Lighting the flame

Riots sparked by false claims as social media spreads misinformation about the suspect.

• Amit Roy
• 07 August, 2024

By: Amit Roy

IT IS hard to think of anything more horrific than the stabbing of children, three of whom – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine – have died in Southport.

Nothing like this has happened before. As soon as fake news was circulated on social media that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived by boat last year, police should immediately have named the 17-year-old suspect as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, born in Cardiff on August 7, 2003, of Rwandan parents (who have been identified in some reports as Christian).

That might have aborted the riots before Reform MP Nigel Farage could allege, “I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us,” and far right activist Tommy Robinson could ask, “Why has our government let this Syrian fella in” to stab “innocent children”.

Farage, who called for the return of parliament and deployment of the army, spotted an opportunity to attract greater support for Reform.

He said: “Ever since the soft policing of the Black Lives Matter protests, the impression of two-tier policing has become widespread. The prime minister’s faltering attempts to address the current crisis have only added to that sense of injustice.”

English is a wonderfully subtle language. A number of people have expressed support for the right-wing rioters by saying: “I condemn the violence, of course, but….”

There was no social media when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, as he attended a prayer meeting in Delhi. I heard the story of what happened that night from my mother. The country held its breath and prayed the assassin was not a Muslim. A sobering sense of grief descended across the land when it became clear the fatal shots had been fired by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu.

When prime minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead at her home in Delhi on October 31, 1984, by her own Sikh bodyguards, a nightmare unfolded. Sikhs were victims of a widespread pogrom.

Now that a fire has been lit in the UK, the flames may be difficult to douse. Muslims will defend their mosques, to be sure. And although the rioters are targeting Islamism, can one always tell a Muslim from a Hindu? In a sense, all Asians are being targeted. It is especially tragic that the children who were stabbed are being overlooked.

They could have been anyone’s children or grandchildren. This is a comment many people will not like. In Southport, six children were stabbed, three fatally. In Gaza and in Israel, thousands of children have been killed.

Bought in Chelsea

It is always nice to take a few minutes from work to do a bit of gardening. At the Chelsea Flower Show in May, I bought rhizomes in three colours for Zantedeschia – Morning Sun, Dubai Night and Picasso.

Zantedeschias are “bold, exotic-looking plants with large fluted flowers that stand above clumps of lush, glossy foliage. The flowers come in a choice of colours, from pure white to yellow, orange, pink or rich purple.”

“When should I plant them?”

The answer was: “If you plant them now, they will flower by October.”

It is only the start of August, but all three rhizomes which I planted into one terracotta pot are in bloom.

Get well, Iain

The main reason for listening to LBC is Iain Dale, who uses his political contacts to bring a wide range of guests on to his show. He also has a style of presenting that is urbane and civilised. He is off air at the moment because he was taken to A&E with acute pain on the right-hand side of his chest.

“I am now in intensive care awaiting an operation to remove my gall bladder,” he posted on X. “Not ideal. In fact, it’s a nightmare. NHS care at Tunbridge Wells hospital is so far outstanding.”

I wish him a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Sangita Myska, whom LBC sacked, ought to be eased back, initially by standing in for Dale.

Imran for Oxford chancellor

Supporters of the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan want him elected as chancellor of Oxford University. The only slight problem is that Imran is serving a 10-year-jail sentence for annoying the Pakistani military which helped to become prime minister, but later fell out with him.

Imran was an undergraduate at Keble College, Oxford, from 1972-1975, when he was supposed to study politics and economics. Instead, he specialised in cricket.

The vacancy for chancellor has arisen because Lord Chris Patten, a former Tory cabinet minister and governor of Hong Kong, is stepping down after 21 years in the post. Personally, I think his greatest claim to fame is that his actress daughter, Alice Patten, made her Bollywood debut in the 2006 Aamir Khan starrer, Rang de Basanti.

The new chancellor will be elected next term by an electoral college that includes 230,000 former graduates of the university (such as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and David Cameron). In the old days, graduates had to put on gowns and vote in person. But for the first time, the voting will be online.

Peers William Hague and Peter Mandelson are possible candidates for chancellor.

“Imran Khan will contest for the chancellor of Oxford University as there is a public demand that he should contest,” his advisor on international media, Syed Zulfi Bukhari, has announced.

The idea is to embarrass the Pakistan army. But Imran’s chances of becoming chancellor are about as bright as Suella Braverman’s of being chosen Tory leader. Incidentally, she has a vote as an Oxford alumni.

Same old Olympic story

With the Olympics, it’s the same old story. A handful of countries get all the medals, while most other nations come away with nothing. Chancellor Rachel Reeves should be brought in to take medals away from those who have too many and distribute them among those who have little or nothing.

At the time of writing, India, for example, the most populous country in the world, has three bronze medals. Pakistan has nothing, a lack of distinction it shares with a long list that includes Sri Lanka, Iran, Libya, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.

Great Britain has done remarkably well, to be fifth with 46 medals, including 12 gold (as of Wednesday (7)).

The US is top of the table, with 24 gold medals, followed by China (22), Australia (14) and France (13).

The original Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius which is Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. In reality, the Olympics are about ritual humiliation every four years of a majority of the nations of the world.

Cricket club for sale

The rules governing what can and can’t be sold to foreign buyers is strange. The Daily Telegraph, for example, can’t, because it is regarded as a sensitive national asset. Foreign states and government officials are banned from holding any direct stakes in newspaper assets – effectively dealing a death blow to the £600 million bid for the Telegraph group from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by the United Arab Emirates.

However, Hampshire County Cricket Club (founded in 1863) – although just as much of a national asset – can.

According to a report in the Telegraph, it has received a £120m bid from the owners of Delhi Capitals, one of the franchises in the Indian Premier League. The deal has been passed to the England and Wales Cricket Board for ratification.

It is understood that another IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals, wants to buy Yorkshire County Cricket Club, whose past players include Geoffrey Boycott. This is ironic that once upon a time only players born in Yorkshire could play for the club. The first foreign hiring was 19-year-old Sachin Tendulkar in 1992. He made his debut against Hampshire.  He posed with a pint of beer which remained untouched – he doesn’t drink.