the times | Wednesday June 8 2022 29
Leading articles
does is fuel cynicism about the political process.
Instead, Mr Johnson should focus relentlessly
on the issues that matter most to households,
above all the cost of living crisis. That must start
with a recognition that there are no easy solutions.
He must resist siren calls from the right of his
party for unfunded tax cuts. That would only add
fuel to the inflationary fire, leading to higher inter-
est rates and increasing the risk of recession. A
serious strategy would focus on the less glamorous
but essential task of driving growth and expanding
the productive potential of the economy.
The first requirement must be to do no harm.
Deregulation may have a role to play in lowering
costs, provided it is based on wide consultation and
rigorous cost-benefit analysis. But half-baked pro-
posals floated last month to introduce five-year
sunset clauses on all inherited European Union
regulation simply bring unwarranted uncertainty
into the business environment which can only fur-
ther undermine worryingly weak investment.
Similarly, Mr Johnson should drop his plan to
introduce a bill to parliament this week which
would rip up the Northern Irish protocol. Not only
would this almost certainly break international
law, damaging Britain’s reputation as a stable place
to invest, but it would create further economic un-certainty, raising the spectre of a trade war. It
would also make it even harder to agree much-
needed deals with the EU in areas of strategic im-
portance to Britain, including scientific collabora-
tion, financial services and the arts.
The government should also commit to a rigor-
ous programme of public sector reform, not only
to improve efficiency, thereby freeing up resour-
ces for tax cuts, but also to improve customer ser-
vice and effective delivery. This will not be
achieved by short-term, top-down driven job cuts
to meet arbitrary targets, let alone by abolishing
the civil service fast stream, as Mr Johnson has re-
cently suggested. It requires a strategy for a whole-
sale embrace of digital technology to transform
the way that public services, not least health ser-
vices, are accessed and delivered. That will require
detailed planning and substantial investment.
Of course, there is little in Mr Johnson’s record
to suggest that he has the discipline or focus to
adopt such an approach. Too often, he appears to
prefer to act like the leader of a populist insurgen-
cy, offering simplistic solutions to complex prob-
lems, rather than the mainstream leader of a G7
country. Yet having endorsed his continued lead-
ership, it is up to the cabinet to drive the necessary
changes, or accept that the party is over.tended to squeeze Kyiv into submission and co-
erce the western democracies into easing sanc-
tions. It is especially harrowing given that Ukrain-
ians recall vividly the famine visited upon their
country, killing more than three million people, by
Stalin’s campaign of forced collectivisation and
terror in the early 1930s. Ukrainians are suffering
privations themselves, as well as a loss of vital
export earnings, because of the blockade.
Nor are they the only victims. Agricultural im-
ports by emerging economies have both slowed
and dramatically risen in price. The US State De-
partment last month warned 14 countries, mainly
in north and east Africa, that Russian cargo ships
were leaving ports laden with “stolen Ukrainian
grain”. It is not easy to identify the source of
commodities on the open seas, but it is highly
plausible that heavily discounted grain shipments
will have been illicitly transported from Ukraine.
The temptation for poorer countries to buy this
contraband at a time of soaring prices is immense.
It is far from coincidental that President Sall of
Senegal, who also chairs the African Union,
visited Russia this week to meet President Putin,whom he addressed as his “dear friend Vladimir”.
Yet emerging economies have the power to
choose. By parleying with the Putin regime, they
not only undercut the concerted international
campaign to punish its lawless aggression: they di-
rectly handle and consume stolen produce. They
take the bread from the mouths of Ukrainians and
others who observe international law.
The western democracies are rightly highlight-
ing Russia’s tactics. At the UN Security Council
this week, Charles Michel, president of the Euro-
pean Council, said Russia was using grain supplies
as a “stealth missile against developing countries”,
prompting a blustering walkout by the Russian
ambassador. The only enduring way to get food
supplies flowing is to restore a peaceful inter-
national order. Kyiv needs anti-ship missiles to re-
pel the blockade, and advanced anti-tank and
anti-aircraft weapons to defend its territory.
Ukrainians ask no one to fight for them, but they
require military and economic aid, and diplomatic
solidarity. No country should be rewarding
Russian larceny and any that do should immedi-
ately face secondary sanctions themselves.worth remembering the deep pessimism of years
gone by. In 2001, riots took place in Oldham, Brad-
ford, Leeds and Burnley, following clashes
between white and mainly Muslim Asian groups.
Grooming scandals, uncovered by The Times,
dogged inter-community relations for many
years. As recently as 2016, a report by Dame
Louise Casey, commissioned by David Cameron,
then the prime minister, painted a grim picture of
isolated enclaves and an increasingly divided
nation. There seemed few grounds for optimism.
Today’s poll, by ComRes and commissioned by
Hyphen, a Muslim-orientated news magazinewebsite, also reports that seven in ten Muslims
have perceived Islamophobia in the workplace.
Clearly, there are no grounds for complacency.
Yet Britain is now a country with people from
Muslim backgrounds visible in politics (Sadiq
Khan, Baroness Warsi, Sajid Javid), film (Riz Ah-
med), sport (Mo Farah, Amir Khan, Mohamed Sa-
lah and Riyad Mahrez) and celebrity generally
(Nadiya Hussain, Noreen Khan). All serve as a re-
minder of the great boon of multiculturalism
when it has the support of both minorities and the
majority alike. Progress is a source of pride, chiefly
for British Muslims, but also for everybody else.Last Chance Saloon
It is not too late for Boris Johnson to re-establish the Conservatives’ reputation for
competent government. But that will require a radical change of approach
The moment of maximum danger for Boris John-
son appears to have passed. He survived his clash
with his parliamentary party, albeit in a far tighter
vote than he had anticipated. He survived, too, his
encounter with his cabinet yesterday morning. It
was always unlikely that any of this underwhelm-
ing team, handpicked for their loyalty, would take
William Hague’s advice in these pages yesterday,
and point out to the prime minister the unsustain-
ability of his position, with 41 per cent of his MPs
against him. To no one’s surprise, none did so. That
leaves Mr Johnson with an opportunity to try to
revive his fortunes. It may be too late to reverse the
public’s loss of trust in his own integrity. But there
is still time to re-establish the Conservative Party’s
reputation for competent government.
For this to happen, there must be no return to
business as usual, which is what the prime minister
was promising yesterday. He needs to put an end
to the constant stream of ill-considered policy
announcements that gush from the Downing
Street grid, designed to capture the daily news
agenda, but which invariably fall apart under scru-
tiny. Too many of these announcements appear
designed to sow division where none exists rather
than provide workable solutions to real problems
at a time of unprecedented challenges. All that thisPutin’s Plunder
No country should reward Russia by buying grain stolen from Ukraine
Russia’s assault on Ukraine is a campaign of
pillage as well as murder and rape. The Biden ad-
ministration suspects Russia may have expropri-
ated as much as 500,000 tonnes of Ukrainian
grain, worth $100 million, and loaded it on to ships
in the illegally annexed territory of Crimea. The
evidence is strong that this looting is taking place
to break the hold of sanctions on Russia’s eco-
nomy. It is essential these tactics be thwarted, and
that poorer countries tempted to buy illicit ship-
ments of plundered grain understand the long-
term costs of breaking the embargo.
Russia and Ukraine are big agricultural export-
ers. Between them, they produce a third of the
world’s grain supplies. Without the war, Ukraine
might have harvested 80 million tonnes of grain
this year. Production has collapsed and shortages
have driven up global wheat prices by a third.
Stockpiles of grain, which President Zelensky says
amount to 25 million tonnes, languish in silos
around Odesa and are rising. Ukrainian ships
cannot transport these stockpiles so long as Russia
maintains a naval blockade in the Black Sea.
This is a monstrous campaign of blackmail, in-Rainbow Nation
Avoiding complacency, the UK must welcome the success of Muslim integration
Social breakdown is easy to spot, social progress
less so. As we report today, a poll suggests that
more than half of Muslims in Britain believe their
lives to be improving, and 68 per cent recognise an
improvement in the participation of Muslims in
society, relative to five years ago. A sizeable major-
ity also believes that life is better for Muslims in
this country than in other western European
nations. Another poll, a week ago, saw almost a
quarter of all people citing Britain’s diversity as
among its best assets, with that figure rising to a
third for those aged between 18 and 24.
If these seem like modest successes, then it isSwitzerland: The former top Fifa officials
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini go on trial
accused of corruption (9am BST).
The sun had set and
the dusk was
deepening. In the
woods, individual
trees were merging
into a single,
darkening shadow.
Suddenly a loud croaking broke out. But
there were no frogs around, a woodcock was
roding. Woodcocks are dumpy, pigeon-sized
wading birds that spend most of their lives
hiding in the woods, only emerging at night
to feed in adjacent pastures. But in spring,
the male will conduct crepuscular flight
displays known as roding, in which the bird
flies repeated circuits round its breeding
territory on slow, staccato wingbeats.
Though the woodcock is often 100ft
above the trees, his frog-like call will
resonate through the still, twilit woods.
jonathan tulloch
In 1953 the US Supreme Court ruled that
restaurants in the District of Columbia could
not refuse to serve African-Americans.
Sir Michael Codron,
pictured, film and theatre
producer, owner of the
Aldwych Theatre,
London, 92; Emanuel
Ax, pianist, 73; Colin
Baker, actor, Doctor
Who (1984-86), 79; Prof
Sir Tim Berners-Lee OM, inventor of the
world wide web, 67; Timothy Burrill, film
producer, chairman, Bafta (1981-83), 91;
Mickey Bushell, athlete, Paralympic gold
medallist, men’s 100m (2012), 32; Gillian
Clarke, national poet of Wales (2008-16), 85;
Lindsay Davenport, tennis player, former
world No 1, 46; Julie Driscoll, singer, This
Wheel’s on Fire (1968), 75; Alan Farthing,
surgeon-gynaecologist to the Queen, 59;
Dame Helen Fraser, chief executive, Girls’
Day School Trust (2010-16), and publisher,
managing director, Penguin UK (2001-09),
73; Victoria Hislop, author, The Island
(2005), 63; Mick Hucknall, singer, Simply
Red (1985-2010), Stars (1991), 62; Shaparak
Khorsandi, comedian, president, British
Humanist Association (2016-19), 49; Mary
King, equestrian, Olympic silver medallist
(2004, 2012), 61; Millicent Martin, actress,
Alfie (1966), and comedian, 88; Robin
Mortimer, chief executive, Port of London
Authority, 50; Sandy Nairne, director,
National Portrait Gallery (2002-15), 69;
Nicky Oppenheimer, chairman, De Beers
Group (1998-2012), 77; Sara Paretsky,
novelist, the VI Warshawski novels,
Overboard (2022), 75; Michael Payton QC
(Hon), chairman, Clyde & Co solicitors, 78;
Nick Rhodes, musician, Duran Duran, A
View to a Kill (1985), 60; Prof Dame Louise
Richardson, political scientist, vice-
chancellor, University of Oxford, 64; Nancy
Sinatra, singer, These Boots Are Made for
Walkin’ (1966), 82; Jamie Spencer, flat racing
jockey, Irish (2004) and British (2005, 2007)
champion jockey, 42; Martin Taylor,
chairman, RTL Group, chief executive,
Barclays (1994-98), 70; Bonnie Tyler,
singer, Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983), 71;
Derek Underwood, cricketer, England
(1966-82), 77; Matt Windle, managing
director, Lotus Cars, 51.
“Science is competitive, aggressive,
demanding. It is also imaginative, inspiring,
uplifting.” Vera Rubin, astronomer, Bright
Galaxies, Dark Matters (1997)
Nature notes
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