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...said a taxi driver to me last week as we drove passed Houses of Parliament. This got me thinking about perceptions and the moral compass.
Mrina Patel has had her case withdrawn by Harrow Council because they are not sure an action under the Fraud Act 2006 would work. Mrs Patel who put her mothers address on a school application form sees it as proof of her innocence. But who wouldn’t want to get their children into the best possible school? By any means?
At the opposite end there has been a heated debate over whether Ronnie Biggs (the infamous Great Train Robber, for those youngsters among you) should be released from prison. He spent most of his 30 year sentence in Brazil having escaped from jail. Returning to Britain presumably when he realized he wouldn’t get free health care in Brazil.
Biggs has been refused a pardon by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, the public debate centres around the inconsistency of sentencing and terms served in jail by criminals. Michael Biggs, son of Ronnie, admits he would not have been born had his father done his time but cannot see that living in Brazil is not really punishment for the crime. But is Michael wrong for wanting his father released?
I think we are descending into an unsolvable moral maze. Witnessed by the inconsistencies that are encountered; the laws that cannot do what they are designed to. All the while the costs of litigation, the cost of enforcing and implementing justice go up.
03 Jul 2009 09:00:43