Saturday 14 March 2009

Scots criminal age to go up to 12

Scots criminal age to go up to 12 (BBC News, Sunday, 1 March 2009)

The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is to be raised from eight to 12, ministers have confirmed.

It will bring Scotland into line with most of Europe,

Say again? Toddlers of eight years old can currently be prosecuted in Scotland?! In any case, "into line with most of Europe" is hardly accurate.

In Belgium the age of criminal responsibility is 18. The streets of Brussels and Antwerp must by now be empty, because all inhabitants have been mugged and stabbed by gangs of juvenile delinquents who are untouchable by the law. Funny, last time I was in Belgium I got a different impression and felt quite safe. At least the Belgian police doesn't go about shooting innocent people in the head (seven times, with hollow-point bullets).

Call for ban on military protests

Call for ban on military protests (BBC News, Saturday, 14 March 2009)

Well, well. The self-proclaimed champion of civil liberties wants to curtail civil liberties. Who would have thought. The sooner Labour is defeated in humiliating and utterly devastating elections the better, but head for the hills by the time the Tories take over. The right to protest is a cornerstone of democracy. And if not against the state, especially sections of the state that have a monopoly on violence, then what's the point of protesting?

"What I'm suggesting is that British soldiers, who I think are our finest young men and women, the cream of society, should also be protected from that sort of gratuitous abuse they experienced last week," he said.

David Davies also seems to think of himself as the cream of society. So the next bill he is going to table calls for a ban on protests against self-important, hypocritical, opportunistic, death-penalty supporting, twopenny swindlers.

"If they were anti-war protesters, they should have come down to Parliament and protested in a peaceful way," he said.

You may protest, but only on our terms. I think that is called 'state-organised protest', perfected to an art form by such countries as Syria and Iran.

He also called for charges brought against individuals in Luton who allegedly hurled abuse at the protesters to be dropped.

You cannot abuse anyone, except people we don't like.

See also:

Tories' pledge (The Guardian, Monday 2 March 2009)
The Conservatives' pledge comes as the party also continues to demand repeal of the Human Rights Act. In a message of support to the convention the Tory leader, David Cameron, condemned the act for providing a "veneer of respectability" to the erosion of civil liberties under Labour.

Versus:

Tories to review Human Rights Act (BBC News, Monday, 23 August, 2004)
The 1998 Act has given rise to "too many spurious rights" [...]

So in 2004 they wanted to scrap the Human Rights Act because it gave citizens too many rights. In 2009 they want to scrap the Human Rights Act because it gives citizens too few rights. Whatever way the wind blows.