Why weren't the 348 arrested at Notting Hill rushed to court and sentenced just like the rioters? I think we know... - Kelvin MacKenzie
PA
Although quite shocking that it has been revealed in court the young mother stabbed during the Notting Hill Carnival is still in a coma and may well lose her leg, I was pleased to see Shakiel Thibou, 20, in the dock accused of her attempted murder.
And that led to wondering what had happened to the other 348 arrested at the Carnival. I ask because 72 hours have passed since the Carnival ended and if the prosecutors had acted with the same speed which followed the riots at Southport, they would all be charged and sentenced to lengthy periods in jail by now.
Just to remind you that 61 officers were assaulted during the ‘’Carnival’’. There were eight stabbings, including that of Cher Maxine who lost a huge amount of blood with one of her lungs collapsing after the attack.
There were 53 held for assault for assault of an emergency worker and 72 arrests for possessing an offensive weapon. There were plenty of other charges – unsurprisingly possessing drugs prominent- but are too numerous to mention.
But this time there was no directive from Starmer for immediate and fierce retribution. Why could that be?
Not being familiar with the discussions between No.10 and the CPS I can only deduce that it’s not so much two-tier prosecuting but two-race prosecuting.
It took our Prime Minister 48 hours before he said anything about the Carnival violence. And, even then, he was very careful about his words. This is what he said; ‘’I will condemn any violence from anyone in the same terms as I have done for many, many years.’’
This is a completely different approach to the post Southport rioting. No mention of the full force of the law. No mention of 24-hour courts. No emergency meetings of Cobra.
Just another Carnival. Nothing to see here except stabbed Londoners and injured police and emergency workers. So that’s alright then.
And definitely not a word from Mayor Khan who couldn’t even be bothered to warn that if large scale crime like this persisted then next year’s Carnival would be the last.
Had this been a white gathering of such size with that amount of crime, I am certain Labour politicians would be dominating the airwaves demanding that ‘’something must be done.’’ But oddly, but perhaps not so oddly, most of the folk at the Carnival would be Labour voters so different rules would apply.
I hardly saw a word from the Tories either. Presumably they were on holiday and didn’t want to get involved. I looked to Badenoch and Co for leadership on this issue and there wasn’t any.
And that is why the Tories should merge -or come to an ‘’arrangement’’ - with Nigel Farage’s Reform before the next election.
In a poll I saw yesterday, 40 per cent of Conservative voters said they would like to see such a merger with 51% saying they wouldn’t. The reality is that the Tories are going nowhere unless they join with Reform.
They have lost at least 25 per cent of their base vote and Labour will be in power for a hundred years if there isn’t a shake-up on the Right of British politics.
Plus, I would like to see somebody speak for me and others when so many crimes are committed. But no politician feels they can speak out for fear of being called a racist.
A Reform-Tory ‘’arrangement’’ is the only way forward.