Peter Rhodes on crossbows, Fahrenheit and how Russia could snare British soldiers
This is the season when the British weather does something quite unique. It flips from Celsius to Fahrenheit. One day, according to the headlines, it's 20-ish, the next we're in the Sizzling Seventies. Extraordinary.
Last July, after the nightmarish murders of Carol, Louise and Hannah Hunt, the Government announced it was “urgently reviewing” the current laws on owning crossbows. Not urgently enough, it seems, to prevent yet another crossbow attack at the weekend, this time on two young women in Leeds. According to an update this week, the Government is “actively reviewing” the law. Really? And at what stage does sitting on your hands while people are killed or maimed become criminal negligence?
With foresight rare in politics, the Tory shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge warns that if British troops were sent into Ukraine, they could become victims of Russian “lawfare". This is the art, well-practised by Putin's mob, of creating fake news incidents in which British troops would be portrayed as war criminals.
