trousers

The police "aren't interested" because they know the scumbags will get a slap on the wrist and let back out into the community. Again, if the deterent was high enough there would be less crime in the first place. In my example, rhe deterent for someone throwing stones at Stu's car will not be high enough to prevent it happening, or at least significantly reduce the likelihood.

Why would raising deterent levels across the board increae the prison population? The greater the punishment the more thought people are likely to give before committing the crime in the first place? Using an extreme to illustrate a point, if the punishment for driving over the speed limit was having my gonads removed by a meat cleaver I can assure you that I would studiously drive everywhere at 20 mph.

They "supported" the 'Liberals' at the election as a side effect of falling out of love (temporarily) with Labour. I doubt they support them with as much passion post-election... Does the Telegraph, for example, rely on "sensationalist half-truths" or did you sneak in a cheeky apples vs oranges comparision there...? ;-)

It's debatable whether the 'tit for tat' posting links to left and right wing articles offers a balanced view per se, rather it offers two polarised views. What would be good in this game of 'my link is better than your link' would be people referring to articles that are not written by publications or authors with a political agenda. But back in the real world....

Exactly

Of course, there are two ways of dealing with "disproportionate" sentences.... (a) increase the sentences for "vile" crimes Or (b) decrease the sentences for "football violence"

Just for balance, would be good to post an article about the first budget under the Thatcher government and why that was needed.

Mike Swartz

Aye. It's quite simple isn't it?

Stu - if I was to come around your house and throw stones at your car causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage, what punishment would you be happy for me to receive? Or, in other words, what level of punishment would you put in place that would deter me from doing it in the first place? Genuine question.

Nice shot. Put me down for an assist... ;-)

A devil's advocate might argue that taxes might actually be higher if there was no crime - just think how many jobs rely on the existence of misbehavior. If all those jobs were to go then the tax take would drop per head thus forcing up the average. Or something.

Nearer 98% of us I would venture. I rarely post anything intelligent

Yep, that too

Football ticket prices would be cheaper if the police weren't required to deal with human beings who can't act civilly in the first place. I'm not happy having to pay this hooligan tax...

Brian

I can't see the cents in that

I'm an idiot

If you don't mind me asking, what size chest are you sir? I usually get an XL but have a feeling they have come up larger than previous kits from what I've read.

Cheers for the replies. I guess it's a bit of a double edged sword for public sector pension schemes. If they choose to invest their fund on the open market they (potentially) grow the fund to the benefit of their members but if it all goes pear shaped then there would be uproar. Interesting conundrum. Would be interesting to learn what % of public sector pension funds are invested in the stockmarket and thus rely on a bouyant private sector.

A genuine question that I know not the answer: where do public employer pension schemes get invested into? Stock Market? Govt bonds? Post office account? Genuine question born out of sheer ignorance

In. A. Nutshell Believe it or not, most 'man in the street' Tory voters like myself would love to see the bankers that flouted the poorly regulated system hung from the nearest champagne bar by their gonads, but we are also mindful that, like it or not, it's these very scumbags that got us in the mess in the first place (on top of Labour's debt they'd already amassed) that are best qualified to get us out of it (or rather their more scrupulous counterparts) Yes, it's an unpalatable conundrum (head vs heart) but without a return to a better regulated version of the capitalism the western world ultimately relies upon (again, like it or not) then the country is going to be left with a whole generation of people like me who have earned a decent average wage but with a (hard earned) private pension fund that is worth sod all. I'm not rich nor am I poor but without a bouyant financial sector I fear for my retirement. The richer the bankers get the healthier my 'little man' future is too. Is that "fair"...?

P.s. Sigh

Sorry, you've lost me there....probably my fault to be honest as I am without brain... which of my dumb comments alluded to the withdrawal of 'free' healthcare? By the way, rest assured that the city of "soton" is not blighted by my lack of intelligence as I don't live there. Just to correct that particular false assumption... ;-)

Lol at the human race thinking they can take a random planet in a random universe and make it "fair".