DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Long to reign over us, our flourishing royals

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Long to reign over us, our flourishing royals

A year has passed since that sombre day when Queen Elizabeth II slipped peacefully away. Yet for all the months that have elapsed, she burns no less brightly in the nation’s memory.

Indeed, after serving Britain devotedly through 70 momentous years, it’s easy to forget she is no longer with us. Her beloved son, the King, sums up our feelings in a poignant tribute on this sad anniversary: ‘We recall with great affection her long life… and all she meant to so many of us.’

And she did. But since her passing, Charles and Camilla have performed their new roles with aplomb – impeccable in their public duties, compassionate, industrious and reassuring.

His Coronation was a spectacular for the ages – uniting a sometimes fractured country with its exquisite blend of tradition and modernity, simplicity and grandeur.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have, too, been pitch perfect in their commitment to the people of these isles – and their charming children a source of delight.

A year has passed since that sombre day when Queen Elizabeth II slipped peacefully away

Her beloved son, the King, sums up our feelings in a poignant tribute on this sad anniversary: ‘We recall with great affection her long life… and all she meant to so many of us’ 

Even Harry and Meghan’s acerbic and self-serving broadsides from multi-millionaires’ row in Montecito have failed to dent the public’s immense warmth for the monarchy.

Some feared that after the Queen died the stature of the Royal Family would be diminished. All the signs are that it is set fair to flourish long into the future.

Jailhouse shock

It could almost be a scene from the 1970s sitcom Porridge.

A food delivery van is waved out of a jail by unconcerned guards, oblivious to the fact there is an escaping prisoner dressed as a chef clinging to the undercarriage.

But this is no laughing matter. It happened in broad daylight on Wednesday, and it is deadly serious. By breaking out of HMP Wandsworth in south London so audaciously, terror suspect Daniel Khalife has made the Prison Service a laughing stock.

While the immediate focus is on capturing him, no stone must be left unturned in finding out how such a catastrophic security breach was allowed to occur.

As a flight risk, why was he not in a top-security jail? Were CCTV cameras broken? Was he aided by a corrupt prison officer? Has surveillance of vehicles become so dangerously lax? After all, it can’t take long to use a mirror to check under a van – a method of concealment as old as the hills.

Vapidly, Labour blames under-staffing, but it actually smacks of ineptitude.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is right to order three investigations into this disturbing debacle. But it shouldn’t be difficult to remedy – discipline the governor and get some new scanning equipment.

Don’t betray women

For someone hoping to win round right-thinking voters by pledging to wage war on wokery, Rishi Sunak has certainly got a funny way of going about it.

On Wednesday, it was reported that the PM was backtracking on his vow to legislate to ban children from declaring themselves transgender at school – adopting new names or wearing opposite-sex uniforms, sometimes without parents’ consent.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Rishi Sunak (pictured) was backtracking on his vow to legislate to ban children from declaring themselves transgender at school

He is now dithering about rewriting Labour’s contentious Equality Act to explicitly exclude transgender women – biological males – from female-only spaces such as changing rooms. Most people would welcome such eminently sensible plans.

Indeed, such a popular measure would help Mr Sunak put some clear blue water between the Conservatives and Labour. Instead, he risks giving the impression that he has lost his nerve in this toxic debate.

So will he betray countless women who say the current situation undermines their safety, privacy and dignity?

We urge the PM to think again – and act. Not just because it’s a sure-fire vote winner – but because it is the right thing to do.

Source: Read Full Article