Crime and Punishment

The small stuff I am currently sweating:

Eurovision

Why?

Co-op checkout offers.

I had always thought that Co-op was one of the more socially and environmentally aware supermarkets.  So why then, do they insist on ‘offering’ foreign strawberries and 200g chocolate bars (that’s approx  525 cals and 29g of fat) for £1 at the check out and actually ASK you if you want one.   Not least this goes against efforts to improve eating habits/prevent obesity; but also clutters up the counter and puts the busy shopper at risk of shoplifting (ie absent -mindedly put into bags with purchases).  Surely it must annoy staff too?  More on food lifestyles later.

Murder of policemen – new ‘Life means Life’ tariff.

Sorry, I simply don’t get the need for a separate tariff for one specific victim group.  If life means life – surely that should so be regardless of the age, gender, occupation or anything else of the victim. 

Prison is about three things isn't it?

• ·         Punishment -  So how long a perpetrator is incarcerated, and what restrictions (loss of privilege etc) are placed upon them  should have a much tighter range.  And it should be adhered to by judges.  If there are extenuating circumstances, these should be clear and stated  and likely to have the charge reduced to Manslaughter.  Personally, I am not sure that ‘Life’ is a cure all sentence for many murders.  It weights too heavily on the punishment angle. 
• ·         Protection – so protect the public for as long as the person is deemed a threat – no longer.  It costs way too much.
• ·         Rehabilitation – key to reducing prison population and re-offending.  It costs but should be managed in a  way that cutting length of sentence and re-offending offers a longer term saving.

My ‘Crime and Punishment’ manifesto includes:

Criminals who do not pose a threat (such as wayward MPs, one off fraudsters and various grades of low  level crime) should be put on probation and community service or low paid labour/training programmes in order to ameliorate some of the costs of their misdemeanours as well as serve as rehabilitation and mentoring.  For drug related crime (or drug addicted criminals) a properly thought through rehab programme.

More to the point, any reform of Police and Prison service, along with Health, Social welfare, Education etc should be taken out of direct government control and placed under a cross party group for review, implementation and on going management. 

The Political System and the BIG issues.

The BIG issues facing modern life and politics will take so long (two generations or more) that no single government can hope to change them slowly enough with the public crying for quick fixes and voting them out as soon as they falter.  This swings and roundabouts system needs to be remodelled. 

The organisations of national bodies are far too large and unwieldy to offer the level playing field, so beloved of MPs of all colours, that actually IS fair to all.  Fairness comes in degrees and is influenced by local deviations from the baseline.   More on playing fields in forthcoming messages.

That’s all for now folks.   Lots of thoughts scratching to get out.  Watch this space.
p.s.  Apols for formatting errors - just getting to grip.