The whole question of convicted prisoners and their entitlement to vote has been floating in and out of the public eye recently, prompted by a decision in the European Court of Human Rights which stated that all prisoners have a basic right to vote. Quite apart from the effect this has had on our glorious leaders (politicians), who have been running around resembling decapitated chickens ever since, it also set me to thinking as well. I am sure we all remember the case some years back when a farmer in Norfolk was charged with a very serious firearms offence after using a shotgun to defend his life and property from some armed burglars who had, in fact, attacked his home several times previously! We all know of the occasional case where a burglar, injured by accident in the act of burglary has then had the cheek to sue the householder/businessman concerned for accident damages! What makes all this worse is that the ‘goodie’ in all of these cases has been the one who has been subsequently in a whole load of grief and trouble. It seems to me that something has gone seriously wrong somewhere in our legal system. Something akin to a cart being placed before the horse. How can it be that a burglar breaking into my house can subsequently sue me if he falls down the stairs and twists his little finger? Have we all gone barking mad?
Of course, we have previous administrations to thank for selling us down the river to our european friends – I use that word advisedly. Not everybody knows this, but we have actually agreed that any ruling or decision by a European court will take precedence over decisions in out own courts of justice. So if a french judge sitting in a court reaches a decision in Brussels that no-one in the EU can wash their car on a Sunday, guess what? You will no longer be able to wash your car on a Sunday. (This is already the case in Germany so watch this space – you heard it here first). Whatever sovereignty we had managed to claw onto was finally given away by Mr Blair a few years ago now, and we are thus reduced, in legal terms, from an independent country to merely a state in the great republic of Europe. There are a good many men and women buried in war graves from the first and second world wars that must surely by spinning in their graves by now. What did they give their lives for? What they won for us through their unselfish sacrifice, our politicians have given away over the past 20 years. We have been successfully invaded by stealth!
So where does all this leave us now? We have a judicial system that will work provided that no-one tells the european courts what has been decided. We have politicians who apparently cannot even cough without cowering in fear of what may follow from Brussels. We have Police Forces that have been so undermined by ‘do-gooder’ politicians, and pink, fluffy judges, that they no longer feel motivated towards even trying to enforce our laws and knowing that, even if they do, it will likely be thrown back in their face on appeal to Europe. And now Europe have decided that these convicted law-breakers should have the power to help elect the next parliament/district council/city council etc. So now they can burglarise our houses, stub their toes on the dining room table and sue us (successfully), be convicted in our courts and, whilst they are waiting for the European Court to overturn their conviction, they can vote in the next government on the promise of en suite bathrooms in prison!
Don’t you think it is high time this was all stopped? I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of leaving the EU; suffice to look at the plight of our poor convicted criminals. It is about time that people took into account the fact that these prisoners, at some time, made a conscious decision to step outside the law and commit offences. They didn’t burgle our houses by accident, or break our bones in vicious assaults without realising what they were doing! They deliberately too a decision to place themselves outside the laws of this country in order to commit their illegal acts, which in every case injures a law-abiding citizen in one way or another. Surely it is time to say to them that, as they freely and deliberately chose to step outside the law in pursuit of the nefarious deeds, so they should forfeit any protection or privilege that would normally come to law-abiding citizens. When they step outside the law, they should automatically have all the protection and privileges of the law withdrawn from them immediately. No more suing of householders protecting their families and homes, AND NO MORE VOTING FOR THE IDIOTS WHO LED US INTO THIS UNHOLY MESS !
christopherchaplin 
Votes for Prisoners ?
The whole question of convicted prisoners and their entitlement to vote has been floating in and out of the public eye recently, prompted by a decision in the European Court of Human Rights which stated that all prisoners have a basic right to vote. Quite apart from the effect this has had on our glorious leaders (politicians), who have been running around resembling decapitated chickens ever since, it also set me to thinking as well. I am sure we all remember the case some years back when a farmer in Norfolk was charged with a very serious firearms offence after using a shotgun to defend his life and property from some armed burglars who had, in fact, attacked his home several times previously! We all know of the occasional case where a burglar, injured by accident in the act of burglary has then had the cheek to sue the householder/businessman concerned for accident damages! What makes all this worse is that the ‘goodie’ in all of these cases has been the one who has been subsequently in a whole load of grief and trouble. It seems to me that something has gone seriously wrong somewhere in our legal system. Something akin to a cart being placed before the horse. How can it be that a burglar breaking into my house can subsequently sue me if he falls down the stairs and twists his little finger? Have we all gone barking mad?
Of course, we have previous administrations to thank for selling us down the river to our european friends – I use that word advisedly. Not everybody knows this, but we have actually agreed that any ruling or decision by a European court will take precedence over decisions in out own courts of justice. So if a french judge sitting in a court reaches a decision in Brussels that no-one in the EU can wash their car on a Sunday, guess what? You will no longer be able to wash your car on a Sunday. (This is already the case in Germany so watch this space – you heard it here first). Whatever sovereignty we had managed to claw onto was finally given away by Mr Blair a few years ago now, and we are thus reduced, in legal terms, from an independent country to merely a state in the great republic of Europe. There are a good many men and women buried in war graves from the first and second world wars that must surely by spinning in their graves by now. What did they give their lives for? What they won for us through their unselfish sacrifice, our politicians have given away over the past 20 years. We have been successfully invaded by stealth!
So where does all this leave us now? We have a judicial system that will work provided that no-one tells the european courts what has been decided. We have politicians who apparently cannot even cough without cowering in fear of what may follow from Brussels. We have Police Forces that have been so undermined by ‘do-gooder’ politicians, and pink, fluffy judges, that they no longer feel motivated towards even trying to enforce our laws and knowing that, even if they do, it will likely be thrown back in their face on appeal to Europe. And now Europe have decided that these convicted law-breakers should have the power to help elect the next parliament/district council/city council etc. So now they can burglarise our houses, stub their toes on the dining room table and sue us (successfully), be convicted in our courts and, whilst they are waiting for the European Court to overturn their conviction, they can vote in the next government on the promise of en suite bathrooms in prison!
Don’t you think it is high time this was all stopped? I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of leaving the EU; suffice to look at the plight of our poor convicted criminals. It is about time that people took into account the fact that these prisoners, at some time, made a conscious decision to step outside the law and commit offences. They didn’t burgle our houses by accident, or break our bones in vicious assaults without realising what they were doing! They deliberately too a decision to place themselves outside the laws of this country in order to commit their illegal acts, which in every case injures a law-abiding citizen in one way or another. Surely it is time to say to them that, as they freely and deliberately chose to step outside the law in pursuit of the nefarious deeds, so they should forfeit any protection or privilege that would normally come to law-abiding citizens. When they step outside the law, they should automatically have all the protection and privileges of the law withdrawn from them immediately. No more suing of householders protecting their families and homes, AND NO MORE VOTING FOR THE IDIOTS WHO LED US INTO THIS UNHOLY MESS !
Posted by christopherchaplin on 11/02/2011 in Discussion Points ?, Politics, Rants, Social Commentary, Thoughts and Ruminations, UK