A Civilised Demise.....

When the Howard League asked if I was interested in taking part in a debate organised by the HL student group at Nottingham University, I girded my loins for a long trek. When they told me the opposition was to be Philip Davies MP, and the topic was "life should mean life", then I instantly offered to start walking....

A quick search of the blog reminded me that I have said some pretty harsh things about Davies. And they were justified. People really shouldn't blather on about prisons unless they have some vague idea what the hell they are talking about - an idea anathema to some MP's, who will bleat in public about damn near anything just to hear their own voice.

The views of Philip Davies are, so I'm told, a reflection of those held by his constituents. Ah, democracy in action. Except that I expect political representatives to inform, educate and occasionally lead their constituents rather than allow them to fester in a cesspit of ignorance and bile. But perhaps I ask too much from our political class.

I will be extremely pleased to patiently disassemble the chant that "life should mean life", as I have done so on the blog several times. And as I am representing the Howard League, I will do so with the utmost civility.

But this will still be a massacre. For people who hold extreme views tend to paint themselves into a conceptual dead-end, and spend their time either defending the indefensible or retreating inch by inch from their absolutist position. And it is only then that the real debate can begin.

Me. Philip Davies MP. Nottingham University. Tuesday eve. Bring it on.....