If a war of words breaks out between two Conservative candidates for Mayor, and no one is much interested in the outcome, does it make a sound?
At a hustings last night, Moz Hossain accused rival Susan Hall of writing “intolerant, hateful” tweets in the past. The former leader of the Tories at the London Assembly has described TV personality Gemma Collins as a “stupid fat blonde woman” and professed support for Donald Trump. In response, Ms Hall suggested that Mr Hossain didn’t have a clue about how London government operated.
Both may be correct. Ms Hall has made public statements which suggest her values are not always in line with the swing voters any Conservative candidate must attract. Meanwhile, Mr Hossain has never previously held office.
In the absence of Daniel Korski, who withdrew from the race following allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies, the Tories are missing a third candidate with the force of personality and new ideas not only to win this selection but give Sadiq Khan a fair fight next May.
Nato no-man’s land
Nato membership is a binary phenomenon in that nations cannot be half in and half out. Countries are either fully protected by Article 5 —which mandates that an attack on one is an attack on all — or not. Except, that seems, when it comes to Ukraine.
At the Vilnius Summit, Nato member states have committed only to Kyiv joining the alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met”. In other words, not yet.
This no-man’s land, or “waiting room” as Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s foreign minister calls it, is fraught with risk. Nato has been here before. At the Bucharest Summit in 2008, the alliance announced that both Georgia and Ukraine would be admitted, without a plan for that eventuality. Months later, Russian forces invaded Georgia.
Clearly, Kyiv cannot join while it is still actively at war with Russia. But without any sense of momentum or a timescale, the West risks making the same mistake twice.
Rylance’s regal return
Mark Rylance returns to the London stage to play Dr Ignaz Semmelweis, the 19th-century Hungarian physician and early pioneer of antiseptic procedures.
Rylance is stunning as the man whose scientific breakthrough saved countless lives, even if he was largely ignored. That Rylance himself initially took a garlic solution rather than the Covid vaccine injects another layer of intrigue to this moving performance. Go see it.
