Shockat Adam MP: speeches

Speeches

• 22 Jul 2025 · Birmingham Bin Strikes · Hansard source

  More

  I, too, thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) for tabling this urgent question. I also thank the Minister for his answers, and I sympathise with his position, but replacing this workforce, policing the dispute and paying the legal fees has cost the already overstretched council £4 million. All the while, the good people of Birmingham—the very people who voted in a Labour council and many Labour Members of Parliament—are living in foul misery. Does the Minister agree that it would save millions of pounds, improve our relationship with the dedicated bin workers and restore a basic necessity to the people of Birmingham if he intervened to get us out of this stink?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Humanitarian Situation in Sudan · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Lady for securing this really important debate; it is often said that Sudan is the forgotten conflict. Does she agree that we must urge the United Nations to enforce its resolution 2736, which mandates lifting the siege, particularly in the city of El Fasher, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  Sadly, both universities in my constituency, De Montfort University and Leicester University, are on the verge of making hundreds of redundancies and even shutting down complete faculties. What financial commitment is the Department making to secure academic jobs, especially in subjects such as chemistry, humanities and languages, rather than making short-term cuts?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

  More

  Last week, as a Minister met Yair Golan, shaking hands, smiling and taking photographs, a Palestinian mother faced a dilemma: should she stay where she is and see the starvation of her children, or should she venture out and see the children being blown to pieces, adding to the 17,000 others who have died and the 10 a day whose limbs are blown off? These children do not need these empty words. Words will not stop their bleeding, they will not stop their killing, they will not nourish their bodies and they will not stop the tears of their mothers. I agree with the Secretary of State that even recognising the state of Palestine today would not make any difference to the children on the ground, so will he take a tangible step and propose a British-led, internationally supported hospital in Gaza, in partnership with a coalition of the willing, to provide some remnants of humanity in this darkest of hours?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Autism and other neurodiversity conditions in children present challenges to any parents, but sadly stigma and ignorance remain particularly high in some communities, including some parts of the South Asian community. This already adds deep emotional strain to families suffering and navigating complex journeys. That is why the Leader of the House will join me, I am sure, in congratulating sisters Shamina and Hawa Khan, who have just opened Café Neuro in Leicester South. It is a warm welcoming space that is offering not just tea, samosas and sweet treats but training, advocacy and community support. If the Leader of the House is ever in Leicester South, I would be delighted to share a masala chai and samosa with her there.

• 17 Jul 2025 · Strategy for Elections · Hansard source

  More

  According to the latest British social attitudes survey, 60% of the British public now support proportional representation. Given that mayors will be elected under this system from 2027 onwards, why does the Minister refuse even to consider that fairer system so that by the time the next general election comes along, voters will have their views more fully and fairly represented?

• 17 Jul 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

  More

  I refer the House to my registered interest as a small business owner. Retailers in my constituency, including city centre retailers, tell me that they are on their knees, crippled by soaring costs, rising national insurance contributions, rising antisocial behaviour, expensive and poor parking, and a lack of any city centre regeneration. These long-standing independent businesses—the lifeblood of our community—are now considering closure. Has the Minister considered their clear ask, which is reducing or freezing business rates, and having affordable and accessible parking and community-focused events to revive our high streets?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Freedom of Religion or Belief: UK Foreign Policy · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for the brilliant, nuanced speech that he is making about our role and its importance. Does he agree with me and with Amnesty International that there are more than 1 million Muslim Uyghurs in prison camps in the Xinjiang region of China, and that we can work effectively by ensuring that products made in that region, for example cotton, do not find their way on to the high streets in this country?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for giving way, especially as she is making such a powerful speech. Yesterday, I went to an event with Health Equals, which has shown that where a child is born can lead to a 16-year discrepancy in life expectancy due to poverty. Does she agree that some form of legally binding poverty reduction target scheme could be put in place, as in Scotland, so that we can measure our progress?

• 14 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  A new report by Crisis shows that only 2.6% of rental properties in my area of Leicester South are affordable to those on local housing allowance. That is a real-terms cut as rents soar, because the Government have frozen housing benefit until 2026. Will the Secretary of State explain how that freeze aligns with the Government’s aim of reducing homelessness, and will the Government urgently review the cap so that people can afford to keep a roof over their heads?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  I always recall a patient of mine who was diagnosed with glaucoma at a very late stage. She came into the practice with a wad of cash and said, “Give me the best glasses and lenses you have, so I can see again.” Unfortunately she had glaucoma, and the vision was lost. There was nothing that money could buy.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That this House has considered glaucoma awareness. It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship for the first time, Mr Pritchard. I thank all right hon. and hon. Members for attending this important debate. First, I declare my registered interest as a practising optometrist for the NHS. As an optometrist for many years, I have had the privilege—sometimes the heartbreak —of looking into the eyes of people whose lives are changing without their even knowing about it. Fundamentally, that is what glaucoma does: it changes lives quietly, and often without warning. Last week was Glaucoma Awareness Week because many people are not aware of the condition. At this point, I applaud the work done by Glaucoma UK to raise awareness of the condition. It is known as “the thief of sight” for very good reasons. Broadly speaking, glaucoma damages the optic nerve. The optic nerve is made of millions of little nerves and bundles, and each part of the nerve represents a single point in our visual fields. Because vision loss begins at the edges, people do not often realise that anything is wrong until it is too late. I would like to give two brief but real examples from my experience. First, a woman came into my practice who had been hit by a car, while in her own car, from the side, not once but twice. She came in and read out the bottom line—the tiniest letters that can be seen—and could not understand why she kept missing things on the side: in this case, cars. It became apparent that she was a quite advanced sufferer of glaucoma, and she had lost the majority of what we call peripheral or side vision. Another memorable patient was a gentleman who was brought in kicking and screaming by his wife because he kept knocking off the salt, pepper and ketchup from the dinner table. It became apparent, again: he could see everything clearly straight ahead, but he really could not see anything on the side. He also had a very advanced form of glaucoma. Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness in this country, with over 700,000 people affected, but the shocking thing is that more than half of them—350,000 people—are undiagnosed: they are walking and driving around not knowing that they have the condition. They could be one of us—somebody we love, or somebody we work with, as was the case of a former Member of Parliament of this parish, Paul Tyler, a Lib Dem Member, who was diagnosed at a completely routine eye test. In his own words, he might not have been able to carry on his duty as a parliamentarian if he had not gone for a simple eye test where they detected glaucoma. Twenty-five years later, his sight is still preserved.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman may have read my speech when I was not looking, as I am coming to that point in a little while. Regular eye exams are the frontline of glaucoma detection, yet one in four people in the UK is not accessing any form of eye care at all. Minister, we should begin with a mandatory sight test for drivers. The UK is the only country in Europe that gives lifelong licences until the age of 70 without requiring an eye exam. Earlier this year, a coroner in Lancashire issued a prevention of future deaths report linking a fatal crash to undiagnosed sight loss. This is no longer just a health issue; it is a public safety one. We can also incentivise eye tests, perhaps through reduced insurance premiums, employer wellbeing programmes or GP-led initiatives. For those over 40, when glaucoma risks are higher, every routine health check should include a simple question: “When did you last have your eyes tested?” Finally, we must consider innovation. Most glaucoma patients are prescribed lifelong eye drops, but there is poor compliance. Mr Pritchard, imagine that you were elderly and trying to open up a bottle of eye drops and bring it to your eyes. It is very difficult, especially with arthritis and tremors; difficulty inserting the drops remains a major challenge. But new options are now available. One is called minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, which can delay or even eliminate the need for drops. I urge the Minister to explore commissioning MIGS, especially for suitable patients undergoing cataract surgery. Everybody who lives long enough will need to have a cataract operation. If they are also suffering with glaucoma, we can stop the disease in its tracks before it causes irreversible harms. It is critical that patients with glaucoma who need cataract surgery are able to discuss options with their glaucoma consultant, because if MIGS is not performed during cataract surgery, it may be eliminated as a future option. The total cost of visual impairment in the UK is now £26.5 billion. That is projected to rise to £33.5 billion by 2032. Glaucoma alone accounts for £750 million, according to the College of Optometrists, and most of that burden falls outside the national health service in lost productivity, in formal care, in people having to give up work to look after family who have lost their sight and in a completely diminished quality of life. In fact, 41% of people surveyed reported severe financial impact due to sight loss, often followed by depression, anxiety and social withdrawal. This is a silent epidemic and it all leads to a low score in every perceivable index. But it is not inevitable. We already know what works and we already have the workforce and technology. What we need now is collaboration from the optical and ophthalmic industry and a political will. That will help us shift care from hospitals into the community, bring eye care into the digital age and help us prevent sickness such as glaucoma, saving the sight of millions in the future. Let us act now while we can still see what is around us.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  It has been a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I thank each and every hon. Member for their contribution. I think we have achieved the first objective, which was to raise awareness of glaucoma, and we should keep the conversation going. As my neighbour, the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) said, we have an ageing population. If nothing is done, very soon there will be more than half a million people walking around with this condition. That is why it was pleasing to hear that the Minister remembered our meeting, which was early on in our tenure; I can assure him we will continue to have that meeting every time he sees me about eye health. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people in the Public Gallery: we have people from the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, the General Optical Council, the College of Optometrists and Glaukos —my apologies if I have forgotten anybody there. We must utilise optometry as the primary eyecare provider that it is, and treat it as such, equivalent to how we treat our GPs and pharmacy colleagues. We need a statutory framework to regulate the whole process of detection, monitoring and treating glaucoma. Working collectively with the optical and ophthalmic bodies and the Government, we can surely do our best to keep people from suffering preventable sight loss and the devasting impact that that has on their lives. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered glaucoma awareness.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  I could not agree more. If we achieve that one thing today, we will have achieved a great milestone. In its early stages, glaucoma has no symptoms, pain or warning signs—just a slow, silent theft of vision. By the time it is noticed, the damage is permanent; it is as if the fire has gutted the house before anybody has even smelled the smoke. That loss has far-reaching consequences. People lose not only their sight but, more importantly, their independence—their ability to drive, read, cook or even leave the house. Falls increase, isolation grows, and then come the emotional and mental health impacts: fear, depression and loss of identity. At this point, I quickly pay homage to charities such as Vista in my constituency, which has offered valuable support for people living with visual loss. On the subject of depression and identity, I want to share a moment that has stayed with me; it concerns a rare condition that many people do not know can be a consequence of vision loss. A woman, diagnosed with glaucoma, phoned my clinic, deeply distressed. She said a child was following her—but no one else could see them. She was terrified that she was losing her mind. In fact, she had a condition called Charles Bonnet syndrome, a common but under-recognised condition in which the brain fills in visual gaps with vivid hallucinations. Many people never mention it, understandably fearful that they will be labelled as senile or unstable, and so they suffer in silence. Esme lived with Charles Bonnet syndrome for over a decade, haunted by hallucinations that she knew were not real. Her daughter, Judith, now champions awareness through the incredible organisation, Esme’s Umbrella. These are not clinical oddities; they are real human stories, and far more common than we acknowledge. We are now facing a growing crisis. Work done by the Association of Optometrists, Primary Eyecare Services and Fight for Sight has shown that glaucoma cases are expected to rise by 22% in the next 10 years and 44% in the next 20 years. That is hundreds of thousands more people needing care, follow-up and support, yet we already have the tools to stop this. I would like to frame this, Minister, around the three bases of the Government’s own proposals for tackling healthcare. First, we must move from hospital to community. Patients are losing their sight not because care does not exist, but because the pathway is broken and follow-up is delayed. Just recently, a patient of mine was referred to hospital and diagnosed with glaucoma—fine, no problem there. The initial appointment happened without any problems, but the follow-up was postponed. Then the patient missed her appointment, and the one after that was postponed again. By the time I saw that patient again, just over a year later, they had lost two full lines on their visual acuity chart—the chart used by the optician. That is two lines that this patient will never, ever get back. That is the difference between being able to read letters or not; between seeing a grandchild smile or only hearing them. One of the problems is that current waiting list data measures only first-time appointments, not the ongoing care vital to chronic conditions such as glaucoma. We need published data on follow-up waiting times, because that is where sight is being lost. That data would allow patients to make an informed choice about where they would like to receive treatment. Here is the reality: hospital ophthalmology is the largest outpatient specialty in the NHS, with 8.9 million appointments in England in 2023-24, according to the College of Optometrists. It cannot carry that load alone. The answer lies in the community. There are over 14,000 qualified optometrists in England, providing more than 13 million eye tests. They are trained, regulated and ready to help. Community glaucoma services led by optometrists have already demonstrated the ability to reduce hospital referrals by up to 79%. If we implemented a nationally regulated programme, it could free up 300,000 hospital appointments a year. That is not a one-time saving, because glaucoma is a chronic condition. People are not cured of it—they live with it, and must continue with recurring appointments for the rest of their lives. Shared care would allow faster appointments, earlier diagnosis, less vision loss, and critically, more time for hospital ophthalmologists to treat complex cases. It could also save the NHS an estimated £12 million annually. Wales has already adopted this model; England should do the same. Yet fewer than one in five areas in England offers this service. It is a postcode lottery—one that punishes the most vulnerable, especially given that people from black and Asian communities are up to four times more likely to develop glaucoma and often have the least access to care. We need to raise awareness and create the statutory framework so that everyone—GPs, pharmacists, the public—knows to go the optometrist for an eye test. We need a national roll-out of a statutory integrated glaucoma pathway. Secondly, we must move from analogue to digital; lack of digital connectivity is another major obstacle. Many optometrists are unable to send digital referrals to local hospitals. Some do not even have access to NHS email and we still cannot access shared patient records. That means crucial information such as medication, medical history and images get lost, delayed or duplicated. This is 2025. It should not be easier to get a takeaway delivered than to refer a patient with a sight-threatening disease. To move forward, we need access to NHS email for all primary eye care providers; shared patient records between optometrists, GPs and hospital services; and an efficient two-way electronic referral system. That kind of interoperability is basic infrastructure and would transform the speed, safety and continuity of glaucoma care. Finally, we must move from sickness to prevention. The final and most important pillar is prevention.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

  More

  The Crown court backlog stands at approximately 73,000 cases annually, and rape and sexual assault trials in Leicester Crown court face delays of up to three years. What steps is the Department taking to reduce that backlog and ensure that serious offences are brought to trial more efficiently to prevent further trauma for victims and the miscarriage of justice?

• 2 Jul 2025 · Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism · Hansard source

  More

  I came to this country as a child; it nurtured, educated and embraced me. I love this country for so many reasons, but for two reasons more than anything else, I suspect. The first is for its sense of fairness, and the second is for the freedom to express how we feel democratically. That is why I speak specifically about Palestine Action when I say that if we proscribe this organisation under the Terrorism Act, we will for the first time in this nation’s history outlaw a domestic protest group as a terrorist organisation. Britain has a proud and often hard-fought tradition of civil resistance. We remember with reverence the suffragettes, who were branded as criminals for smashing windows but are now celebrated as heroes of justice. We remember the civil rights movement, in which protesters occupied streets and broke unjust laws to dismantle segregation. We remember the global campaign against apartheid—which included Ministers in this House—where people of conscience defied authorities, trespassed and disrupted in the name of ending a brutal system. The very freedoms we hold dear today—votes for women, racial equality and the end of apartheid—were born not from men and women in suits in this establishment, but from people out there. It is that tradition that we are about to disrupt today. This decision, which has been rushed through Parliament in a matter of days and bundled with unrelated, foreign neo-Nazi groups and debated for mere minutes, is a reckless abuse of process. It denies Parliament the gravity of deliberation that this issue so badly demands. The proscription has already been condemned by a vast range of people, from Sally Rooney to Lord Falconer, and that will continue. Even worse, this statutory instrument risks criminalising anyone who supports, sympathises with or even publicly praises the aims of Palestine Action. It opens the door to the prosecution of journalists, filmmakers, campaigners and politicians for doing nothing more than expressing solidarity. This is Orwellian dystopia on steroids. Let us ask ourselves honestly: if we set this precedent, who will be next? History will judge harshly those who choose silence in moments of moral testing. I urge my colleagues not to allow this dangerous step to go unchallenged. Do not allow a Home Secretary, in a moment of political expediency, permanently to expand the reach of anti-terror laws into the heart of a domestic protest. Do not let this House be the one that shrank the boundaries of freedom of expression. We owe it to those who fought so hard for our freedoms, dared to dissent and refused to be silent—let us summon their courage now. I urge colleagues to vote against this proscription, and to protect our democratic tradition and our right to protest.

• 2 Jul 2025 · Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism · Hansard source

  More

  Does the shadow Minister agree with me that, if the only acceptable form of protest is polite protest, that is not protest, but permission?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I have been sitting here for over four or five hours, and there have been so many changes and concessions that I really do not know what we will be voting on. This is no way to bring in a Bill, when it is so important to people’s lives. The independent alliance stands firmly against the Bill, because it is unfair and unworkable. No Member should, in good conscience, vote for it. Of course, abuse of the welfare system is unacceptable—we all agree on that—but the Bill does not target fraud. It targets the most vulnerable and most needy in our communities. There have been some excellent and very powerful contributions, and, like everybody else, I have constituents who have shared their story. Jo, a constituent of mine, is actively suicidal. All sharp objects and medications have been removed from her home. The only reason Jo is not in hospital is that there are no beds available, yet Jo has been told she is not ill enough to qualify for PIP under this system. Is this the kind of society we want to build? The Bill is not just unfair; it is unworkable. The Government are asking Members to vote for cuts now based on the promise that they will help people back into work in future, yet the supporting evidence from the OBR will not even be available until October. The process has been rushed, the consultation inadequate and the system proposed cruelly simplistic. Scoring four points on a single activity will become the deciding factor in whether somebody receive life-changing support. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, cutting disabled people’s benefit will not magically create suitable jobs, especially in those areas of the country that have long had a weaker jobs market. A disability that is close to my heart is visual impairment. There are 2 million people in this country living with visual impairment, which is set to double by 2050, yet 25% of employers would not be willing to make workplace changes for employees with a visual impairment, and 48% did not even have an accessible recruitment process. There is nothing addressing this issue. Government figures estimate that these changes will push approximately 150,000 people, including thousands of children, into poverty. There is no credible employment support plan for them. There is no guarantee that those whose conditions fluctuate will be treated fairly. These changes will disproportionately punish people with mental health conditions, like Jo. Politics is not a game. We cannot balance the national budget on the backs of disabled people, and the public know this. I will be supporting the reasoned amendment tabled by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell), because this Bill is simply unfair, even though I am not quite sure what it stands for at the moment. It is unworkable and unworthy of this House’s support. I urge all Members to do the same.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T2. In response to my written parliamentary question, the Minister for the Armed Forces said that the Ministry of Defence assesses support to foreign forces on “a case-by-case basis. UK training courses promote British values, including human rights…and…international humanitarian law.”How does that response square with our continued support of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza? Will dual nationals serving in the Israel Defence Forces be held accountable?

• 24 Jun 2025 · War Memorials · Hansard source

  More

  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship for the first time, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for securing the debate. Like everybody else, I will speak about the importance of war memorials, not just as statues but as living symbols of remembrance that link our past to our present and help us shape the future that we want to build together in this country. Each war memorial—a cenotaph, a plaque or something practical such as a hospital wing or a bus shelter—is unique. These monuments build cohesion and serve as a method of remembrance for local communities. Sometimes the names etched on memorials are the only place where those individuals are remembered, so it is vital that we preserve them. Through them, we honour the sacrifices and courage and—a vital point in this divided and polarised world—our shared history.

• 24 Jun 2025 · War Memorials · Hansard source

  More

  I agree: that local link with the community connects the past and the future. As we remember, we must also reflect. It is painful to acknowledge that the stories that we tell through our war memorials have been incomplete for far too long. Animals that were sacrificed in the war efforts were rightly honoured with a national memorial in Hyde park in 2004, yet black and Asian soldiers who fought, bled and died for Britain have only recently begun to receive dedicated recognition. That is a shame that we as a nation must not shy away from. More than 1.3 million soldiers from British India, including 400,000 Muslims and 100,000 Sikhs, served with dignity and honour in world war one. More than 53,000 lost their lives, and at least 2.5 million Muslim soldiers and labourers from across the globe supported the allied war effort. In fact, more than 9,000 soldiers from Palestine fought for Britain in world war two, and yet their stories remain largely erased from our national consciousness. As recently as 2021, a report from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission concluded that hundreds of thousands of predominantly black and Asian service personnel were not formally commemorated like their white comrades—a legacy underpinned by systemic racism at the time. Who we remember and how we remember them matters, especially in these times of amplified fault lines. War memorials are not just stones and bronzes, but teaching tools. They are historical touchstones that allow young people to understand the past and the diverse sacrifices that were made in building this country and defending its freedoms. Excluding the contribution of black and Asian soldiers distorts our understanding of our shared history. I am proud that in my city of Leicester, we now have a statue commemorating Sikh soldiers. It was unveiled in 2022, making it a long-overdue tribute to a community that made up more than 20% of the British Indian Army during world war one. I also welcome the plans to erect a national Muslim war memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. That monument will finally give permanent recognition to the service and sacrifices of Muslim soldiers who fought for this country. There is still much more to do. War memorials must do more than help us remember. They must tell the truth fully and fairly, and help us understand that British history was not built by one group alone but by people from every corner of the world. Memorials are and must always be more than stone and metal; they are symbols of our history and, when reflected accurately, our unity.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  Earlier this month, the US President ordered the brutal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, and called those protesting against these raids “paid insurrectionists” and “criminal invaders”. A few days later, a gunman assassinated Democratic politician Melissa Hortman. In recent months, figures associated with the US President have spread disinformation and polarising rhetoric via social media, even targeting a Government Minister. I am sure that the Secretary of State agrees that this level of political violence—

• 23 Jun 2025 · Severely Disabled People: East Worthing and Shoreham · Hansard source

  More

  I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as an officer of the all-party parliamentary group on eye health and visual impairment. A recent freedom of information request by the Royal National Institute of Blind People found that thousands of recipients whose primary health condition is listed as eye disease are set to lose out from the reforms to PIP, with referrals to the RNIB’s counselling services more than doubling since the Secretary of State announced the reforms. There are over 3,500 people in Leicester with sight impairment. What is her Department doing to help those constituents, given these harmful changes to PIP?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

  More

  The most in-depth study ever conducted of the casualties of the so-called war on terror was carried out by Brown University in America, which found that, directly or indirectly, more than 4.5 million people lost their lives partly because of what was voted for in this House. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the only way in which this conflict can be resolved is through diplomacy, and can he assure the House that he will not follow the last Labour Government and the mantra of the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair when it comes to America’s bombing a middle eastern country—“with you, whatever” —and lead this country and the world into the abyss?