John Burns Blog - 8th March 2010 - Criminal responsibility; Carol Vorderman; Michael Foot

John Burns' Blog

Criminal responsibility; Carol Vorderman; Michael Foot

Criminal Responsibility
john burns Switzerland is about to hold a referendum on whether or not animals should have the right to have legal representation in court. Philip Hensher in The Independent asks whether, if they did have that right, should they also be held to be criminally responsible for their actions? As he says, through the ages, there have been many examples of domestic and wild animals being prosecuted. We may think that this is ridiculous in these more enlightened times, but we still manage to treat young children as we would adult criminals. Britain has the lowest age of criminal responsibility in Europe. In most countries the boys in the Bulger case would not even have been prosecuted.

Carol Vorderman
On that note, I watched Carol Vorderman on Question Time last week. She might be better looking than fellow-panellist Will Self but I think I would rather be in his company than hers.

Michael Foot
Victor Keegan writing in the Observer noted that Michael Foot would never talk up a crisis in order to make political gain. You can’t say that about many politicians, most of whom would gladly see the economy crash and burn if it got them into power.

House Prices
Also in the Observer “House prices to remain stable for a number of years” shock. I thought that would have been a good thing.

8th March - Criminal responsibility; Carol Vorderman; Michael Foot

John Burns' Blog

Criminal responsibility; Carol Vorderman; Michael Foot

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