It depends why they are in there, and what we think about their particular offences and circumstances, especially around violence or the lack of it.
And also what we think is the purpose of prison. If we have a mechanistic scales of justice view, then anyone who does the crime must do the time. If we think prison is to reform and rehabilitate, then if it fails, there is no point sending anyone there. Then muddy it up with questions of deterrence, and of prevention, and of effect on families, and views of victims and their families, and so on and so forth.
So yes, I can see why people say Group X does not belong in prison but I'm not clever enough to design a better system. What worries me is we seem to be producing a worse one as politicians pander to public outrage.
Ideally it should do two things. One is a punishment. The deprivation of liberty. The other should be redemptive. Rehabilitate/Reform.
Politicians need to lead and do what delivers the best outcome and not simply govern by Sun, or Guardian, editorial
FWIW, Groundskeeper Willie, most famous for his "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" line, is a Scotsman.
Willie is the groundskeeper and janitor at Springfield Elementary School and lives in a shack on the school premises. He is a Scotsman with an aggressive temper. Willie is an uncouth and unpleasant character, though essentially harmless. His personality is depicted as being incompetent, drunken, slow-witted, and quick to anger for little or no reason. Willie has shown antipathy to both his employer, Principal Skinner, and Bart Simpson, who frequently plays practical jokes on him.
It depends why they are in there, and what we think about their particular offences and circumstances, especially around violence or the lack of it.
And also what we think is the purpose of prison. If we have a mechanistic scales of justice view, then anyone who does the crime must do the time. If we think prison is to reform and rehabilitate, then if it fails, there is no point sending anyone there. Then muddy it up with questions of deterrence, and of prevention, and of effect on families, and views of victims and their families, and so on and so forth.
So yes, I can see why people say Group X does not belong in prison but I'm not clever enough to design a better system. What worries me is we seem to be producing a worse one as politicians pander to public outrage.
Ideally it should do two things. One is a punishment. The deprivation of liberty. The other should be redemptive. Rehabilitate/Reform.
Politicians need to lead and do what delivers the best outcome and not simply govern by Sun, or Guardian, editorial
How come the Scandinavians do it so differently, and AFAIK have a much lower crime rate than we do?
FWIW, Groundskeeper Willie, most famous for his "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" line, is a Scotsman.
Willie is the groundskeeper and janitor at Springfield Elementary School and lives in a shack on the school premises. He is a Scotsman with an aggressive temper. Willie is an uncouth and unpleasant character, though essentially harmless. His personality is depicted as being incompetent, drunken, slow-witted, and quick to anger for little or no reason. Willie has shown antipathy to both his employer, Principal Skinner, and Bart Simpson, who frequently plays practical jokes on him.
Mix of excellent and awful news for Ukraine overnight.
The largest and fifth largest oil refineries in Russia are now burning, one of those, Omsk, being 2,500km from Ukraine, and the other, Yaroslavl, being one of the refineries near Moscow. Also a mini-refinery in Kaluga was hit. Plus also the oil export terminals near St Petersburg were hit by drones, and a couple of fuel tanker ships trying to deliver fuel to Crimea.
However, none of the 23 ballistic missiles fired by Russia were intercepted, suggesting that Ukraine may have completely run out of Patriot interceptor missiles, and is now entirely defenceless in the face of ballistic missiles. Another apartment building in Kyiv has partially collapsed as a result - not sure what the other targets were this time.
Every single usage of ballistic missiles (including the V2) has shown that for terror bombing civilians, they are rubbish. Their cost/scarcity is only worthwhile when used against targets of military utility.
If I wanted blitz style terror of a city today (and it did not work even then) then I would be doing that with swarms of drones, not ballistic missiles.
Drones don't generally carry large enough warheads. Russia uses glide bombs, launched from fixed-wing aviation, to flatten urban areas near enough to the front line to be in range.
One of the reasons the oil refineries are such a good target for Ukrainian drones is that you don't need a very big bang to start a large fire at an oil refinery.
The Gripen fighters Ukraine will get from Sweden in 2027 carry longer range meteor air-to-air missiles, which will hopefully push back Russian aviation and protect more Ukrainian towns and cities from Russian glide bombs.
HS2 has possibly the most ratioed post of the week.
The last of over 5,000 reinforced concrete segments has been lifted into position for the Chipping Warden 'green tunnel' - marking a major milestone for one of the longest 'cut and cover' tunnels on the project 👇🎥.
Set to stretch for one-and-a-half miles, the tunnel is being built inside a cutting, with the earth put back on top afterwards, helping to blend the high-speed railway into the landscape and cut noise and disturbance for people* living nearby. https://x.com/HS2ltd/status/2073013973171966271
(*the few hundred Tory constituents)
3.2m views; and about the same number of likes as the total of Chipping Warden residents.
There is a sadly hilarious culture war thing happening online - people defending this tunnel and decrying the bat tunnel vs people applauding the bat tunnel and decrying this tunnel.
Personally, I reckon that with the current planning regime we have, putting the entire of HS2 in a tunnel would have been the cheap, quick solution.
Both are absurd. Change the planning regime. As it currently stands it's a luxury we can't afford.
HS2; the cost of nuclear power in the UK; our apparently irredeemable housing shortage - all of those things, and more are symptoms of that.
The problem is that it is a system in which every piss ant is given an ant hill to piss from.
The streamlined (and successful) process for offshore wind would be a good example of how things can be improved.
But that would create an enormous back lash from those with vested interests in the Enquiry Industrial Complex.
We really should call it out far more. Breakdown the cost of the project with the enquiry costs and time delays highlighted so that we can see how much tax payers money is wasted fighting to stop things that should just be implemented.
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
The e-gates take forever to process each person trying to escape from the EU. That's what is causing the logjams for folk trying to catch their flights back to Blighty.
It was much quicker when an official was stamping your passport.
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
What makes matters worse seems to be people who have already done the biometrics having to queue behind those that haven’t .
There’s no point sugarcoating though what’s been an unmitigated disaster ! Not the EUs finest hour .
It is annoying when you have to answer questions about how much money you have on you. In Madrid, I just walked straight to the e gates and they let me through without having done all that other stuff.
What makes matters worse seems to be people who have already done the biometrics having to queue behind those that haven’t .
There’s no point sugarcoating though what’s been an unmitigated disaster ! Not the EUs finest hour .
It is annoying when you have to answer questions about how much money you have on you. In Madrid, I just walked straight to the e gates and they let me through without having done all that other stuff.
They’re going to have to suspend these checks as soon as the school holidays start otherwise it’s going to be a total nightmare .
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
Trump is so stupid he doesn’t realize that politicians pressurising FIFA to overturn a red card is totally unacceptable.
He’s now doubled down and makes FIFA look even worse than they did already .
Shouldn't the US federation be suspended from FIFA because of the political interference?
FIFA should be suspended!
The brazen corruption by Infantino is nauseating .
The problem is that African and Asian federations love him because he sends a whole lot of money from Europe (and, to a lesser extent, South America) their way.
Every single application under the new regime will challenged all the way to the Supreme Court using the argument that by not having the consultations, the government is in breach of numerous laws. Including agreements with other countries.
The first obvious thing they need to do is let people who are already in the system use the E-gates.
AFAIK if you have an EES then you can use eGates. There seems to be a separation of eGates though. Those for EU nationals and those for travellers registered in the EES system. I always use the eGates, if available.
Reverse ferret on banning teams for political interference?
A source told The Sun: “The Mexicans were really talking up the storm and were pressing to move the game."
That's inconsistent with what was reported before the game, which was that the Mexican police/security wanted the game moved but both countries were against it.
Reverse ferret on banning teams for political interference?
A source told The Sun: “The Mexicans were really talking up the storm and were pressing to move the game."
That's inconsistent with what was reported before the game, which was that the Mexican police/security wanted the game moved but both countries were against it.
Quite amazing how Starmer is suddenly generating positive news stories. I wonder why that might be?
Every single application under the new regime will challenged all the way to the Supreme Court using the argument that by not having the consultations, the government is in breach of numerous laws. Including agreements with other countries.
The legal actions will begin from somewhere near here:
Although the statutory requirement for pre‑application consultation is being scrapped, the government will issue strong guidance encouraging high‑quality early engagement with communities, authorities and statutory bodies to maintain transparency and project quality (gov.uk)
They announced they had suspended it, then another part of the Greek government denied they had...
Definitely suspended when I went to Kos a couple of weeks ago.
Appreciate that’s only one island.
I suspect the mainland will be using it - the islands really don't need to after all how many people are going to leave the island during their holiday..
They announced they had suspended it, then another part of the Greek government denied they had...
Definitely suspended when I went to Kos a couple of weeks ago.
Appreciate that’s only one island.
I suspect the mainland will be using it - the islands really don't need to after all how many people are going to leave the island during their holiday..
My passport was checked by the airline when taking an internal Schengen (indeed, internal Greek) flight from Rhodes to Athens last year. Not just for ID, the Schengen entry stamp was carefully checked. I suspect this is because it could be an irregular immigration route.
What makes matters worse seems to be people who have already done the biometrics having to queue behind those that haven’t .
There’s no point sugarcoating though what’s been an unmitigated disaster ! Not the EUs finest hour .
Big bureaucracy doesn't work to the advantage of the individual, at scale - see also the parcel customs changes introduced by the EU recently (IOSS etc). Frequently cocks up and surprisingly ends up in double payment
“I have seen the public comments regarding the decision of the independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee related to the suspension of Folarin Balogun, and I would like to reiterate a fundamental principle of FIFA’s governance.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.
“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”
“I have seen the public comments regarding the decision of the independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee related to the suspension of Folarin Balogun, and I would like to reiterate a fundamental principle of FIFA’s governance.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.
“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”
Phew, for a moment there I thought they were as corrupt as f***. What a relief to know it's all good.
Reverse ferret on banning teams for political interference?
The PM personally intervened on when a football game was going to start? Talk about priorities.
It's all small potatoes. Sir Boris would have given us extra bank holidays, and we would have loved him for it.
Football 's coming home (if we beat Norway next).
If - sorry when - we win I think it will be just under Starmer rather than Burnham.
What a way for him to sign off. It will totally dwarf all the WFA, 'no plan', welfare u turn, Mandelson nonsense.
Talk about a shining legacy.
You don't think Bellingham's brace and Kane's penalty was typical Kemi, whist the Henderson crocking was typical Starmer?
There's always that sort of 'creative' take, yes, and I expect to see some of that. But I'm sticking with the trad approach that has served us well since forever. We'll have won the World Cup ON HIS WATCH. End of debate.
What makes matters worse seems to be people who have already done the biometrics having to queue behind those that haven’t .
There’s no point sugarcoating though what’s been an unmitigated disaster ! Not the EUs finest hour .
Big bureaucracy doesn't work to the advantage of the individual, at scale - see also the parcel customs changes introduced by the EU recently (IOSS etc). Frequently cocks up and surprisingly ends up in double payment
They announced they had suspended it, then another part of the Greek government denied they had...
Definitely suspended when I went to Kos a couple of weeks ago.
Appreciate that’s only one island.
I suspect the mainland will be using it - the islands really don't need to after all how many people are going to leave the island during their holiday..
My passport was checked by the airline when taking an internal Schengen (indeed, internal Greek) flight from Rhodes to Athens last year. Not just for ID, the Schengen entry stamp was carefully checked. I suspect this is because it could be an irregular immigration route.
Meanwhile, at Belgrade Nikola Tesla I can use the e-gates. Still had to have a stamp though, but it was just done on the way through, not as part of a manual check.
They announced they had suspended it, then another part of the Greek government denied they had...
Definitely suspended when I went to Kos a couple of weeks ago.
Appreciate that’s only one island.
I suspect the mainland will be using it - the islands really don't need to after all how many people are going to leave the island during their holiday..
My passport was checked by the airline when taking an internal Schengen (indeed, internal Greek) flight from Rhodes to Athens last year. Not just for ID, the Schengen entry stamp was carefully checked. I suspect this is because it could be an irregular immigration route.
Meanwhile, at Belgrade Nikola Tesla I can use the e-gates. Still had to have a stamp though, but it was just done on the way through, not as part of a manual check.
The EU could learn something
"You're familiar with the phrase "man's reach exceeds his grasp"? It's a lie: man's grasp exceeds his nerve."
An example of the chaos and poor planning of the last government. Or they were badly advised by the Civil Service. The 'rules' will refer to badly worded statute.
If only we could stop politicians issuing new laws before they sorted the old ones.
Not much sign of "thousands of workers throwing a "sickie"" if the crowded tube I was travelling on half an hour ago was any guide.
I'm not sure as many people care about the football as many would think, hope or have you believe. I'm sure as and when we progress further, interest will rise but last eight is still a bit early to get excited.
On topic, Tryl's analysis is interesting and Kemi Badenoch (approval -22) isn't perhaps running as hot as Opinium would have us believe or is it all measured in a different way?
A very good poll for Labour who as we all suspected are "enjoying" a Burnham Bounce - they enjoyed a Blair Bounce (long lasting and significant) and a Brown Bounce (much shorter duration and much less significant).
I'm still struggling to see how Reform are "finished" - I bet many other parties would like to be down and out on 26% of the vote share. The weekly local council by-elections continue to show strong Reform performances (often at the expense of any and all the main parties) but low turnout local contests are one thing, higher turnout contests quite another.
Burnham, uncomfortably, has to prove he can deliver though perception is everything and statistics much less so. I do see a much more political and less technocratic Prime Minister and it will be interesting to see how Government communications (or spin if you prefer) improves on his watch.
There's a strong possibility he'll be elected (not re-elected but you know what I mean) in 2028-29 simply on the perception of improved times and tidings rather than any empirical evidence. That and the combined inadequacies of the opposition parties of course.
Comments
Politicians need to lead and do what delivers the best outcome and not simply govern by Sun, or Guardian, editorial
(He isn't a bit like my Scot brother-in-law, or the Scots I met on my brief visit there, years ago.)
And yet, traditionally, the Scots and the French were allies.
Greece has the right idea. Suspend it.
Something seems to have gone wrong; I only posted the second line.
One of the reasons the oil refineries are such a good target for Ukrainian drones is that you don't need a very big bang to start a large fire at an oil refinery.
The Gripen fighters Ukraine will get from Sweden in 2027 carry longer range meteor air-to-air missiles, which will hopefully push back Russian aviation and protect more Ukrainian towns and cities from Russian glide bombs.
https://news.sky.com/liveblog-webview/world-cup-live-england-germany-klopp-pubs-latest-13535760
https://www.abta.com/tips-and-advice/planning-and-booking-a-holiday/using-passport-egates-europe-summer-what-you-need
It was much quicker when an official was stamping your passport.
There’s no point sugarcoating though what’s been an unmitigated disaster ! Not the EUs finest hour .
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/britain-scraps-planning-consultation-requirement-speed-major/
81 years young
He was a demon in his youth.
https://x.com/saucyseventies/status/2074130252767391809?s=61
He’s now doubled down and makes FIFA look even worse than they did already .
What’s the downside ?
The brazen corruption by Infantino is nauseating .
Trump has in one idiotic intervention turned football supporters against the US and their team
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39665058/keir-starmer-match-mexico-england/
Reverse ferret on banning teams for political interference?
Appreciate that’s only one island.
That's inconsistent with what was reported before the game, which was that the Mexican police/security wanted the game moved but both countries were against it.
I wonder why that might be?
https://x.com/oceandream07/status/2073855871109521839?s=61
Although the statutory requirement for pre‑application consultation is being scrapped, the government will issue strong guidance encouraging high‑quality early engagement with communities, authorities and statutory bodies to maintain transparency and project quality (gov.uk)
Football 's coming home (if we beat Norway next).
Japanese NIMBYism lives in a parallel world.
A factory with a sign “we totally oppose apartments built next to us. This is an industrial area”
https://x.com/Msamalam/status/2074097216193810515
What a way for him to sign off. It will totally dwarf all the WFA, 'no plan', welfare u turn, Mandelson nonsense.
Talk about a shining legacy.
@johncrossmirror
FIFA president Gianni Infantino
“I have seen the public comments regarding the decision of the independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee related to the suspension of Folarin Balogun, and I would like to reiterate a fundamental principle of FIFA’s governance.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.
“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/07/02/nassau-county-woman-arrested-on-dui-after-chickfila-employee-reports-slurred-speech-2-children-in-car/
“ Migrant care workers bringing dozens of dependants to 🇬🇧 despite rules stopping it, as the care workers arrived before rules were in place:
🇨🇲 Cameroon: 180 dependants joined 12 workers
🇬🇭 Ghana: 2,131 joined 257
🇧🇩 Bangladesh: 747 joined 139
🇮🇳 India: 10,504 joined 2,395”
https://x.com/ajcdeane/status/2074142509454741685?s=61
Absolutely no need for following a guy through an airport full of people using profanities
https://x.com/trobinsonnewera/status/2074154486981890452?s=61
https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Battle_of_Greenfields
Tangentially, worth comparing the very muted reaction to this news with the tantrum when Trump did the same...
The EU could learn something
Seriously, half a dozen Indian adults moved in next door less than a year ago.
If only we could stop politicians issuing new laws before they sorted the old ones.
Not much sign of "thousands of workers throwing a "sickie"" if the crowded tube I was travelling on half an hour ago was any guide.
I'm not sure as many people care about the football as many would think, hope or have you believe. I'm sure as and when we progress further, interest will rise but last eight is still a bit early to get excited.
On topic, Tryl's analysis is interesting and Kemi Badenoch (approval -22) isn't perhaps running as hot as Opinium would have us believe or is it all measured in a different way?
A very good poll for Labour who as we all suspected are "enjoying" a Burnham Bounce - they enjoyed a Blair Bounce (long lasting and significant) and a Brown Bounce (much shorter duration and much less significant).
I'm still struggling to see how Reform are "finished" - I bet many other parties would like to be down and out on 26% of the vote share. The weekly local council by-elections continue to show strong Reform performances (often at the expense of any and all the main parties) but low turnout local contests are one thing, higher turnout contests quite another.
Burnham, uncomfortably, has to prove he can deliver though perception is everything and statistics much less so. I do see a much more political and less technocratic Prime Minister and it will be interesting to see how Government communications (or spin if you prefer) improves on his watch.
There's a strong possibility he'll be elected (not re-elected but you know what I mean) in 2028-29 simply on the perception of improved times and tidings rather than any empirical evidence. That and the combined inadequacies of the opposition parties of course.