The Marquis de Leech Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The ban on the death penalty is in the European Convention on Human Rights, which is nothing to do with the EU. It would be interesting to see if the ECHR has a denunciation provision contained in it (denunciation is the process by which countries pull out of treaties and conventions). Of course, the UK doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty comes into play here. Denunciation provision or not, Parliament cannot bind itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The ban on the death penalty is in the European Convention on Human Rights, which is nothing to do with the EU.The EU itself is a signatory to the ECHR.It's quite possible that a future Conservative-led government might legislate to make the Supreme Court the final court of appeal, on matters relating to the ECHR and HRA, ending appeals to Strasbourg.My own view is that governments would view the reintroduction of capital punishment as more trouble than it was worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Nick Boles has been given responsibility for implementing gay marriage alongside his brief for universities and business. Ffs.Priti Patel is in the Treasury now. You might recall her as being the champion of the return of the death penalty. Why oh why are nutters like this allowed in government?Because they represent a substantial proportion of British public opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The EU itself is a signatory to the ECHR.It's quite possible that a future Conservative-led government might legislate to make the Supreme Court the final court of appeal, on matters relating to the ECHR andHRA, ending appeals to Strasbourg.My own view is that governments would view the reintroduction of capital punishment as more trouble than it was worth. If it were cutting off appeals to Strasbourg, I could imagine such a government abolishing the Supreme Court and restoring the House of Lords as the highest court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I'm beginning to think that either Call Me Dave is a long-term Labour plant, or that he's decided that what's going on with the Republican party in the States is the way to go here as well.Cameron would easily be a centrist Democrat, in US political terms.You see the current government as very right-wing. I see them as very much a continuation of Blair/Brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You see the current government as very right-wing. I see them as very much a continuation of Blair/Brown. A cynic would suggest that the two views are not contradictory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Because they represent a substantial proportion of British public opinion. not really. They represent quite a significant portion of people who participate in Daily mail text votes, but the majority of people are against the state having the ability to kill people. ETA: When they've thought about it for more than 8 seconds ** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 not really. They represent quite a significant portion of people who participate in Daily mail text votes, but the majority of people are against the state having the ability to kill people. ETA: When they've thought about it for more than 8 seconds ** Are they? Polls suggest otherwise. Not that I think capital punishment is coming back any time soon. In any case, like it or not, the Daily Mail represents a good deal of public opinion. It wouldn't be the most successful British newspaper if it didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Are they? Polls suggest otherwise. Not that I think capital punishment is coming back any time soon. In any case, like it or not, the Daily Mail represents a good deal of public opinion. It wouldn't be the most successful British newspaper if it didn't. It isn't the most successful British newspaper. That would be The Sun, still. As for support for the death penalty, polls show that this is falling, though still a majority position - just. Recent polls put support around 51%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 It is if we leave the EU in 2017, which is not impossible. Not unless the UK plan to leave the Council of Europe as well which I don't consider very likely. Being anti-Eu is one thing, joining Belarus in becoming European pariah states is something quite different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 From the Satire Really Can't Top This file... http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/21/tony-blair-labour-progressive-policies-reality-win-election Tony Blair says Labour must avoid a delusional view of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 From the Satire Really Can't Top This file... http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/21/tony-blair-labour-progressive-policies-reality-win-election Tony Blair says Labour must avoid a delusional view of the world.The same Blair who joined in the invasion of Iraq because God told him to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 The same Blair who joined in the invasion of Iraq because God told him to? I didn't know he Called George Bush God? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 The future of medicine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 The future of medicine? As recently as 1600, astrology was an important component of medical science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 If he teamed up with Gove, medicine students will soon be required to memorise astrology tables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Not quite politics, but I wanted to make a post about the demolition of the Didcot power station cooling towers.For the last 50 years the towers have been the major landmark of the South Oxfordshire plain. They were visible for miles in all directions, and dominated the town of Didcot. Last year the power station was closed, and the southern towers were demolished at 5am this morning. BBC link. We were there, as were many many thousands of other people, with just about every possible vantage point crowded. (Hi to everyone!)However, the PR of the event was impressively inept. My impression was that it had not really occurred to them that people would want to watch. It turned what might have been excellent publicity into an embarrassment.Their initial reaction was "this is an engineering project, not a public event". As the story grew and the local councils and MP got involved they just kept on digging, albeit with a little more subtlety. In an amusing interview a spokesman told people to stay away, but then was forced to admit he had invited his young nephew to watch. They refused to narrow down the demolition time from "3am to 5am". They came up with fairly specious reasons for why it had to be so early. They made comments about how "people and explosives don't mix" (engineering friends tell me this sort of demolition is well understood and very safe as long as appropriate precautions are taken). They tried to scare people with stories of a giant dust cloud. They reluctantly announced a live web feed to watch instead (which I understand was fairly naff.) Late yesterday they were still telling people to stay away, advice ignored by everyone.So I am wondering whether the PR was just a cock up or symptomatic of something deeper. I do think that there is a certain narrow minded "know the price of everything and the value of nothing" capitalism that would genuinely think that the locals have no legitimate interest in such an event. Anyone got any opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacuna Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 They were moving the cryogenically frozen part-cyborg Churchill, of course. Scheduled to be operational in 2023. *Adjusts tinfoil hat* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 So Baroness Warsi finally takes her leave, over the government's policy on Gaza. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28656874 I have to say I didn't realise our government had a policy on Gaza. Wringing hands and asking both sides if they really wouldn't mind playing nice hardly constitutes a 'policy', does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 They're "reviewing" arms exports to Israel, does that count as a policy ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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