If I keep agreeing with Ken Clarke, will I end up becoming a Tory?? Clarke muses. That's unusual for a senior politician, where every utterance is pored over and recast in the media's outrage. But it is interesting, an acknowledgement that politics - and criminal justice - is more complicated than uttering inane certainties.
So he wonders about the tariff portion of Life sentences, that element of 'punishment and deterrence'. In particular, why being murdered with a knife should lead to an automatic tariff of 25 years? This is becoming known as "Ben's Law", after Ben Kinsella.
I distrust any law tagged with an individual’s name. It reeks of political manoeuvring, of playing to the gallery in the cheapest way. And, in logic, why should the method of murder determine the sentence? Being killed is all the same, no matter the instrument of destruction.
Clarke's musings were reportedly slapped down by Cameron. Pity. More of our leaders should indulge in public musing, explore the details and basis of policies. It recognises that life is complicated and not always amenable to simplistic solutions. And if the voter can be persuaded of that, then they may stop pestering politicians to deliver silly solutions which aren't actually solutions at all.
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'Being killed is all the same, no matter the instrument of destruction'.
ReplyDeleteWell clearly it isn't or are you saying your crime is at the same level as a chld rapist and murderer who tortured his victim to death.
Which is exactly what you have been arguing in mitigation for years.
I do like this idea of named laws and petitions, a return to hanging for the next child killer is long overdue
@anon, as i read this, ben was referring literally to the "instrument of destruction". Why should someone who kills with a knife receive a longer tariff than one who kills with a gun or a rolling pin? Fair point, isnt it? And pray tell us, just when has ben pleaded any mitigation? I cant find it on the blog.
ReplyDelete@anon, does this mean you want ben dead? And what good comes from more killing?
ReplyDeleteAnon1, I take it you are a screw?
ReplyDelete@anon1, when did ben plead mitigation? I cant find it on the blog.
ReplyDeleteCome on anonymous answer the question? 'does this mean you want Ben dead?'
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to do an awful lot of killing if that's the case, because we are all Ben (if you read the comments on the blog you will see this quite clearly)
Ken Clarke is the closest thing we have to an independent MP within a political party in the UK with a voice that is actually reported. I like him. Didn't always, but he should have been put in the top job after Major. The UK would be a little different today, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteAnon1, if you are a fan of named laws and petitions, let's start with named commenters, shall we? Who are you? What are your contact details? I want to take this up with you.
ReplyDeleteBack to what you say, Ben, I begin to fear that the hated coalition will soon appease the baying mob somewhat by hurling Ken to it. Then we'll all be back in (all-too-) familiar territory.
@ Anon #1. You truly sum up the moronity of those who are not interested in justice, only revenge. Wake up, smell the coffee, it doesn't work!! Ken Clarke has and hopefully will continue to be the voice of reason on this subject. Nice to see you Mad Albert, and thanks Ben, great post
ReplyDeleteTo echo Charles Cowling's comment Anon 1 you are a coward, it is easy to say things like that and hide behind anonymity. Give yourself an identity and tell us the reasons behind your viewpoint so that we may perhaps understand it better.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Ken Clarke, I admire him immensely because he is not afraid to say what he believes to be true, though it makes him unpopular with 'the masses'. He is in politics for the right reasons. (And I'm not a Tory).
Well, for the victim, a murder has only one outcome, ie death, but as an ex-con, i have spent lots of time with lifers. There is a world of difference between someone like the Yorkshire ripper and that ilk, although there are few of them (the trouble is mad people are unpredictable),and a woman who has suffered years of abuse and kills her husband in an out of character rage one night. Every story i ever heard was different. So you can't generlise. Though in a womans prison, most stories start with. "Well, i met this bloke......" and it's all down hill from there. Anon #3 (because i don't know how to set up a name) on and by the way, i don't agree with anon #1, but you only have to go on the daily mail or sun on line to see many people think like s/he does.
ReplyDeleteCameron is a positive whipper-snapper compared to Clarke. Where does he get the audacity to 'slap down' a vastly more experienced and it would appear more thoughtful politician?
ReplyDeleteCameron is a populist bimbo 'celebrity politician' right out of the same plastic mold as Blair, there's just a different serial number tattooed on his ass.
Like it Gaina!
ReplyDelete