Alf Bentley

That was my instinct, too. I wonder if it was some sort of personal/psychological crisis, stress, unhappiness or "cry for help". Someone who was going to heartlessly and rationally abuse the situation to benefit personally would surely have used the card to buy herself something more than a few cheap snacks - upsetting as I'm sure it was for family of the deceased?

I don't need a call telling me that I'm unsuccessful. I already know it.

No "Piers bounce" for Starmer, then? Maybe there'll be a slight Con->Lab swing if the Govt has to postpone the end to lockdown? If so, that might make the difference between Labour losing or holding Batley & Spen at next month's byelection.....which in turn might determine whether Starmer faces a leadership challenge. In politics, small or unconnected developments can have a surprisingly big impact. A bit like football....imagine if Kasper hadn't chosen the Spurs match to make a very rare howler: 2-1 or 3-1 & CL qualification the likeliest outcome, I thi

I assume they absolutely did know what they'd signed, but didn't care and/or thought they'd be able to worm out of it or water it down once the deal was in place. The "border in the Irish Sea" was discussed at the time. The broad nature of it was clear from comments by all experts and even by one of Johnson's ministers, even if Johnson chose to lie and deny it. His priority was to hold onto power - and win a majority at a snap election on the grounds that he'd got Brexit done. The EU weren't going to agree a deal that involved an Irish land border. The UK parliament was

"We're going to the Argentine...and we'll really shake them up, when we win the World Cup, cos Scotland is the greatest football team" (apart from Peru and Iran)

Surely, you only have a "copper-bottomed argument" if: a) You assume that because absolute proof is impossible in some cases, it is impossible in every case; or b) If absolute proof is possible, you'd be prepared to consider state executions as justice or justifiable? Take the real case of the killing of Lee Rigby. From memory, a number of people on a bus saw the attack and some even filmed it. The convicted murderers stayed at the scene with bloodied weapons. People in the street approached, tried to help the prone victim and the perpetrators spoke to them and told them

Buce has replied more succinctly than I could. If a violent criminal can be taken alive, then that's better. But there'll be some cases - like the one you mention, insofar as I remember it - where that won't be possible and public safety will require 'shoot-to-kill'.

You post so much good stuff, Mac, but I fundamentally disagree with your suggestion that proof of guilt is "the only argument that matters". It's an important but secondary argument to me. To me, the question of whether it's right for the state (or anyone else) to enact justice by cold-bloodedly killing people takes precedence over whether the state is killing people who are proven guilty or who might be innocent. If proven guilt is the only argument that matters, that begs the question: what is your view if - and when - there is absolute proof of guilt in a case? My view

Thanks for clarifying. I didn't know but imagined that it worked something like that. I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it seems only fair that some account should be taken of the impact on important third parties - the lives of loved ones damaged by deep personal loss. On the other, it seems unfair to the second victim, whose murderer ends up with a shorter sentence than the first victim. Also unfair to the perpetrator of the first murder, who gets a longer sentence because his victim happened to leave close family.

A linked issue......and I'm genuinely not sure what I think about this one.... In pronouncing murder sentences, how much attention, if any, should be paid to the impact on the family and friends of the victim? I can certainly see some important benefits potentially in loved ones being able to express their feelings and explain the harm done to them by the crime (if they want to express that). There's also potential value in the criminal getting to hear that. While in some cases, they won't care or will be in denial, it might help some to accept the scale of their g

Yes, that's pretty close to where I stand. I don't support capital punishment in any circumstances - even where there's conclusive proof that someone has committed horrific murders. Needlessly killing someone is the worst thing anyone can do - and it's just as bad if done by the state on our behalf as if done by some psychopath, criminal or terrorist. I also agree that there should be a hope/aim of eventually rehabilitating all prisoners, even those guilty of the worst offences....but those guilty of such offences and beyond rehabilitation should remain imprisoned

Cheers. Sounds good. Yes, visiting again soon for a bit of research. I suppose wherever you move, social life is a lot down to the effort you make and to luck, but I've lived in a lot of areas over the years - and some are definitely more friendly to outsiders than others. Work won't be an issue as I'm currently self-employed working from home (movable work) and will retire within a few years. Rising house prices is a bigger issue - might have to take an early decision and rent flat out or effectively gamble on a downturn, otherwise I'll risk being priced out. Stil

"We all live with a blue Sou-mar-é, a blue Sou-mar-é, a blue Sou-mar-é Dilly ding! Dilly dong! Dilly ding! Dilly dong! [& Repeat, then....] We all live with a blue Sou-mar-é.....in Leicester!"

Yep. A sub-element of that is the way they hide their phone number in some obscure corner of their web site (often no number under "Contacts"). That's fine if they want to encourage punters to use electronic customer service systems - but sometimes you do need to speak to someone. On similar lines, incompetently designed online forms. I had a minor example of that on the LCFC site when renewing my season ticket today. I got rid of my landline several years ago, but noticed my old number was still included in my details. I tried to delete it but the system wouldn't accept

She does seem to live on another planet at time - a planet in cyberspace, not outer space, mainly.