Tough on hugging your nan, soft on assault and theft

In modern Britain, criminals are treated with more respect than the elderly.

Our criminal justice system — what remains of it, anyway — is a joke. ‘Conservative’ Party governments, which are elected on pledges to keep our communities safe, seem to get a kick out of trampling over this system, once coveted by others, now mocked by all.

In a rather unexpected turn, the Government decided to toughen its stance on crime this year, albeit not on theft and assault, but on granny hugging, excessive walking, and other such sins.

On the matters that really make people scared, yet which are derided as ‘minor’ (thefts and assaults can, in actual fact, keep people panic-stricken for years), the Government remains decisively sloppy.

The Home Office is currently considering ‘freeing’ those with ‘minor’ convictions from declaring these convictions to potential employers.

But isn’t the deterrent caused (in part) by the threat of being unable to secure a job the entire point of a conviction? If you strip the conviction of this purpose, why give it out at all?

And doesn’t the employer have the right to know who it is they are hiring? If the convict has truly changed since committing their crime, the employer will be able to make that judgement.

This suggestion should be thrown out of the Home Office. But it likely won’t be. In modern Britain, criminals are treated with more respect than the elderly.