Howard on law and order

So, Howard has spoken (courtesy BBC News). And for some truly fair-minded, reasonable, well-thought out comment, then see here.

Sorry, it just annoys me,that's all. It's easy to lay the blame at the straw men of "Political correctness" etc., but in actual fact, crime has been falling for many years now - the longest recorded fall in crime. To say that "liberal do-gooders" want judges to hand out lenient sentences, that you can get away scot-free because the legal system favours criminals is palpable nonsense (research shows that people regularly under estimate the sentences for various crimes - if I could find the link, I'd put it in).

The point is, we don't bang everybody away for life because that will worsen, not lessen crime and will waste even more, often young lives. We try to rehabilitate prisoners because doing so will surely better equip them for when they come out of jail - making life harsh for them will surely just embitter them and make them more like to re-offend. But this doesn't wash with the media, or Labour, or the Conservatives. They want us to be in fear, they want us to believe that only a tough, no-nonsense policy is in order. In actual fact, these seem to come round every year and, frankly, they get boring. No one wants to deal with the complexities of why crime exists, because that can't be summed up in a sound-bite, it's not a vote-winner.

Sorry, rant over. As you were.