Policy Undercurrents and Sentencing Madness

Many things are crawling out of the woodwork in the aftermath of last week's riots.

First, lets look at the case of the two guys jailed for four years for inciting a riot. This was a couple of guys who put up messages on facebook supposedly "organising" a riot in Northwich. That no-one unsuprisingly attended. In Northwich of all places. If any of you have been to Northwich, the chances of anything happening there let alone a riot are so slim its ludicrous to suggest that they did it for anything other than a joke.

But they got four years: a custodial sentence that has yet to be matched or served by the majority of the people that actually physically attended a riot, caused criminal damage or looted.

Where is the sense in that?

Why are people using social media being punished so disproportionately?

Do the government want more riots? Because that's what they'll have if the lenient sentencing continues. The rioter and looters will risk-assess the situation and realise that a few hours community service is well worth the price of a 50 inch HD LCD TV.

Those that rioted on the first couple of nights and got away scott free certainly will.

Does the government want more control of the internet and especially social media and blogging sites? By their words over the past few days, absolutely. They want to curtail the rights and freedoms of every one of us  on the internet that speaks out in opposition to them and their political chums, especially those in the EU.

Which neatly brings me onto curfews, which is something else  the political elite are clamouring for. Take the scum off the streets eh? But curfews will not be specific, they can't be. Everyone thinks they're good ideas as long as they don't apply to them. Tough, we'll have to have blanket curfews in certain areas in order to make it work. Everyone will love a curfew right up until they're not allowed out of their front door. But by then the damage will be done, the law will be on the statute books and the Police will have the power to keep you kettled in your own home.

Internet censorship, curfews, political parties so close together you might as well call it a one-party state.

Just how much evidence do the public need before they realise the authoritarian state we are creating? Probably not before its too late, because the sick thing is they're the ones calling for it.