David Davis MP

The Ministry of Justice’s order to delete crucial court record archives is a direct assault on the principle of open justice. I know from my own battles to access court transcripts how challenging this already is. We cannot allow the Government to scrub the public record and hinder vital scrutiny of our legal system. Miscarriages of justice can take decades to resolve, deleting court reporting could endanger ongoing and future appeals. It is a disgrace. thetimes.com/uk/law/article…

Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, in response to Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation, said: “It is crucial to clearly distinguish between the responsibilities of a regime and the fate of millions of ordinary citizens. Iran's civilian population cannot and must not pay the price for the sins of its leaders.” I am not a supporter of Ms Meloni's politics, but she has provided wise counsel here.

My commentary: I have taken the view from the beginning that, unlike the limited operation to destroy Tehran's nuclear capability, this war was ill-considered. As has become clear, its consequences would be unpredictable, and potentially enormous. Simply consider where we have to get to by the end of the fragile two- week ceasefire. If America withdraws, it will leave the Iranian regime actually strengthened in the long term. The conflict has shown only too clearly that Iran can hold most of the industrial world to ransom by its control of the Strait of Hormuz, and with a blackmail strategy that could generate a whole, new source of income for itself. It has also been given a further excuse for its brutal treatment of opposition that's within its own borders. Neither should we underestimate the reputational value in the Muslim world of seeing off the "Great Satan", the United States. From the military strategic point of view, if Iran is not defeated now, then they have a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and the global economy, which they will be only too willing to use. The horrible paradox to this unwise war is that the only tolerable way out of it may be more military action. One option could be for the US to take over the key strategic islands in the Strait. This includes Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb - all of which are already claimed by the UAE and whose recovery might expect at least tacit support from the gulf states. However, this might not be enough and might also need to include other islands, such as Kharg (which will be difficult), and possibly even Qeshm (which will be even more difficult, with its population of 180,000 and strong military presence). It is hard to see how anything less than this would wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from an even more militant future Iran.

As the article says "Mr Trump would often seem to hear only what he wanted to hear".

Anyone trying to understand the decision-making that led to the US going to war with Iran should read this excellent piece by the @nytimes' @jonathanvswan and @maggieNYT nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/… I include some extracts below along with a couple of comments.

Instead of a solution that only supports those on the highest wages, the Government should be fixing the loan interest rate to the Bank of England base rate to ensure that graduates who are already contributing to the economy are not being treated unfairly.

If that graduate had wanted to start repaying the capital of their loan, they would have needed to enter work on a salary of about £45,000 straight after graduating. As the courses get longer and maintenance loans are included, the salary needed just to meet the accruing loan interest increases rapidly.

Today's announcement of a six per cent cap on student loan interest may seem positive, but it will have very little effect on students and graduates in the real world. The main beneficiaries will be high-earning graduates, not those already struggling with the cost of living. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…