More Meddling with the Justice System

Labour’s former respect Tsar, Louise Casey, has come up with some more “reform” proposals to deal with the perception of a problem:

“She says people do not believe crime has fallen, and think the law is stacked in favour of offenders’ rights.” (source) What is at issue here are people’s beliefs about crime, not actual crime figures. This kind of emphasis is not surprising among the post modern left: once you accept that facts are mere social constructs, it becomes unimportant how high the incidence of crime really is. Note also the notion of offenders’ rights: this very categorisation takes it as given that people are known to be offenders in advance –quite a different notion

David Davis’ Campaign Site is Up and Running!

David Davis for Freedom

Three Cheers for David Davis

If the purpose of David David’s resignation was to provoke an in depth debate on the erosion of civil liberties and keep the issue in the news, then he seems to be succeeding. Here is some recent coverage from Philip Johnston in the telegraph:

“There are several layers to be addressed: the extension of the criminal law to penalise bad behaviour; the proliferation of state databases carrying personal information and so violating individual privacy; and the expansion of the surveillance society, acknowledged only last week by the Commons home affairs committee. Mr Davis may be quixotic, but he is not imagining these things; most of them have happened in the past 10 or 15 years.

Debating Ireland’s No Vote – German Style

Die Welt, one of Germany’s leading broadsheets accompanies an article about Ireland’s No! vote on the ‘Lisbon Treaty’ with a short online poll. The question asked is: “What should the EU do if the Irish reject the Reforms?” The possible answers: 1. Exclude Ireland immediately, 2. Revise the Lisbon Treaty, 3. Continue the Reforms without Ireland, 4. Ask Ireland to vote again.” The possibility

Two Reactions to David Davis’ Resignation

From Conservative Home: “There is a gulf between the reactions of the Westminster village and the general public. The villagers are interested in David Davis throwing away the chance to be Home Secretary and what this means for Project Cameron. Most of the public is simply applauding a politician who has resigned his seat on an issue of principle. They’re impressed. ” (Source)

Camilla Cavendish on the Oversized State …

“It’s not just the cash. Every new agency, every new initiative, nudges down the ratio of normal citizens to busybodies. Britain is starting to feel like a nation of traffic wardens. The mentality of officialdom is increasingly malevolent.

(…)

In a free society, rights and laws protect people from the government. In a tyranny, rights and laws protect government from the people.” (More)

John Major on Civil Liberties

“I don’t believe that sacrifice of due process can be justified. If we are seen to defend our own values in a manner that does violence to them, then we run the risk of losing those values. Even worse, if our own standards fall, it will serve to recruit terrorists more effectively than their own propaganda could ever hope to.”

Read the whole thing here.

Is a Ban on Cars Coming?

“Just as a packet of cigarettes carries a mandatory health warning, a performance car advert may be forced to carry a climate hazard alert” writes the telegraph. If what happened to cigarettes is anything to go by, the EU seems to plan a ban on cars. With car manufacturers forced to fund an advertising campaign to prepare the public for the eventual move towards prohibition.

(See also: German Socialist Eurocrat warns of Eco-totalitarianism)

Developmental Aid Workers Are Killing Africa

Spiegel-Online’s Thilo Thielke on development aid:

“Development aid is a planned economy, even if it doesn’t have a plan. The belief that food shortages can be overcome in a planned economy is one that has already proved disastrously wrong in the former Soviet Union, North Korea and Cuba. One has to feel sorry for the Africans for their continued role as human guinea pigs.

(…)

The main reason that there is starvation in Africa is that there are no profits to be made in cultivating or trading foodstuffs. Either developmental aid ruins the profits or corrupt leaders rob their people blind. There’s hardly a country in Africa where private ownership rights are enforced; everything belongs to either the clan or the state.”

Read the rest of the article here.

A cure for Jihad?

Jacqui Smith’ idea that Jihadis should receive counselling instead of punishment is receiving some well deserved ridicule. Doesn’t it seem odd indeed that advocates of holy war are offered therapy while those criticising the ideology underlying Jihad can expect to be prosecuted for insulting religion?

Yet, what seems crazy to