Joshua Rozenburg whines about the prisoner vote issue, though not for the reasons you might expect: The prime minister’s announcement that “prisoners are not getting the vote under this government” is profoundly depressing. I say that not because I have a strong view on the policy itself. I would be perfectly content, for example, for judges to deprive prisoners of their voting rights in the same way they deprive prisoners…
Chemistry teacher Jack Goodwin lost his job at Beverley Grammar School after being charged with causing grievous bodily harm. Mr Goodwin, whose father Chris is a former head teacher at the same school, is now appealing the academy’s decision to dismiss him. The 36-year-old faced a seven-month ordeal waiting for his court case, only to be told on the day of his trial the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was offering…
Richard Stallman on e-books and the restrictions they don’t share with traditional books: I love the novel The Jehovah Contract, and I’d like everyone else to love it, too. I have lent it out at least six times over the years. Printed books let us do that. I couldn’t do it with most commercial ebooks; it’s not allowed. And that’s not the only issue. Many other habits that readers are…
Official secrecy about schools’ exam results; official secrecy about climate data; official secrecy about the European Union; official secrecy about the ethnicity of malefactors; official secrecy about the true teachings of Islam – who can be surprised if our masters want to censor the facts about the distribution of violent crime about the nation’s capital? If we knew all about important stuff we’d likely do something our owners in…
A man seriously hurt in a car accident involving a driver with poor eyesight is urging compulsory eye tests for all motorists. Oh? When? Gareth Gault, 42, of the Grove, Southend, is backing a national campaign to force drivers to be tested before they are allowed a licence. Right. OK, well, we already (sort of) do that. You have to read a number plate at the prescribed distance, and –…
Lord Judge’s comments at the Royal Courts of Justice today follow a call by the independent Homicide Advisory Review Group for the mandatory life sentence for murder to be scrapped. The group, whose members include former judges, lawyers and prison governors, claimed the compulsory life term was “outdated” and “unjust” and that judges should be given the power to determine punishment on a case-by-case basis. Or, in other words, ‘My…
Oh yes, a law. God forbid that we should sit down and think an important decision through rationally. That would never do, so having done something remarkably silly that we now regret we should demand that the state protect us from ourselves. That’s partly so that nobody else makes the same mistake, but when it’s something really exceptional that very, very few other people are inclined to do in the…
No, this isn’t another incidence of crying rape when nothing happened, and to hell with the consequences on any man unfortunate enough to be picked up for it. This is sexual assault by a female, and for the benefit of any PC types and GROLIES who may have stumbled across this by accident and haven’t found the exit, yes you did read that correctly. Having ovaries is not some magical…
A showdown with the EU may come sooner than we expect. The European Commission has today threatened to sue David Cameron’s government unless it starts letting EU citizens come here to claim benefits. - Fraser Nelson Mr Cameron, you must roar Britain’s defiance at the European Union over this or the consequences for both you and the United Kingdom will be dire. These new proposals pose a fundamental challenge to the UK’s social contract [which…
…but I would ask this: Would you go to a doctor who used, as a pretext to banning a patient’s guide dog from her waiting room, the excuse that another patient’s mother had ‘liquid bones’? Or who segues instantly from the ‘Health and Safety’ excuse to the ‘I have a phobia!’ excuse when challenged? Punjabi, who said she is afraid of dogs, added that her request was polite. “We simply…
From the US, a story of religious discrimination. Yes, another one. Click for linky “Growing up in this country where the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion, I felt let down,” Khan, now a college student studying political science, said at a news conference. Basically they sacked her for wearing it. Now, Abercrombie & Fitch may be being unfair, especially as she says she was wearing the thing when…
Or almost dying, anyway. Meet Michelle Egglestone of Ballarat, a town in regional Victoria an hour or so west of Melbourne. Going for a quick number one could have killed her and in fact did inflict some pretty horrific injuries. Readers of a squeamish disposition may want to look away now for the next paragraph. Documents filed in the Supreme Court show she sustained pelvis and lower abdominal injuries, along…
It’s a bit like buses, you wait ages for one then 4 come along at once, or rather it depends on which part of the country you are in. Mail. A brave cashier managed to capture a violent mob who were smashing up a petrol station – but was forced to let them go when police failed to respond to a 999 call. Petrol station worker Malik Mahmood, 29, locked…
A carpenter called to fix a door broken by a burglar was arrested by bungling police – after he left his DNA at the scene as he did his job. /facepalm A forensic team found Mr Gaspard’s blood at the house after he cut himself while fixing the door in Hove. And, because his DNA was presumably on file for another unrelated issue, plod sticks the data in, computer spits…
Essex Police are lobbying the Government for a change in the law after a crash that killed a teenager in Colchester. Assistant Chief Constable Sue Harrison has asked for new powers to temporarily suspend a motorist’s licence if officers think they are unsafe to drive. And what has led to this? It comes after the death of Colchester Sixth Form College student Cassie McCord, 16. She died after Colin Horsfall’s…
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