Star comment: Pain for us all as Putin's war rages on
The myth of sanctions is that we can somehow penalise such dictatorial regimes as Vladimir Putin’s without inflicting hardship on others. It is a fallacy, of course, and sanctions hurt us just as they hurt others.
Yet the pain that the Kremlin is feeling will be considerably greater than that felt by our own society. We have all felt the pinch in recent weeks as the cost of fuel has escalated, with some filling stations now charging a little under 190p per litre for diesel. It is beyond what we might have imagined as recently as January and is destined to rise further.
Yet our options against a man who bombs innocent civilians and whose soldiers shoot bullets into convoys of cars carrying children are limited. Putin is a barbarous killer.
His soldiers are trying to starve a city of 350,000 and there are children dying today of dehydration.
In the face of such state-sponsored terror in Europe, the like of which we have not seen since Hitler’s savagery during World War II, we must stand firm.
Yet we must also be cautious when Ukraine asks us to close the skies, for Russia’s leader has a vast arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons and has already used chemical weapons, including in the UK, in Salisbury.
An escalation of the conflict could lead to devastation on a terrifying scale.
Closer to home, fuel poverty is the flipside of the sanctions coin and many in our region are making tough choices – heat or eat. In Putin’s war on Ukraine, there are no winners.
People locally, just like those in Ukraine and Russia, are feeling the pain. As hard as it is, we must be steadfast for Putin will exploit any weakness.
Ten years after the murder of Tom Kirwan his family cannot find peace.
They still do not know who carried out the murder of the 23-year-old, a Bridgnorth warehouse worker from Wolverhampton.
Now the reward has been increased for information leading to a conviction, and the case has been featured on Crimewatch.
Detectives were faced with a scene outside a nightclub that was chaotic and crowded. They have been faced with the difficult task of establishing who carried out the murder, without the aid of CCTV.
We can hope that the extra reward and the appeal on Crimewatch brings a breakthrough.
Someone out there has the information and they owe it to Tom’s family to come forward.; they have shown great dignity, determination and bravery in their campaign to provide justice for their beloved Tom.
