Category Archives: The Telegraph

Sadiq Khan is considering a surprising initiative to stop the killings on our streets – a pilot scheme that would decriminalise cannabis in three London boroughs. Under-25s caught with the drug would no longer be prosecuted. These young people would be offered speeding course-style classes or counselling instead. Since he became mayor, Mr Khan has overseenContinue reading “Why is Sadiq Khan decriminalising dangerous drugs?”

Progressive millennials protest vehemently about racism, pronouns and the environment but have a blind spot when it comes to the odd line of coke. Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, wants to change all that. A new Government strategy aims to confront middle-class recreational drug users “with the violence of the drug trade” and “illustrate theContinue reading “The hypocrisy of ‘progressive’ middle-class drug users is ruining lives”

‘I was cycling along Regent Street with a friend when we ran into a Black Lives Matter demonstration. A young blonde woman in yellow dungarees blocked our way. My friend asked politely if she could move. “I’m protesting,” the young woman reproved in a nice, middle-class accent, as if waving a placard was a sacredContinue reading “Liberal elites are out of touch on law and order”

The rise in rough sleeping is a complex cocktail of immigration, crime and despair. On the streets of Manchester on a bitterly cold day, I met a teenage couple, in love but on the streets. Both had been in care. His leg was in plaster after a punch up. She was on the way toContinue reading “The homeless are not all helpless victims – and their needs are more complex than we admit”

To children, MPs and celebrities, Kids Company head Camila Batmanghelidjh seemed every inch the mother-figure. But is she a saint or sinner? Harriet Sergeant, who’s reported on the charity for a nearly decade, explains all. Charismatic, warm and cuddly in bright dazzling clothes, she cut an exotic but nurturing mother figure – as far awayContinue reading “Kids Company founder Camila Batmanghelidjh: How the world fell for this ‘ultimate matriarch’”

There is no doubt that many of Kids Company’s staff do a heroic job. But to succeed, charities need scrutiny as much as public support. Camila Batmanghelidjh, the flamboyant founder of Kids Company, is stepping down after 20 years as its chief executive. It is a dramatic departure: the Cabinet Office refused to hand overContinue reading “Kids Company: Did good PR mask deeper failings?”