the Belgium Air Force is looking into industrial cooperation and offset for its F-16 replacement program.
since it is to late to enter the F-35 JSF program, the Gripen-E/F has a conciderable chance of being a favorite for the 40 aircraft requirement.

i think, in terms of costs, capabilities and NATO-compatibility, the Gripen is ideal for Belgium.

Agreed. I would have thought so too for the Netherlands and Denmark, but the Netherlands is still sticking with F-35. Politics could scupper this deal too.

There is no such thing as certainty, and we already use the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ burden of proof to convict people of all felonies, so there would have to be an even higher level of proof than that.

In any case, people have been wrongfully convicted of many things over the years, including murder. We have no reason to assume that the justice system would be any less fallible if we re-introduced the death penalty.

On another measure, I simply do not think the state should ever hold a mandate to be able to kill one of its citizens. I don’t trust it to. From the many comments on here, we know what a dog’s dinner our politicians can make out of any policy, from immigration to defence, and yet there are people clamouring to let them design a legal framework where the end result is execution?

I think we should also look at most murders with a degree of pity. Though there are some that are just unspeakably terrible individuals, I’d wager that a high proportion of them are mentally ill, as are many prisoners for all crimes. This doesn’t excuse their crimes or mean we have to forgive them, but executing the mentally ill? That’s the best solution?

Capital punishment won’t bring back the dead. It won’t be foolproof. It won’t act as a deterrent (otherwise why do they have just as many, if not more murders in the US?). I actually think that there are those we would be better off without, who do actually deserve to die for their crimes – but given how prone we are to making mistakes and how uncomfortable I feel with giving the state that kind of power, I cannot support the death penalty for anything.

So, if i move to eastern Europe can i claim benefits from them?

You’re entitled to claim whatever the citizens of that country are, that’s the point.

They should only be entitled to the amount they have previously contributed

Unless you change the benefits system to be a contribution based one, where everyone is treated equally, then this would be illegal. EU law means that laws can’t discriminate against against citizens from other EU states.

Some people might not like it, but I’m sure there would be complaints if British immigrants in France/Spain faced similar restrictions/conditions to the ones being suggested.

Interesting, but I really don’t think we actually get anything useful from this. The article itself mentions quite a lot of flaws in the simulation, and the very fact that’s entirely virtual with no consequences, no political input etc render it a bit useless.