A gunman walked into a Manila secondary school this morning and opened fire. Three people are dead. The shooter, a former student, reportedly held a grudge over bullying. He is now in custody.
The scene is chaos. Panicked parents. Screaming children. This is a story Westminster knows too well. The UK government has already issued a statement. 'Horrified and appalled.' Calls for international co-operation on school safety.
But here is the reality. This is not about international co-operation. This is about domestic failure. The Philippines has some of the world's toughest gun laws. Yet guns still find their way into schools. Bullying is endemic. The system is broken.
Westminster will watch this closely. The PM is facing pressure to 'do something' about school violence at home. But the numbers are clear. UK school shootings are rare. Knife crime, that is the real problem. This Manila attack will be used as a cudgel by both sides. The gun control lobby will demand more restrictions. The law and order crowd will call for more police in schools.
Neither will address the root cause. Mental health. Bullying. Isolation. These are the real killers. The PM knows this. But a good crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Expect a flurry of announcements. Working groups. Reviews. All the sound and fury of performative politics.
Inside the lobby, the chatter is about polling. The public is scared. They want action. But action costs money. And the Treasury is watching its pennies. The PM will have to balance rhetoric with reality. It is a delicate game.
For now, the focus is on Manila. Three families are grieving. A nation is in shock. The UK sends its condolences. But behind the scenes, the game continues. Power dynamics. Leaks. The struggle for advantage.
This is Eleanor Rigby. Reporting from the heart of Westminster. Where every tragedy is a political opportunity.
