It is hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would fire artillery shells at a nuclear power station.
But at the Zaporizhzhia power plant – Ukraine’s largest nuclear facility – that is exactly what Russian forces did in the early hours of yesterday.
This was either military incompetence on a massive scale or, more likely, state-sponsored terror to show that there are no limits to what Vladimir Putin will do.
Aghast at what the consequences might be, there is only one lesson to draw from the attack – whenever you think that Putin cannot possibly take an even worse step, whether it is polonium poisoning or obliterating cities, he will.
Video evidence of the use of illegal cluster bombs is now being gathered for the International Criminal Court, and the Met Police war crimes squad in London is on the hunt for evidence too.
Gordon Brown, an international statesman more regarded on the world stage than he is on his home heath, has called for a war crimes tribunal to be organised along the lines of the post-World War II Nuremberg trials.
Former prime minister Brown wants to see Putin held to account for the atrocities his forces are carrying out against the people of Ukraine.
The idea has plenty merit and should be backed because the violation of the international rules-based order cannot be tolerated or go unpunished.
Sarwar presents a positive vision
Anas Sarwar’s speech to the Scottish Labour conference was one of the best made by a leader of his party in years.
Confident and upbeat, he projected a positive vision of a future Labour Government in Edinburgh.
He also correctly identified the importance of winning back voters lost to the SNP over the last decade.
Labour used to run Scotland, but they now languish in third place after a series of electoral drubbings by the Nationalists.
However, wooing SNP supporters is a hard task, given how let down this group of voters feel with Labour.
Sarwar should have grounds for optimism though, given the appalling state of the Tories.
Boris Johnson in Downing Street is great news for the SNP, but it should also present opportunities for Labour.
Sarwar and Keir Starmer can credibly appeal to SNP voters at the general election to help kick out Johnson.
This may be Scottish Labour’s best opportunity in years.
