The killing spree by criminals supposedly being monitored by privatised probation services leaves the Tories responsible for this carnage with blood on their hands.

Destroying the service was a fatal mistake, and reversing this foolish commercialisation of public protection will come too late for those already grieving over lost loved ones.

Of all Chris Grayling’s blunders, and there were many, privatising the probation service while he was Justice Secretary ranks among the very worst.

He ignored the warnings with a deafness the Tories still apply in other areas – from the pain of Universal Credit to the compelling case for the renationalisation of the railways.

Expensive mistakes are harder to take when those failures were predicted.

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  Probation scandal as freed criminals ‘monitored by firms' murder every four days

When the Conservatives value ideological madness over common sense, it is always going to end in tears.

Those who have lost their loved ones are entitled to be furious.

Uncivil war

Home Secretary Priti Patel is accused by her top civil servant of being a shouting, swearing, bullying boss – behaviour that, if true, demeans her high office.

The extraordinary public conflict between the minister and her departed permanent secretary – who rejected a pay-off in return for his silence – is more than a Whitehall spat.

It is a glimpse into the disturbing culture of Boris Johnson’s government, a regime in which politicians and special advisers act as if normal standards of behaviour do not apply.

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  Priti Patel's husband calls her 'my personal piranha' as she's hit with complaint

The Prime Minister may soon find the entire Whitehall machine grinding to a halt.

Because in all organisations, if the head fails to take people with them, they’ll find they are against them. And deservedly so.

Flood & tears

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  UK weather: Family's house almost completely underwater in shocking flood photos

The heartache of the flood victims whose homes are swamped must be unbearable.

Their misery is why the Government must build better defences and fix a climate crisis.

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