Worboys shows women still face fight for justice - EXPRESS COMMENT
MOST of John Worboys’s victims had no idea Britain’s worst serial sex attacker had been granted parole until it was reported last week.
Keir Starmer: John Worboys case was NINE years ago
One mother heard the sickening news on the radio as she cooked tea for her children.
The black cab driver’s release after serving only nine years of an indeterminate sentence has prompted a public outcry.
Suspected of assaulting more than 100 women, the time Worboys has spent in custody since his arrest in 2009 amounts to less than a month per alleged victim. How on earth can this be justice?
Equally troubling is a lack of transparency surrounding the parole process.
For far too long women have felt like the scales of justice have been tipped against them
Victims should have a right to see the risk assessment that informed Worboys’s release.
While the Government’s review into how to allow greater openness about the process is to be welcomed, this case has raised more questions about the treatment of rapists and their victims.
Rape carries a life sentence and yet all too often we hear of men committing this horrific crime being let off the hook.
All too often we hear of police failing to share information.
All too often we hear of victims struggling to be believed.
For far too long women have felt like the scales of justice have been tipped against them.
Theresa May’s anger over this case suggests that it will take a female Prime Minister to right these appalling wrongs.
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Root of Tory problems
Brexiteers hoping to see Chancellor Philip Hammond demoted to the backbenches will be disappointed tomorrow.
The Prime Minister’s reshuffle will not be the radical reboot many Tories have been calling for but more of a “modernisation” of the ministerial ranks.
While Mrs May should be congratulated for promoting new blood at the top, the Conservatives’ problems are bottom-up.
With party membership dwindling to a mere 70,000 compared with one million in Mrs Thatcher’s heyday, what is needed is root-and-branch reform at local party level.
The Conservative Party is dying at the roots and unless a new party chairman starts successfully cultivating a youthful fanbase the future is looking bleak.
The success of Jeremy Corbyn proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
In the case of the Tories, someone needs to take the lead in regaining the momentum from Labour.
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