Skip to main content
Josephine Corcoran - Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says sorry
Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says sorry
The Head of the Metropolitan Police gives evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee about three girls missing in Syria

Clearly it’s a terrible situation
That they find themselves in
Having lost their daughters
In such a horrible way.

I can only half imagine
What a parent is going through
So in that sense
I am sorry they’re in this situation.

I’m sorry we gave the letters addressed to them
To their daughters.
The letters telling them their daughters
Were friends with a girl who’d gone to Syria.

It must be horrible to know
That Shamima, Amira and Kadiza
Aged 15, 15 and 16
Have left for Syria

To join Islamic State.
I can only half imagine.
Clearly it’s a terrible situation.
In that sense I am sorry.




The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Cartoon: McGookin
Clacton / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026

The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum

21st Century Poetry / 8 July 2026
8 July 2026

by Rosie Jackson

bounds
Poetry review / 18 March 2026
18 March 2026

ALAN MORRISON recommends a consummate, heart-warming collection about a working-class upbringing in the industrial north-east

ALL TOGETHER: Workers from all industries join the ‘mega picket’ — mass solidarity action to support the Birmingham bin strike organised by Strike Map, July 25 2025. Photo: Henry Fowler
Features / 29 August 2025
29 August 2025

Since 2023, Strike Map has evolved from digital mapping at a national level to organising ‘mega pickets’ — we believe that mass solidarity with localised disputes prepares the ground for future national action, writes HENRY FOWLER