‘Kerry Needham has carried a pain no parent should have to endure for 35 years – South Yorkshire Police’s decision to step back risks truth of what happened to him fading away altogether’
Ben search must go on
For 35 years, Kerry Needham has carried a pain no parent should have to endure. She has never stopped fighting to find out what happened to her little boy Ben after he vanished on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.
That is why South Yorkshire Police’s decision to step back from the case feels so devastating. Kerry’s fear is painfully simple. Without British investigators pushing for answers, the search for truth risks fading away altogether.
No family should be feeling abandoned after decades of courage, persistence and heartache. Ben mattered then, and he matters now. The contrast with the continued funding of the Madeleine McCann investigation will raise difficult and understandable questions.
Nobody is suggesting one missing child matters more than another. But every family deserves the same determination, support and commitment from the authorities. Kerry should not be feeling she is fighting alone.
Labour turmoil
Keir Starmer faces another tough week as Labour turns inwards when voters need leadership, discipline and focus. Squabbling on succession plans, leadership bids and Brexit arguments risks making it look more interested in itself than in the country.
Andy Burnham is pitching a new path for Britain. Wes Streeting is staking out bold EU talk. Jess Phillips is saying Starmer should not fight a leadership contest. And Lisa Nandy cannot confirm whether the PM will stand.
NHS waiting lists, household bills, the threat from Reform – these are issues that matter. Labour cannot afford months of internal warfare while Reform UK continues exploiting frustration and division. The party needs less briefing and positioning, and more governing.
Euro derision
Another year, another Eurovision disaster for the UK.
Look Mum No Computer stomped around in a pink boiler suit shouting about going to Germany to count to three. Europe again looked baffled… and who can blame them?
