John Reid calls in the army
Posted July 22nd, 2006 by Davide Simonetti
John Reid wants to use the army to punish young offenders.
John Reid wants to call in the army to deal with young offenders to "provide structure to their lives", according to leaked internal Home Office emails.
He also believes that offenders sentenced to community punishments should demonstrate their "penance and contrition" and be put in uniform so they can be seen to be repaying the community.
The leaked emails reveal the new home secretary's highly punitive agenda and the fact that he wants to go even further than the 24-point "get tough" criminal justice package he unveiled on Thursday.
The leaked emails can be seen here (pdf).
Has anyone consulted our overstretched military on this initiative?
I can see it now, all those
I can see it now, all those less serious offenders he wants to be seen to be tough on picking up litter by the side of the highway (sorry A road) in orange 'Guantanemo Suits'. I wonder which group of visionary neo-cons this idea was pinched from? We all know that strong punishment in criminal justice has effectively eradicated crime over there.
As for the more serious offenders perhaps this is John Reid's British twist on Ayran Nation spotted in Baghdad as are the Crips and the Bloods. Our military suffer recruitment problems at the moment and lose many troops as soon as they are allowed to resign their comission. This plan would enable Reid to re-stock the Iraq / Afghanistan cannon fodder bins without resorting to conscription.
Lets face it, Iraq and Afghanistan are full of US undesirables with govt issue guns already and surely sending them to Iraq for 6 months has got to be more effective than an ASBO.
This is a truly new labour plan, bringing many benefits to the current Cabinet, they will be able to crow about;
Of course the general public may spot the problem in a few years time when our streets are full of well trained, co-ordinated and professional thugs with excellent weapons, hand to hand combat and capture evasion skills.
Isn't the Home Office's
Isn't the Home Office's Respect Squad working then? Not enough squaddies?
I fear John has been
I fear John has been watching too much reality TV.
REALITY SHOW: Bad Lads Army: Extreme
On: ITV1 London (3)
Date: Tuesday 25th July 2006 (starting in 3 days)
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)
Survival.
The lads embark on survival training. As paras they must learn how to survive out in the wilderness at any cost. In the absence of running water they must use mess tins to wash each others' difficult to reach bits, and they have to forage for food - worms and insects are on the menu. Their first church parade proves an emotional time for Private Bourne, who weeps for his late father. That evening's sleep-out is the last straw for Privates Jensen, Smedley and Woodforth - who make a run for it.
I'm reminded of the episode
I'm reminded of the episode of Yes, Minister (or was it Yes, Prime Minister in which Jim Hacker attempts to reintroduce National Service to an "oh, my God, he must be stopped" from the armed services…
It appears that the Government didn't do their Basic Viewing on entering office.
What's going on over there?
What's going on over there? Sorry I've been absent, but work's been a bitch. Is Blair gone yet? Has he rubbed up against Angela Merkel like his role model did? Have we won the war?
Hmmm, haven't we been here
Hmmm, haven't we been here before... some time last year...
www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/201
Blogenfreude, I thnk Blair is still around, kinda like herpes. He's fawning over Merkel, who doesn't seem too impressed, and as for the war, which one?
Does Reid believe that the
Does Reid believe that the military are sitting around with sod all to do? After all, he was in charge of the nation's defences a few weeks ago, so he just might have some idea as to what resources are available.
What's happened in the meantime? Have we suddenly withdrawn from Iraq, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan etc, etc? Maybe we can just get those chaps in the Navy to stop messing around in the Lebanon and get on with doing the more important things, like sorting out our disaffected youth.
Another crass 'initiative' from the alarmingly talented and intelligent Dr Reid (PhD!!).
Reids's an idiot!We don't
Reids's an idiot!We don't have enough soldiers as it is and those we do have are dangerously overstreached,almost to breaking point,and I'm sure that they would realy appreciate having to pamper to a load of juvenile scumbags in their "downtime" between wars!What we need is a proper criminal justice system that actualy punishes the deserving,and deters anyone from wanting to commit a crime because the penalty is so severe!Unfortunately the spineless "Politically correct nazis" who masquerade under the title of "Government" lack the necessary moral fibre or backbone to implement such a policy!Until the "Politburo" get a grip we are all going to suffer with crime increasing on an almost daily basis!
Indeed, that is the standard
Indeed, that is the standard response to the 'a bit of National Service is what this country needs' argument - it's the last thing the military want. They've successfully turned themselves into a highly motivated defence force/neocon mercenary outfit (delete as inappropriate) and are trying to keep that going in the face of declining morale and recruitment and increasing overstretch. This will be quietly dropped as soon as serious men in big hats and medals manage to back Doctor Death into a corner.
I'm wondering quite what this week's blizzard of Home Office initiatives is designed to conceal. Is there anything bad going on in the world that could usefully be buried beneath it?
Is Lord Cashpoint too
Is Lord Cashpoint too old?
Lost in France...