To Gordon Brown, regarding policing and prisons.

[tomruls]

Well said!

[6891semaJ]

U need to take in2 account the reasons y the criminals broke the law in the first place. Is it really their faults? Or did a bad life shape them in2 law breakers? Prison is 4 rehabilitation, not punishment. If the prisoners have proved themselves 2 b remorseful surely they deserve 2 b let back in2 society. U seem 2 b basing your opinions on emotions not rationality. U say 'it's not fair on us', but we r a society as a whole and early release is justice because theyve proved themselves.

[MrPragmatism]

@6891semaJ Bit late but very well said. I think because this lad was mugged it has caused him distress which is completely understandable. But like you said we need to get to the root of the problem and not simply throw these kids in prison as a solution. Rising rates of murder, thefts and burgalaries all are down to social and economic factors. Drug policy/prohibition is also a major factor, responsible for many of the issues that Ryan raises yet somehow people seem to ignore it.

[theluthier]

Prime Minister Brown, Ryan is typical of millions of teenagers today, who are genuinely concerned about the way Britain is going - basically down the pan! I am now in my 50s and the street corner hoodies don't scare me (I have a secret weapon - I say 'Boo!' to these cretins) but the right-thinking youth of today, who are our future, are faced with a sub-culture of weapon-carrying morons who are intimidating decent folk.

Ryan is a clued-up kid - take good care of him, and others like him!

[CoverTheAgenda]

thanks for the back-up :D

couldn't have said it better myself

and i know exactly what you mean, at the first sign of any opposition the yobs/ hoodies tend to run unless they heavily outnumber you, don't they?

[lassefa]

You are talking like 90 years pensioners who talks about crime to break the ice to chat to next person. Most of them do what you/we "The so called civilized people" were doing when we were young. I have been victim more than thee times, but I will never ever ask our desperate politician to bung up every body and build more prison as a solution to social problems of GB. You are telling them: BUILD MORE PRISON TO DECREASE MALE UNEMPLOYMENT AND please THOSE WHO BENEFITED FROM THE SYSTEM BANG POOR.

[CoverTheAgenda]

Please, excuse me for believing that people who commit crimes should be punished.

And jailing unemployed criminals would benefit the country, not only as a reduction in crime but also a reduction in the amount the government has to pay in unemployment benefits, giving more money for people who actually need it and more money for worthy causes such as improving the health and school services.

[commodoreherring]

by the way, though... nice bass!

[CoverTheAgenda]

lol cheers :D

[commodoreherring]

the ethical development of any society can be gauged by the way it treats its prisoners. chop off hands, kill, and you are nothing but a brute yourself. that's not targeted at the questioner but at the person who made the post below.

by the way, yes, i have been mugged and beaten up. not pleasant. but how can i make a balanced political judgement based on the anecdotal and emotionally charged experience of me and my friends?

[TheBritishWatcher]

Ofcourse we shouldnt be extreme and turn back to the clock to some of these barbaric practices as some would like us to do. However the vast majority of the population has a right to be protected and for those that damage our society to be punished.

Where are our ethics when we allow serial rapists, murderers abd child sex offenders to leave prison and then see them go out and commit more crime?

Human rights are universal but those that break the law give up certain rights. The victim doesnt

[commodoreherring]

for the sake of balance... i largely disagree with your assumptions. yes, people are being released early from prison. if the question is "why?" the answer is that the prison system is outdated, it is flooding over. that is all & it needs sorting. but committing crimes to get into prison? don't make me laugh. and how have your 16 years taught you it's easier to get drugs inside? that's rubbish too. they are everywhere. but then i guess that hornchurch ain't exactly the ghetto now is it?

[CoverTheAgenda]

But surely the best way to prevent a flood is to plug the leak, rather than bail the water out?

Releasing prisoners early does no good whatsoever, the problem of lack of space in prisons is largely due to the large amount of criminals.

If you release them, they'll only be back in a few weeks anyway.

So what is needed is a plug in the leak; Stopping the crimes being committed is, in my opinion, the best way to solve things.

[commodoreherring]

way to run with the metaphor!

then i think we are actually on the same page after all...

where i beg to differ is that i don't see prison as ever being a viable deterrent, regardless of the conditions inside or the severity of sentencing. we can see the truth of this in other parts of the world.

different people really see 3 different roles for imprisonment: rehabilitation; deterrence; punishment. does it work? i would say sometimes; never; matter for your individual conscience.

[TheBritishWatcher]

Prisons main aim should not be about rehabilitation. Im against sending low level offenders to prison where i agree it has a negative impact on them and usualy leads to them turning to more crime in the future.

If we got rid of all the low level offenders in our prisons it wouldnt be overflowing and crowded like it is today. People who murder other people deserve life in prison and to be punished each day of their lives. Having luxuries such as TVs and being out in 15 years is unacceptable.

[TheBritishWatcher]

Very good question and i agree with you totally. We dont need extremes like the death penalty or corporal punishment in schools to bring back order and respect. Prison should be alot tougher.

One of the problems is people think prisons are just for rehabilitation. Whilst thats important prisons should be there more as a punishment to deter others. low level criminals shouldnt be sent to prison, but violent / hardcore ones should spend the rest of their lives there.

Life should mean Life.

[commodoreherring]

i disagree with you, but respectfully so since you're not a rabid nutcase like one or two of the others who have posted on here.

sad fact of the matter is that prison is completely useless as a deterrent, whatever the conditions inside (by the way i wonder how many of the people complaining about the luxury have ever actually been inside one. or are you just talking out of your proverbial?).

look at the US: draconian penal system, highest murder rate per capita in the world.

QED?

[TheBritishWatcher]

which is why rehabilitation and education is the most important part. You have to prevent people from turning to crime in the first place by providing oppurtinity, sadly the USA doesnt believe in helping people out of poverty in their own country. Half of the prison population there is black and clearly they have suffered huge povertys and lack of oppurtunity over the years

That being said justtice must be seen to be done. repeat offenders and violent criminals deserve long tough sentences

[WizzoSchizo]

"rabid nutcase"

If you were referring to me, do you think prisons should be a holiday camp with TV's, pool tables and all the latest gadgets? Plenty of people support the death penalty, and I don't see how that makes you a "rabid nutcase", the ones who go out and murder people in the first place are the nutcases!

If you wern't refering to me, I apologise in advance, if you were, FUCK YOU! :)

[mymymytubeitis]

Great question. I think discipline needs to be implemented into schools.. teachers have no power, if they do anything they get sued by all these joke companies. Bring the cain back, make teaching a less stressful career again. People will become less educated, and have to commit crimes because they dont have decent jobs. It all starts in schools !!

*side note* EMA for students is a joke. it's a waste of government money, students are only turning up for the money, not to listen and be taught.

[CoverTheAgenda]

I think bringing back the cane is a bit far, and I think that most parents wouldn't want their children being caned. All though I fully agree that teachers need to be given more rights in schools, some are afraid to break up fights at the risk of being sued or fired.

The problem with bringing back the cane is that we need school to be a beneficial experience, not a painful and resented experience. From what I've heard, the cane is a solitary reason that some people disliked school back then.

[WizzoSchizo]

This is a good question, I completely agree, prisoners should be treated as such, instead they get tv's, pool table's and whatever else. Another chance at education is fair enough, I think education is a good idea, but luxuries should be banned. I even go as far as to support the death penalty (as long as there is sufficient evidence). Maybe that would give murderers an insentive not to murder. I'm fed up with hearing "person x was beaten to death by some asshole" every week on the news.

[CoverTheAgenda]

I totally agree with you apart from the death penalty, i'm not really sure where i stand on that issue yet.

But yes, what we need in prisons is rehabilitation and education, not recreation and drug use. Prisoners should leave their cells despising the day they committed their crime, not thinking about the day they'll commit their next.