DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Shame of politics trumping principles
Across the country, there is growing disillusionment with the main political parties and a belief that they are simply not up to the task of solving Britain's many problems.
As a result, voters are turning in their droves to fringe groups. A major beneficiary of this loss of faith in the status quo has been the Greens.
In the local elections they gained more than 70 council seats. Nationally, they are polling at 6 per cent.
The party portrays itself as kind-hearted environmentalists, wrapped up in woolly notions of saving polar bears and keeping the air clean. Who could be against that?
Scratch beneath the surface, however, and a more disturbing picture emerges. The Greens readily provide cover for those holding extremist views.
Growing disillusionment with the main political parties and a belief that they are simply not up to the task of solving Britain's many problems has resulted in voters turning to fringe groups
Mothin Ali (pictured), who said winning a seat on Leeds City Council was 'for the people of Gaza', previously claimed on TikTok that Hamas was justified in murdering 1,200 innocent people in Israel on October 7
Among those newly elected under its banner last week are four councillors who stand accused of anti-Semitism.
One, Mothin Ali, who said winning a seat on Leeds City Council was 'for the people of Gaza', previously claimed on TikTok that Hamas was justified in murdering 1,200 innocent people in Israel on October 7. He also helped harass a Jewish university chaplain into hiding.
The Greens say they are investigating, while claiming they were ignorant of his hate-filled rants. That's simply not credible.
As long ago as February, the Mail informed the party of Mr Ali's malign actions following an expose. But instead of dropping its candidate like a hot brick, it did nothing.
One explanation for such appalling insouciance is that the Green Party saw absolutely nothing wrong with his poisonous words. After all, its Scottish wing called for the legalisation of Hamas.
Far from being made up of cuddly tree-huggers, voters should be under no illusion what the party truly represents.
What Sir Keir Starmer truly represents, on the other hand, is an enigma. On major issues, he flip-flops like a speared eel.
Having seen huge numbers of Muslim voters desert Labour over the party's stance on Gaza, Keir Starmer said he was 'determined' to win them back
Having seen huge numbers of Muslim voters desert Labour over the party's stance on Gaza, he said he was 'determined' to win them back.
And within hours, pressure group Muslim Vote was putting Labour's leader on the spot. Among 18 demands, these zealots are calling for Labour to promise to cut military ties with Israel, allow followers of Islam to pray in school and repeal a law criminalising religious leaders who instruct their congregation how to vote.
Sir Keir surely understands the danger to democracy of pandering to sectarianism in return for votes. It would also undermine his claim to have cut out the cancer of anti-Semitism from his party.
But with power so tantalising close, who'd bet against him abandoning what principles he professes to have for political gain?
Missing credibility
For sheer, mind-boggling incompetence – even by the standards of the Home Office – the story of the missing asylum seekers stands in a class of its own.
A staggering 21,000 foreign nationals have vanished into the ether in just five years.
With cases sometimes taking years to complete, often due to multiple legal appeals, a climate has developed in which asylum seekers can simply disappear.
But why should anyone be surprised? The appalling failings of the department are laid bare time and again.
To win back voters despairing at endless immigration foul-ups, the Government must knuckle down to the hard work of turning around this dysfunctional system.
