God forbid we should punish criminals!

BBC NEWS | Politics | Offender uniform plan under fire

Home Office minister Hazel Blears' call to make young offenders wear uniforms when doing community service have been widely criticised as unworkable.

Ms Blears floated the idea as a way of ensuring justice was seen to be being done in the battle against the "culture of disrespect".

"Culture of Disrespect". You've got to love that one! The "new" New Labour tagline. Sounds like a Steven Segal movie. "Tony Bliar in... 'Culture of Disrepect'"

Rights group Liberty said the plans would only degrade those involved.

Awww diddums. No thought spared for the degraded victims I see.

And Barbara and Derick Attwood, whose son Shaun was forced to wear prison stripes while on remand in a US jail, said the plans would not work.

"Humiliating young people in this way will make them even more anti-establishment," they said. "If they make them wear these uniforms they probably won't turn up."

Again, no thought spared for the humiliated victims.

But Chris Stanley, from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (Nacro), warned that the plan could spark vigilante action.

"There's no indication at all in any research that by naming them, exposing them and putting them in uniform, that this is going to reduce their offending," he said.

What so you propose then! Send them on holiday?

Shami Chakrabarti, director of rights group Liberty, said: "How do you engender a culture of respect by degrading people?"

Ms. Chakrabati: How do you foster a polite society by pandering to those who degrade others?

At what point did we become afraid to punish criminals in this country?

How many different organisations do we have in this country that are dedicated to "supporting" criminals?

I'll bet it is an order of magnitude more than the number of organisations dedicated to supporting the victims of crime.

From another Beeb article:

Kathy Evans, policy director at the Children's Society, says attempts to enforce expectations about behaviour are part of the problem, not the solution.

"Respect is something that is earned. It is usually mutual and is a personal attribute, rather than something that can be legislated," she says.

Despite repeated attempts at cracking down on yob culture through anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) and fixed penalties for minor offences, she says most young people still do not even know what they are being told not to do.

"They feel like they are being told they should not act in certain ways, not do certain things, not go to certain places - that is hardly treating people with mutual respect."

This is an absolutely staggering statement. Kathy Evans is telling us that punishment for young offenders is disrespectful. We should simply show these retarded gorillas some respect and they will instantly stop committing crimes. Please tell me she is taking this piss.

Sod the bloody uniforms. Boot camp!