I’m usually resistant to the sentiment behind one of the oldest political jokes: How can you tell when a politician is lying? His lips move. In my experience – I’ve been in and around Westminster for nearly four decades – most politicians might have large egos but they are genuinely trying to do their best for their country. The idea that all politicians lie with impunity is corrosive and wrong. But it’s not always easy to make that case. And the wilful, brazen smearing of Kemi Badenoch by Reform over her reaction to the murder of Henry Nowak is one such example of that difficulty.

Yusuf’s hypocrisy would be laughable if the issue at the heart of all this – the murder of a young man – was not so tragic

Yusuf’s hypocrisy would be laughable if the issue at the heart of all this – the murder of a young man – was not so tragic

Speaking on yesterday’s Good Morning Britain, the Conservative leader set out her admirable approach: “I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter. We all matter. Enough of this nonsense…”

Her comments were immediately used in an attack ad by Reform, taking her phrase “I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter” and contrasting it with words she used in 2020: “Black lives do matter”. The intention is clear: look at this black woman, who doesn’t give a damn about whites and cares only about blacks.

As I say, I’ve been around the block a bit, but in all those decades I’ve never come across a distortion as........

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