Daxa Patel

The death of Professor Jason Arday is presented as a warning about the racist and dehumanizing effects of intense public scrutiny. Drawing comparisons with the treatment of David Kelly and the spectacle surrounding Keir Starmer's political downfall, the column argues that social media has blurred fact and speculation, enabled judgment without accountability, and turned suffering into entertainment. It calls on institutions, journalists and the public to distinguish legitimate scrutiny from cruelty, prioritize truth over spectacle, and recognize the humanity of people at the center of public controversies.

Daxa Patel argues that victims and their families are repeatedly forced to fight for justice long after wrongdoing has been established. Using the prospect of early release for two men involved in PC Harper’s murder, the Hillsborough disaster, the Post Office Horizon scandal, infected blood, Primodos and maternity-care scandals, she criticizes government inertia, red tape and superficial apologies. Patel calls for investment in rehabilitation, action on the causes of crime, greater accountability across government, the judiciary and police, and a system that puts victims at its center rather than treating their suffering as a political talking point.