While I think that there probably are cases where torture could be ‘effective’, in the vast majority of cases I think it does more harm than good. Has the intelligence gained through Guantánamo Bay been worth the negative effect of having a centre for torture? Almost certainly not. Would the conviction of a few criminals be worth the damage to the reputation of the Police? No.
But I do think that, in Britain at least, the criminal justice system has swung far too far in favour of the criminal. It is now just far too difficult, and too expensive, to convict the guilty, and when they are convicted too expensive, it seems, to actually keep them locked up.
And really that’s what it comes down to in the end – money.
No, I don’t want to infringe anybody’s human rights but I’d much rather live in a society where the state knew who was in the country, who everybody was, where my DNA was kept on file and where if I was suspected of a crime I could be kept under surveillance, my phone could be tapped, my e-mail opened and under interrogation I could be given a ‘truth serum’ (should such a thing be developed).
Why? Because I’ve got nothing to hide…
…and because while I don’t like any of those things I’d be prepared to accept them if it meant that my house was less likely to be burgled, or my car stolen or that I (or my family) would be less likely to get blown-up in a bus, or shot during a robbery, or stabbed for ‘disrespecting’ somebody!
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