𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

There is something deeply depressing about a British council having to hire private security guards to patrol town centres, but perhaps what is even more depressing is why it has come to this in the first place. Reform-run Essex County Council has launched Operation Vanguard, deploying six security operatives across Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester after residents raised concerns about groups of male asylum seekers gathering in town centres.

The council says the scheme is specifically intended to reassure residents, particularly women and girls, following complaints about anti-social behaviour. The guards will patrol seven days a week for an initial three-month trial, and I say good. Not because I want Britain to become some dystopian place where private security guards patrol every high street – I absolutely don’t. But because there is something successive governments have repeatedly failed to understand about immigration and community relations – perception matters.

You can produce stats, spreadsheets and pie charts until the cows come home. You can tell people that crime figures do not support their fears. You can accuse them of exaggerating and of xenophobia, but if a woman doesn’t feel comfortable walking through the town centre, telling her she is statistically safe isn’t going to magically make her feel safe. That distinction matters.

On the flipside we should not lazily assume that every asylum seeker hanging around a town centre is committing a crime. Being a migrant, standing in a group or getting on a minibus isn’t a criminal offence. But equally, allegations of harassment or intimidating behaviour shouldn’t simply be dismissed because politicians are frightened of where the conversation might lead. The situation is hardly going to become less contentious either, as the Government intends to increase regular capacity at nearby RAF Wethersfield from 800 asylum seekers to 1,245, while seeking to keep the site operating beyond 2027. Essex County Council says up to 17 minibuses already travel from Wethersfield to Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester each day.

That is a significant impact for local communities, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. This is why I think Reform deserves credit for actually responding to what residents are telling them rather than waiting for tensions to boil over. And here’s the other thing, these patrols aren’t only useful because of concerns surrounding Wethersfield. Town centres across Britain have become increasingly lawless-feeling places anyway.

Shoplifting in broad daylight, anti-social behaviour, threatening groups, drug dealing and drug taking – none of that requires an asylum seeker. If six visible security guards deter British-born idiots from nicking booze from Tesco or intimidating pensioners, even better. The three-month trial is capped at £150,000, funded from an existing council reserve rather than an increase in council tax. We’ll eventually be able to judge whether it worked, but the principle is simple – people should feel safe in their own communities, and when they tell politicians that they don’t, the answer cannot always be: “Well, the statistics say you should.”

What exactly do you have to do to go to prison these days? Former Greater Manchester Police officer Michael Aspinall, 35, was found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child after communicating online with people he believed were children. Thankfully, he was actually talking to a copper.

Yet despite being convicted, Aspinall received a suspended sentence. A suspended sentence! So a former police officer convicted of child sex offences gets to walk out of court rather than straight into a prison cell. How can anybody have confidence in a justice system that produces outcomes like this? I’m pleading with Andy Burnham: if we’re so short of prison spaces that someone convicted of offences like these doesn’t have to spend tonight behind bars, start looking at who we do lock up.

I’d sooner see prison reserved for dangerous sexual offenders than people whose offences pose far less direct risk to the public. I’d even rather see non-violent Just Stop Oil protesters dealt with outside prison if the alternative is convicted child sex offenders avoiding immediate custody. This country has got its priorities completely backwards. Aspinall may have been communicating with an undercover officer, but he believed he was talking to kids – that’s the point. If offences involving the attempted sexual targeting of children don’t warrant immediate custody, what does?

Netanyahu hates questions

Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants new laws allowing Israel to strip citizenship from people who “defame” Israeli soldiers. I wouldn’t say that’s the best look from a public relations perspective.

This follows the fury surrounding NAZA, the award-winning documentary by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, which contains testimony from military and intelligence insiders alleging disturbing practices during Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Israel’s military strongly disputes the film’s portrayal, but Netanyahu’s response troubles me.

If Bibi is trying to convince the world that his government is on the right side of history, threatening the citizenship of Israelis who publicly challenge the actions of their own military is not the way to do it. Nothing screams “we’re an honest government” quite like threatening people who accuse you of dishonesty.

Israel has every right to challenge allegations it believes are false – so produce evidence, rebut the claims and sue for defamation where the law allows. But stripping somebody of their citizenship for criticism? That crosses a very different line. A confident and honest democracy doesn’t need to silence its critics.

I was shocked and deeply saddened last week to learn that my friend Bonnie Greer had died. Pretty much everyone lucky enough to meet Bonnie will tell you what an extraordinary person she was – sharp, witty, talented, intimidatingly intellectual, yet endlessly curious.

I first became friends with Bon Bon, as I affectionately called her, after we worked together on a few TV shows. We immediately hit it off, and over the years she became one of my greatest mentors. Bonnie leaves a huge mark on British culture and media. I’ll miss her wisdom, her wit and her friendship. The world feels a little less sunny without Bon Bon in it.