Sentencing is in the remit of Parliament and Parliament is in thrall and subordinate to the EU and the Human Rights Act.

QED

John Green

Grey Area.

The ECHR is the Human Rights Act the Human Rights Act is the ECHR. It is so obvious it doesn’t have to be stated. The principal consequence of the adoption into domestic law of the ECHR/Human Rights Act in 2000 was its almost immediate impact on public consciousness where, before that date, most were – to coin your expression – ‘blissfully’ unaware.

Yes, many people object to some of its provisions. I among them. People object on the grounds that the Act stresses ‘rights’ and does not balance this with a code of responsibilities – to which you have referred – which some of us consider might have the greater importance.

The problem that causes most public angst and anger is the apparent willingness of the judiciary to uphold the rights of criminally minded individuals against the interests of the mass of the public. Nary a day goes by without some example of this being reported in the media.

I think that if you attempt to defend the indefensible rather than admitting that there are serious deficiencies with the way that our judges interpret the Act then you are inviting adverse comment regarding your critical faculty.

John Green

I’ve never read or heard anyone from the ‘left’ criticising judges for being too ‘right wing’ more especially within the context of sentencing. It does not make sense.

Soft sentences have long been regarded as the traditional preserve of the liberal left and that is because most of the liberal left are educated in the Platonic ideal that man/woman is born good and without sin but is corrupted by the world in which he/she reaches adulthood.

The opposite is a belief – possibly espoused by the ‘right’ that man/woman is born with original sin and is already corrupt but can be redeemed by an awareness of conscience and the observation of spiritual and temporal law.

What is apparent from the short time that the Human Rights Act has been incorporated into British law is that that the views of the public are being ignored and consequently the safety of the public is imperilled. That is a fact that cannot be denied.

John Green

The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in this country on the 2nd October, 2000. There are three categories of ‘rights’. Absolute, Limited and Qualified.

The reason as to why The Human Rights Act has fallen into disrepute says more about judges and the quality of their rulings than anything else. The judiciary although purportedly non political, appears to be markedly liberal left in their various adjudications. Some, if not many of their perpetrator centered judgments are beyond all belief and it is these that have caused widespread unease among the population.

The judiciary simply cannot bring themselves to accept that many of the criminals before them are incapable of redemption and in the absence of capital punishment should be locked away forever.

What we now have is a situation where it appears that the criminal trash of the world beats a path to our shores knowing that when they practice their dark arts and are eventually caught they will be dealt with with all possible leniency thus encouraging them to offend again and again. At the very least our judges need to be reminded of whom they allegedly protect.

John Green

Leo McKinstrey’s brilliantly comprehensive and definitive history of the development and use of the Avro Lancaster.

Even taking into account the Russian T34 the Wehrmacht 88mm, the Anglo American Mustang and the Kreigsmarine U-boats the general opinion of the combatants was that the Lancaster and its illustrious crews, as a single weapon, did more, much more than any other weapon or weapon system to beat the Germans in WW2.

I could hardly put this book down. If anyone would like to borrow it, send an address and I’ll post it – Britain only !

John Green

Just a thought. Could these riots be a consequence of uncontrolled mass immigration? Perhaps one doesn’t go with the other. What do the Guardian readers think?

Mike, Tony T is right. I run a Rotax 912 and a fine engine it is. I am though slightly puzzled by my particular set-up unless, of course, they are all the same. The left seat has a spring loaded throttle which, as you correctly state, requires a gorilla to work it! The right seat however has a different throttle arrangement being a rigid quarter inch diameter rod connecting the throttle handle to the carb. The benefit of this arrangement is that if the spring breaks on the left side, the right hand pilot/passenger or indeed the left hand pilot can lean across and continue to operate the throttle normally.

John Green