Manick Govinda

I’m so glad the BBC sent her to be the reporter on this! She appreciated every moment of the #Artemis launch so much!! 🚀

Major problem

The scenes from Clapham are shocking. Masked youths causing mayhem for fun. Our cowardly elites emboldened this mob behaviour. They gave up on disciplining kids and even on punishing petty crime. They caused this anti-social chaos, says Brendan O’Neill buff.ly/ZSWxxzM

Heartbreaking 💔 This morning, right after President Trump’s speech, the Iranian regime moved fast and hanged 18-year-old protester. Yes, Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, there are no “less radical” leaders in Iran. From the courtroom to the prison cell, from the interrogator to the judge, this is a unified system of terror. So this is the Islamic Republic: a system with a Stone Age approach to dissent, executing its own young people to stay in power. This is not about left or right. This is about life, dignity, and the future of a nation. His name is Amirhossein Hatami. 18 years old. His “crime”? Demanding Freedom, dignity, and a normal life. No lawyer. No independent media to be his voice, No fair trial. No final goodbye to his family. But of course a forced confession on State TV after being tortured to admit a crime that he has committed never committed. And his friends may be next. By the way, where are the anti-war activists? Why don’t we hear you campaigning against mass arrests, and executions in Iran ? Would you demand that the Iranian regime stop its war on unarmed people? Stop the executions. Stop the torture. End the total #DigitalBlackOut imposed on Iran. This is about standing with the people of Iran against a regime that has massacred more than 40,000 of its own citizens and is now killing those arrested in the same uprising

Unless VERY robust steps are taken, and serious consequences applied to tackle the chaos seen in Clapham over the last few days - we are in for a VERY long and unpleasant summer holiday in a few months. It's tough enough for businesses as it is. 😠

Iran unleashes new execution spree with battered regime 'fearful of another uprising' - as gun-wielding 12-year-olds are sent to guard the streets trib.al/VUNXEi1

36,500 protesters slaughtered by a regime supported by many Western progressives

Such decency in this message - thank you.

I see that the sectarian Muslim MPs, the Green Party & pro-Palestine activists are all up in arms over Israel’s death penalty for Palestinian convicted terrorists. When Iran executed the 19-year-old champion, Saleh Mohammadi for protesting the Khamenei regime, they were silent.

Call this out for what it is: We have all witnessed the quite disturbing scenes of predominantly black school aged children behaving appallingly in Clapham yesterday. There is a combination of factors as to why this took place and I am going to point them out without fear or favour. 1. Parents. This is your failure. The children are an extension of you. You have abdicated responsibility & chose to be ‘friends’ with your children instead of being the architects of authority, discipline & boundary setting. Instead you are weak and your children know you are, thus diluting any respect that they would naturally have for you. 2. Schools. When people like Katharine Birbalsingh & her elite teachers speak about standards, discipline and teaching children in a ‘no excuses environment’ many of you turn your noses up. However, do you really believe that children who attend her school ‘Michaela’ would behave this way in public? Neither do I. Schools and how they operate are a barometer of where this country will be in the near future. This alone should be ringing alarm bells but unfortunately it is not. 3. Parliament. Those that are legislators in this country are way out of sync with what is required to churn out functioning useful youngsters in this society. With Labour MPs seeking to legalise voting for those aged 16+ I am only surprised that they were not in Clapham giving out flyers telling these youngsters that they are only robbing shops because of ‘white people and slavery’. Vote Labour! 4. Police The police were totally useless yesterday. The police on the ground? No. Their bosses? Yes. Scotland Yard and Chief Superintendents are mostly now chosen for their senior roles based on politics, sexuality and wokeness. At least 100 youngsters should have been arrested, publicised widely, hurried through the system and severely punished. A clear message needed to be sent. It wasn’t. This is why it will now be a continual occurrence. 5. Social Media. 99% of these ‘link ups’ are organised via social media platforms. These companies must be subject to criminal injunctions when their platforms are used to promote chaos. Further, if found guilty then the penalties should include eye watering fines and three year imprisonment for their managing directors. Lastly, the age to use Social Media should rise to 18 years. Conclusion. Many of the youngsters will claim they were ‘just having a laugh’. That may well be true. Families who were locked in the stores or staff working in those stores would surely disagree. That behaviour was disgusting and you parents should point that out. There is a time coming where some of these parents should be criminally liable for their actions of their bloody children. We are blessed to be in a country like this despite its many faults. We also have many opportunities and are frittering them away. Do better and stop the damn excuses. Control your children.

@GordonDComstock We had a lot of African-Caribbean kids at our school, at least 50% or more.

@manick62 How many black kids were at your school ?

I went to Henry Thornton School in Clapham Common from 1973-1980, one of the roughest boys sink schools in South London at the time. It was bad and people who know the school will know, but it was nothing compared to level of lawlessness as this. This is far worse.

Children smashing up shops in broad daylight, stealing and even filming themselves doing it as if it were a game, is a much bigger problem than is being recognised. This is a total collapse of consequences. To those making snide comments about race or black kids - you do not see scenes like this in Lagos or Nairobi. Not because the children there are different, but because actions have consequences. There are clear boundaries. Parents, communities, and the authorities do not wring their hands or look the other way. Here, we have created a culture where too many young people believe they can do what they like and nothing will happen. That is the problem. And we should be honest about where that leads. If a child loots a shop today, films it for social media, and faces no real consequence, they are going to do much worse tomorrow. This is why under my leadership Conservatives are focusing on ENFORCEMENT, not just making more and more rules. Our Take Back Our Streets Campaign is about getting 10,000 more police officers, immediate justice and immediate punishment. But let’s be honest, this is not just a policing issue. It is a failure of authority at every level. Parents need to know where their children are and what they are doing. Discipline should start at home, not in a courtroom. We have also weakened the system around them. Deterrence is the backbone of criminal justice. Labour have changed the law so anyone receiving a sentence under 12 months will automatically walk free, instead receiving a suspended sentence. When people believe offences like this will not lead to meaningful punishment, we should not be surprised when more of it happens. You get more of what you tolerate. It’s not like we haven’t been here before. In 2011, when riots spread, the Conservative response was swift and visible. People saw consequences. And behaviour rapidly changed. That is what is missing now. This all comes down to fairness. Law-abiding people should not feel like fools while gangs smash and grab without consequence. The sad truth is the communities most damaged by this behaviour are often the very ones these young people come from. Only one approach will fix this: clear rules, real consequences, and the confidence to enforce them. It’s time to Take Back Our Streets and bring back a culture of enforcement.

@kenanmalik Article not available. Could this be because Tariq Ramadan has just been sentenced to 18 years jail time for rape?

'Philosophy as candyfloss': Ziauddin Sardar seems to have as high an opinion of Tariq Ramadan's argument as I do: http://bit.ly/cnCkNa

Dr. James Heartfield @jamesheartfield reviews a new film with the title almost identical to my book (but which I had nothing to do with): "A film about Palestinian anti-colonial resistance in the late 1930s is eye-catching, moving and utterly untrue."

@ArchRose90 @SadiqKhan I went to Henry Thornton School in Clapham Common from 1973-1980, one of the roughest boys sink schools in South London at the time, but we did nothing to the level of lawlessness as this. This is far worse.

Law abiding citizens in Clapham are currently unable to do shopping in Marks & Spencers and other shops due to “Clapham youth” looting. However @SadiqKhan will still claim that those who say “lawless London” and “Britain is broken” are in the wrong. This is not a safe city.

Happy Passover to everyone.... Here’s a page from the 1430 Darmstadt Haggadah, one of my favourite editions: the illuminations are so gorgeous. The book of the Exodus story is usually read tonight around the table of the Seder dinner. Different foods represent different parts of the story. It is a festival of captivity and freedom celebrated by togetherness, storytelling and, of course since it’s a Jewish festival, eating - alot of eating - during which the youngest asks the Four Questions starting: why is this night different from all other nights? The values of Passover are universal ones so I wish happy Passover to you all everywhere – and particularly those who are enduring persecution, fear, war. Many of these Jewish festivals – Hannukah, Purim, and Pesach -tell the stories of the many racist persecutions and annihilationist terrors aimed at the Judaic people over the millennia. For most of my life, we have been lucky enough to enjoy these festivals and their distant histories in times of safety…. But that is no longer true: today these stories strike a special chord in a darkening tide of new, surging anti Jewish racism and hatred that is appearing in new forms and shapes even in our genial tolerant Britain…. That is why this night is different from all other nights of history – and yet not so different at all…. Chag Pesach Sameach!

@simonmontefiore A poignant post and a beautiful illimination. Thank you for sharing, much appreciation from a non-Jew

Britain’s Green Party is supposed to be the progressive environmental party. Instead, it is now facing a scandal over an activist linked to the party allegedly calling Jews “an abomination to this planet.” @EstherCKrakue reports.