Consent and respect matter more than numbers

There has of late been a lot of talk about rising crime, particularly violent crime, with the predictable cries that it’s all due to insufficient police numbers. Now it may well be that the police force is under manned, or possibly that it’s got too many of the wrong people doing the wrong things. However it occurs to me that to a great extent the absolute numbers of police really doesn’t matter. By and large the number of people employed in the police force doesn’t have any direct impact on the amount of crime committed. Much like ticket inspectors don’t … Continue reading

The Deil’s Awa Wi’ The Exciseman

As the poet said “The Deil’s Awa Wi’ The Exciseman” or at least with HMRC’s senses. Via the ever excellent LegIron it has been brought to my attention that HMRC are taking steps to crack down on people not paying duty on tobacco products. This news I’m sure will make the Puritans shriveled hearts sing for joy, if they’re allowed to sing that is. HMRC have decided that it’s time to crack down on raw tobacco and that unless you qualify for exemption if you deal with raw tobacco in anyway you will have to register with them, so that … Continue reading

Never let a good crisis go to waste

It’s been a terribly busy year in politics in the UK, and whilst we’ve all been busy worrying about Brexit and the US elections our glorious masters have been quietly getting on with business. Doing such things as deciding that our ISP’s must block legal adult sites if they don’t do enough to verify our ages, not matter where they are located. The OpenRights group have a petiton to stop that. However the bill also requires that ISPs record every site you visit for 12 months. Of course if those weren’t bad enough on their own search engines and social … Continue reading