18 February 2023 , 22:56
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Perceptions can matter as much in politics as policies, which is why politicians are careful with the image they project.
No one begrudges anyone a holiday but for politicians and their families, a little sensitivity must go into the choice of them.
Theresa May took husband Philip on walking holidays in the Welsh hills while David Cameron packed his family off to a Cornish beach.
We can gloss over Boris Johnson who rarely paid for his own holiday and Liz Truss who was not in office long enough to take one. But look where they are now.
So we question the wisdom of Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty going on a luxury sunshine break in Goa that typically costs £7,500 a week while her husband’s constituents shiver in 2C temperatures back home.
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Akshata Murty, wife of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in South Goa.Mr Sunak will no doubt argue that Ms Murty is not an elected politician so she can do what she likes. But what she does reflects on the office of prime minister.
Just as her non-dom status to reduce British tax reflected on Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor and in charge of the nation’s purse strings.
Expensive holidays give the appearance of not caring about the plight of ordinary people facing sky-high living costs and huge energy bills.
That may not be the reality. But it is the perception.
Voting chaos
Voting is a right and in a true democracy, it should be made as simple as possible.
Yet for the first time in May’s local elections, voters will need photo ID such as passports or driving licences to get a ballot paper and if they do not have them, produce authority certificates obtained from local councils.
Today, we reveal the prediction that only 3% of those eligible will have signed up by the April 25 deadline.
The Tories say voter ID is necessary to counter electoral fraud. Yet of the 30 million votes cast in 2019, police probed just 595 allegations which led to only four convictions and two cautions.
Not enough to justify all the trouble and expense. Nor the chaos in polling stations with disputes over paperwork and covered faces having to be uncovered in private.
The Tories are not too worried about that because few of their voters will be affected.
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But it will not save them on May 4. Not with them being so far behind in the polls.
Game over
Whatever your views on the decriminalisation of cannabis, we should all agree drug taking should not be glorified.
Yet that is exactly what Amazon and eBay are doing by selling the board game Ganjaland on their websites.
Online retailers should talk to the drug experts we spoke to and then decide on the appropriateness of such games.
Because behaving responsibly should be a joint effort.