Watch this excellent interview by @michaeljswalker with Yvette Cooper - the architect of the ban on PA and the extraordinary use of terrorism legislation against people protesting over it. Thousands have now been arrested, including large numbers of older protesters. Yet when Walker confronts Cooper with the consequences of the policy she introduced as Home Secretary, there is remarkably little sign of accountability. Instead, she shifts responsibility towards the current Home Secretary, as though this were somebody else’s problem rather than the direct consequence of a decision made on her watch. And when the questioning becomes uncomfortable, she reaches for successes elsewhere - the political equivalent of pointing at something shiny and hoping everyone forgets what they just asked. It is breathtakingly cynical. Cooper was perfectly willing to exercise the enormous power of the Home Office, but appears far less willing to confront what happened when that power was actually used. Yvette Cooper reminds me of the worst Boris Johnson instinct: do something deeply controversial, refuse to properly engage with the consequences, then brush past it by talking about something positive. Whatever your view of PA, thousands of arrests under terrorism legislation are not some inconvenient detail that a former Home Secretary should be permitted to shrug off. This interview demonstrates exactly what I find so utterly awful about Yvette Cooper’s politics: enormous power, precious little accountability, and an apparent belief that responsibility can simply be passed to the next person when the consequences become uncomfortable. The country deserves far better from those entrusted with this level of power. Her conduct here is disgraceful. If she had an ounce of integrity she would resign.