John Major’s hopeless last cabinet were Titans by comparison. Gordon Brown will probably stagger on for a bit longer but that’s largely because there’s no obvious candidate to replace him other than David Miliband.
Can you think of anyone else? Jack Straw, who was one of the most hopeless Foreign Secretaries of modern times? The puppet Chancellor, Alistair Darling? The droning yet strangely sinister Harriet Harperson? The completely awful Jacqui Smith?
I knew Jacqui Smith was a dud from the off but it turns out her utter uselessness is beyond parody or prediction.
As Home Secretary, Smith has the power to halt knife crime virtually overnight. All she has to do is announce that anyone found carrying a blade in public will go to jail. Back that up with a national programme of police visits to schools, announcing the policy in the starkest language, and watch the number of stabbings on streets and in playgrounds dwindle to near zero.
But what do we get? A Home Secretary who glibly announces on Sunday that knife-carriers will be invited to visit stabbing victims in hospital and then on Monday, after a gale of derision, denies saying any such thing.
This is worse than pathetic, and the clearest-possible sign of shocking weakness and dithering right at the top.
Meanwhile, as the Government babbled about its “shock” tactics to deal with knife crime (they were shocking, all right) “sentencing advisers” were telling judges they must now jail motorists caught using their mobile phones behind the wheel.
Now, I’m all for measures to make the roads safer, even if I do find it hard to understand why talking on a mobile is more distracting than, say, chatting to a passenger, or singing, or shouting at the kids, or fiddling with the satnav or hi-fi or air-conditioning, or maybe doing all these things at the same time.
But how instructive it is that “sentencing advisers” don’t want burglars or knife-carriers sent to jail. Dear me, no. Cautions and community service for them. Yet the State swoops on motorists like carrion crows on roadkill.
Why? Because motorists are, on the whole, a docile lot prepared to turn up at court, pay fines, accept points on their licences and stay off the roads when banned. Yobs who carry knives can be a rather more difficult proposition. They run away from police, or fight them, skip bail, swear at magistrates.
But the real conundrum is this; how come there’s room in our prisons for someone caught using their mobile while driving but not for the bloke who breaks into your home and nicks your stuff? Or walks around with a five-inch blade strapped to his leg?
I’d ask Jacqui Smith but whatever answer she came up with, she’d probably deny saying it the next day.
USING A MOBILE PHONE IN THE CAR
31.07.08, 2:07am
The danger of using a mobile phone whilst driving comes not from the physical act of holding it, we do other things like switching lights, wipers, heaters etc.
But the thing we cannot do is to have a conversation on the phone and at the same time concentrate 100% on our driving, this is a brain function not a physical one, which I don`t think is made clear, not the same as talking to a passenger since we can look ahead or to the side and not need the same concentration on the conversation.
I have tried using the phone whilst doing other things and find it so, maybe I`m the only one, but I don`t think so!
I just couldn`t live with hurting or killing someone just because it was `cool` to use a phone.
It is so easy to find a spot to pull over, even if it is at the next services or junction or roadside to ring back or make a call.
WHO COULD FORGET THE TITAN, JOHN REDWOOD????????????
31.07.08, 1:22am
Meanwhile if that person wasn't a thirteen year old child with a knife but rather a middle cl**** adult waffling on his mobile phone, while driving, that ran over and killed you precious twins, that would be understandable would it?
Judy, I'd get the house in the South of France if I were you. How can you bare it?
Richard, many thanks for our insightful article which has really added to the national debate. If you can persuade a national paper to pay you to write such rubbish I have nothing but enormous respect for you.
I have a few what I consider to be simple questions which I would like answered.
If global warming, carbon footprint, ozone layer etc. etc. are so important, why is it OK to add to them if
you can afford to pay?.
If congestion is such a problem in city centres why not just ban private vehicles, or is congestion no
problem if you can afford to pay?.
When it comes to the increase in road duty for certain polluting vehicles, which will hit the motorist hard,
unless of course he can afford to pay, why not ban the import of these vehicles as from now?.
Perhaps, as some scientists say, there is nothing we can do that will make a substantial difference to
global warming. It just gives our government a good excuse to rob the motorist in order to support their
incompetence in other fields.
If the people are not given a referendum on handing over the running of our country to Europe, is there
any point at which it becomes treasonable?
B Hough (Morecambe)
The public are bleeding to death, while the labour party dither. They will not tackle serious crime, they will not, and cannot lower taxes, because of the huge welfare programe. They have no control of immigration, and dont seem to want to do anything about it. Half of the criminal illegal immigrants are walking our streets. They arranged the police force so that their hands are tied.
Our education system is in a mess, and he public have had enough. If they were employed in private business they would have been fired by now. But because of our pathetic democratic system we have to allow this shambles of a government to continue causing havoc for nearly another two years. Things need changing in our country, and we should start with our elctorial system. If the MP's are no good they should go.
Video 
USING A MOBILE PHONE IN THE CAR
31.07.08, 2:07am
The danger of using a mobile phone whilst driving comes not from the physical act of holding it, we do other things like switching lights, wipers, heaters etc.
But the thing we cannot do is to have a conversation on the phone and at the same time concentrate 100% on our driving, this is a brain function not a physical one, which I don`t think is made clear, not the same as talking to a passenger since we can look ahead or to the side and not need the same concentration on the conversation.
I have tried using the phone whilst doing other things and find it so, maybe I`m the only one, but I don`t think so!
I just couldn`t live with hurting or killing someone just because it was `cool` to use a phone.
It is so easy to find a spot to pull over, even if it is at the next services or junction or roadside to ring back or make a call.
• Posted by: misterruff • Report Comment
AT LEAST THEY'RE NOT PRETENDING THEY'RE BUX FIZZ
31.07.08, 1:27am
Apparently, 'cl****' is now a profanity. Is that a direct order from his lordship?
• Posted by: brusselssprouts • Report Comment
WHO COULD FORGET THE TITAN, JOHN REDWOOD????????????
31.07.08, 1:22am
Meanwhile if that person wasn't a thirteen year old child with a knife but rather a middle cl**** adult waffling on his mobile phone, while driving, that ran over and killed you precious twins, that would be understandable would it?
Judy, I'd get the house in the South of France if I were you. How can you bare it?
• Posted by: brusselssprouts • Report Comment
DUDS ON LABOUR FRONT BENCH
30.07.08, 4:49pm
Richard, many thanks for our insightful article which has really added to the national debate. If you can persuade a national paper to pay you to write such rubbish I have nothing but enormous respect for you.
• Posted by: Mickey310167 • Report Comment
THE POLLUTION FREE RICH MOTORIST
29.07.08, 5:43pm
I have a few what I consider to be simple questions which I would like answered.
If global warming, carbon footprint, ozone layer etc. etc. are so important, why is it OK to add to them if
you can afford to pay?.
If congestion is such a problem in city centres why not just ban private vehicles, or is congestion no
problem if you can afford to pay?.
When it comes to the increase in road duty for certain polluting vehicles, which will hit the motorist hard,
unless of course he can afford to pay, why not ban the import of these vehicles as from now?.
Perhaps, as some scientists say, there is nothing we can do that will make a substantial difference to
global warming. It just gives our government a good excuse to rob the motorist in order to support their
incompetence in other fields.
If the people are not given a referendum on handing over the running of our country to Europe, is there
any point at which it becomes treasonable?
B Hough (Morecambe)
• Posted by: misterruff • Report Comment
WHILE WE SUFFER THEY DITHER
26.07.08, 9:20am
The public are bleeding to death, while the labour party dither. They will not tackle serious crime, they will not, and cannot lower taxes, because of the huge welfare programe. They have no control of immigration, and dont seem to want to do anything about it. Half of the criminal illegal immigrants are walking our streets. They arranged the police force so that their hands are tied.
Our education system is in a mess, and he public have had enough. If they were employed in private business they would have been fired by now. But because of our pathetic democratic system we have to allow this shambles of a government to continue causing havoc for nearly another two years. Things need changing in our country, and we should start with our elctorial system. If the MP's are no good they should go.
• Posted by: expatpete60 • Report Comment
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