The government has suffered a defeat in the Lords over its plans to detain people under the mental health act.
The government has suffered two defeats in the House of Lords over plans to detain mental health patients who have not committed an offence.
The crucial statement there being “have not committed an offence”. Their lordships have, once more, stood up against the totalitarian tendencies of the commons and stood for one of the most basic principles of justice; innocent until proven guilty. Banging mentally ill people up because someone thinks they might commit an offence is scandalous.
Critics argue the bill is draconian and could prevent some people from coming forward to seek treatment.
Well, yes, quite. Draconian is mild, but the words have not yet been invented that adequately describe the villains in Whitehall. Even the Devil’s Kitchen fails with his colourful language to properly describe them – and he comes close.
But ministers say it will protect the public and patients from harm.
Really? And their evidence for this? Given that the people they plan to lock up haven’t actually done anything? It’s just as well Joseph Stalin isn’t still alive, he would have loved this one and wished he had thought of it. Oh, wait…
Sure, there have been cases of mentally ill people committing murder after being let out of institutions. The system failed. That does not mean that we should lock people up who have not committed an offence just in case they might. What kind of fucking society is this, after all? Yes, there is a risk. Risk is a part of life, we cannot eradicate it entirely, merely manage it. We balance the risk against personal freedom. The more we eradicate risk, the less personal freedom. Locking up innocent people is not what happens in a civilised society, it is what happens in a totalitarian state.
You might just as well tag everybody and treat them as suspects, just in case they commit a crime at some unspecified time in the future. Oh, wait…
There are no words that can effectively describe the deep and absolute repugnance with which I view these monsters.
Indeed. And you have to ask just how many people this bunch of cretins want to put away in the slammer – presumably without judicial process or limitation. Reid has announced that more jails are to be built, but anyone with the slightest understanding of basic arithmetic (this does not include Reid, of course) will recognise that demand has already far outreached supply. The economic effects of this escalation of prison population are daunting. Maybe the proposal is to go for wholesale tagging and house arrest, surely this can be linked to ID Cards in some way?
Perhaps a simpler and cheaper approach would be to impose a nationwide curfew and to instruct our heavily armed police to shoot all curfew-breakers on sight. Of course this would entail an increase in the number of patrols and one recognises the great personal hardships this might impose on our truly dedicated officers of the peace. However it could have all sorts of beneficial effects, such as population reduction, elimination of the need for costly transport systems, reduction of congestion, pollution, CO2 and effects on global warming, target practice for the cops, reduction in demand on the NHS, schools and all public services, and so on. The list of benefits is virtually endless.
No doubt we can expect to see a Home Office ‘initiative’ very shortly.