‘Clowning Street’: UK election day newspaper round-up
British voters woke this morning to a rash of headlines telling them who to vote for before visiting the ballot box.
Armed police stand guard near London Bridge after the attack. Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP via Getty Images
After the terrorist attack in London last week, political parties in the UK are blaming each other.
A man recently released from prison for a terrorism offence killed two people in a terrorist attack that has been leapt upon by politicians ahead of the election next week.
London Bridge attack was one of dozens of convicted terrorists released early from prison in Britain; reaction from Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
Terrorism is the use or threat of action, both in and outside of the UK, designed to influence any international government organisation or to intimidate the public. It must also be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
Examples;
- serious violence against a person or damage to property,
- endangering a person’s life (other than that of the person committing the action),
- creating a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public,
- action designed to seriously interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.
The attacker, Usman Khan, had been attending a conference on the rehabilitation of offenders. He killed Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, and was himself shot dead by police.
UK counterterrorism police on Saturday searched for clues into how a man imprisoned for terrorism offenses before his release last year managed to stab several people before being tackled by bystanders and shot dead by officers on London Bridge. Two people were killed and three wounded
Terrorism crimes are difficult to police in that the sentencing, rehabilitation and parole are all emotive subjects that are best debated outside of an election cycle.
Terrorism crimes and terrorist-related offences are subject to the criminal justice system in the same way as all other crimes. The CPS reviews the case and makes a charging decision in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. However, terrorism offences are distinct from other types of crime in that individuals who commit terrorism-related offences have political, religious racial and/or ideological motivations, unlike typical criminal motivations, which may be personal gain or revenge, for example. The CPS and Metropolitan Police have specialist units that were set up specifically to undertake terrorism cases and there are four other police Counter Terrorism Units (CTUs) around the country.
A snap YouGov survey of 1,646 viewers conducted immediately after the debate shows a close split, with 51% of viewers saying that Boris Johnson performed best, once “don’t know” responses were removed, and 49% backing Jeremy Corbyn.
Most viewers think both leaders performed well, with two thirds (67%) saying so of Corbyn and almost six in ten saying likewise of Johnson (59%).
Looking at how viewers voted in 2017 shows, unsurprisingly, that Conservative voters are more likely to back Boris (88%) and Labour voters much more likely to think Corbyn did well (86%).
Nevertheless, almost half of 2017 Tory voters (48%) think the Labour leader did well, and one third (33%) of those who opted for Corbyn’s party at the last election think the Prime Minister made a decent show of it.
Corbyn first said that “by ensuring the ultra-rich pay their way, we can provide training to everyone who needs it”. And then, with a clear reference to Conservative Party plans to save wealthy citizens billions of pounds, he insisted:
Personally, I’d rather give a break to a worker who wants to learn than give a tax break to the billionaire who wants for nothing.
To clarify, he stressed “that’s the difference between Labour and the Conservatives”. He also revealed that “it makes me angry when I hear of schools closing on a Friday because they can’t pay their bills, while the government can afford multi-billion-pound tax giveaways to corporations and the very richest”.
