We must remember that the real villain of the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case is the Iranian government — not our ministers Boris Johnson or Michael Gove
Iran’s the villain
SENIOR Cabinet Ministers should be expected to answer questions about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe properly.
But though the imprisoned Brit is entitled to be disappointed, we must remember that the real villain of the piece here is the Iranian government.
It’s that vicious, autocratic regime which threw her in jail on trumped-up charges in the first place.
Those saying Boris should go — which doesn’t include Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe or her husband — are missing the point.
Jeremy Corbyn is amongst them. He believes Boris is “embarrassing and undermining our country”.
He would know what that looks like.
This is a man who has spent years speaking alongside those who defend the very people keeping Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe behind bars.
A man who took thousands of pounds from Iran’s media mouthpiece, Press TV — a channel banned here after it aired a forced confession from a journalist.
From Iran, to the IRA, to Venezuela, Corbyn is a man who has always chosen the wrong side.
As an MP, he’s given terror groups and repressive regimes legitimacy that has aided their wicked causes.
The hypocrisy of him now posing as an impassioned patriot is staggering.
Boris and Michael Gove’s comments are a sideshow. Tehran put her behind bars.
And it’s Corbyn and his useful idiots who have spent years shaming Britain.
Builder future
BUILD up, build out, build wherever — just get building.
That’s the message that millions of people, faced with wildly inflated house prices, want the Government to hear.
So it’s heartening to hear a respected Tory like Nick Boles propose radical changes to the planning system that will allow us to build the houses Britain needs.
There will be the usual squealing from the NIMBYs and the BANANAs — the “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything” brigade.
But the Government must lay the groundwork in the Budget.
Borrowing to pay for a massive house-building programme, done in a way that allows the Treasury to profit down the line, would be the kind of bold policy the country could rally around.
And putting concrete in the ground might give the Government some stability, too.
Don’t be fuellish
THE Chancellor must resist the urge to squeeze a few extra quid out of drivers.
Families already feel the pinch of ludicrously high taxes at the petrol pump every week. There are rumours Philip Hammond might push up Fuel Duty.
This Government claims to be on the side of the “just about managing”.
Hard-pressed families won’t be able to cope with a hike.
