Actually, it doesn’t keep on climbing. The reported crime rate- for what it’s worth- is going down steadily. However, many crimes are never recorded- every time someone buys illegal drugs both the buyer and the seller commit a crime, but that’s very seldom a recorded statistic. A better policy would be to make legal every victimless “crime”.

” it makes even less to have the limits come down a long way before you hit the narrowed lanes or other signs of roadworks. My impression coming through those roadworks was that the limit did not need to be lower than 40.”

Whether the people who were working on the motorworks a few inches from you as you went past agreed is another question. Motorists always have the impression that speed limits are too low. The reason people are expected to slow down well before they reach the motorworks is to make sure they don’t have to slow down abruptly on a crowded and narrow roadway.

“I feel like everytime I open up the paper, there’s a story about some crime.”

That would have been just as true a hundred or two hundred years ago.

I wonder if those tariffs will stand though. The E.C.H.R, may have something to say about that.

I think we need to have a serious think about crime and punishment in this country. We’re imprisoning more people then ever before and the crime rate just keeps on climbing.

I feel like everytime I open up the paper, there’s a story about some crime. When I read about the perpetrators, I want to lock them up and throw away the key, but is that really the best solution?

Whole-life tariffs are given to the most serious murderers - often serial killers, the most serious sexually-motivated murderers, child killers, some terrorists. The usual figure is 12 years, but I have noticed the tariffs getting bigger recently; there were two Somali youths jailed for shooting dead an innocent young man in London last year and they got more than 20 years minimum.

I can’t comment on the driving stuff, but the whole ‘breaking news’ thing is just a way of making the news sound more exciting.

That’s why I can’t bear the rolling news networks (except Euronews and Al Jazeera English), because it’s just too much face pulling and rehashing be the presenters.

I don’t think there are enough whole life tariffs given out in the U.K, it’s my understanding that only about 20 prisoners have them.