it was offering a reward of about $729,000 for the capture of those responsible. Senator Uribe Turbay is the son of a journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the country's most violent periods. Colombia will hold a presidential election on May 31, 2026, the end of the current term of Petro, the first leftist to come to power in Colombia. Uribe Turbay announced his presidential bid in March.


Times
39 minutes ago
- Times
‘People smuggler' re-enters UK despite being stripped of citizenship
An asylum seeker who was granted UK nationality but was later stripped of his citizenship over his alleged links to a prolific people-smuggling ring has managed to return to the country using his British passport. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is thought to have been on holiday in Iraq when he was served with a citizenship deprivation order by the Home Office because of his suspected involvement in 'serious organised crime'. Yet he was somehow allowed to re-enter Britain and is now contesting his removal on human rights grounds because he has a wife and children here. The alleged people smuggler has been granted anonymity by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), the secretive court where he is appealing against the decision to strip him of British citizenship. He is referred to only as 'G5'.