No Death Sentence for Anders Brievik, Then?

I haven't really followed much about the Anders Brievik story, except the headlines that he killed 77 people in two separate attacks, and that his maximum prison sentence will be 21 years (although that may end up as life imprisonment).

Can you imagine the furore if it had happened in this country? "Animal!" Placards waving. Protests. Marches. Lack of respect for authority.

What kind of society is so accepting of not having a death sentence for such a heinous crime? When the court started assembling for the sentencing on Friday morning I ran some thoughts through my own head. "He killed 77 people. What would you do to this guy? Shoot 77 bullets into his own body? Tear him apart bit by bit? Hang him?".

Well, that's something Bedfordshire top Tory Richard Stay would presumably want. He clearly promotes bringing back the rope to the UK, for people who murder.

I pulled myself into check. This is happening in Norway. They don't behave like that. Why not? Have they ascended to a higher plain? A less knee-jerk society? A collective respect for their laws?

The Independent‎ - Leading article: "Anders Breivik trial exemplified Norway's strengths". Strengths? Ah, that'll be their Liberal society. "...the humanity, dignity and lack of panic with which Norway's leaders responded to the country's most heinous act of terrorism...", "confronted with an extreme atrocity, its social tolerance and respect for the law remained intact."

Aslak Sira Myhre writing in The Guardian "I am... proud to live in a country where my want for revenge does not define the judicial system. "

Way to go Norway. After all, the young lives cut down by Anders Breivik cannot be brought back.

Down the Plughole One By One, or Brace Together?

Jeepers, we're in for a tough time ahead.

Looks like there is an agreement to bail out Spanish banks as their economy is swirling around the plughole... Greece is already further down the plughole and will default again soon... and the rest of us are likely to be sucked down by the inertia, too, before long. How to persuade people to keep their nerve?

How long can ordinary folk, more interested in EastEnders, The Simpsons, or simply finding the time to run from one job to another, spare any precious time to start to understand the issues?

So, to stop us swirling down the plughole into the swamp it looks as if the EU Commission will propose a banking union, this Autumn, to end weak national regulations. And there'll be a bank deposit scheme to restructure the risky banks, and close down the worst.

Fiscal union plans coming up in October, making tax-payers across the eurozone having to assume joint and several liability for a portion of national debt.

December - and we're promised plans for political union, accountable to the European Parliament. No throw-away cheap words from Homer Simpson to "get out of Europe" will make it go away.

Actually, all this could just salvage the euro and make it a welcoming place.

But Dave, the PM, says he won't let Britain join this federal union. (Mrs T. blue rinse, "NO" NO" NO".) Most Tories will be happy to see Britain detached from the EU. Hague has launched a white paper to review the EU and UK relationship, and de-construct the laws that bind UK to the Union.

While the rest of the EU draws up plans to hold hands and brace against the swirling current towards the plughole by making plans for a stronger union,  Britain runs the other way! It's almost laughable when you read this sentence in Hague's paper, "This Government is committed to playing a leading role in the EU and protecting the UK's sovereignty."

And what is London good for, if not financial services? If Britain goes down this isolationist route they shouldn't expect any favours in the City. Why should the other countries care? And that won't bode well for jobs, pension funds, and everything that goes with it. We could just be heading over to a dried out corner of the sink on our own.

Election Boundaries

It looks as though the hopes of the Tories getting an easy ride into Parliament next time are not going to happen. That would have happened, of course, if the proposed boundary changes go through, and the number of MPs in Parliament is reduced from 650 to 600. Much of Dunstable would be lumped in with north Luton, separating Houghton Regis from the market town it gave birth to.



But Nick Clegg has vetoed the change, so Dunny will stay with its older parent, Houghton Regis, and Tory Dunstablians will be spared the potential embarrassment of possibly joining in a Labour constituency. So, though they may not be totally in tune with the idea, Andrew Selous and his band of followers are probably quietly thanking the Lib Dem leader for his intervention. To keep the current South West Bedfordshire constituency intact, will suit the Tories just fine.


GUARDIAN

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