But generally we are too harsh with non violent crimes overall... increased prison sentences do little for crime rates, look at the Scandanavian countries vs the US.
'Three weeks to flatten the curve'... a year later and lockdown ongoing. The goalposts keep shifting, and the government seems to now want a 'zero covid' strategy. People need to accept that covid 19, like norovirus and other coranaviruses, is now a permanent fixture of our 'viral landscape'. Add the vaccine as part of a yearly flu jab, maybe lower the free jab age, and let society open up. We can't live our lives in a hermetically sealed bubble for ever.
There will always be new variants, just as there is with the flu and every virus, it's evolution. You can't end covid, it will always be with us. Adding it into the flu jab would be the best approach, I imagine, and extending the free jab criteria to younger ages.
My opinion of Scotland's independence is that if they want it, let them have it. Hold a referendum, make it clear during campaign that the last one was meant to be 'once in a generation/lifetime (Sturgeon said both) and therefore if they choose independence they can have it in full: all UK entities will leave Scotland immediately, civil service, armed forces etc, a border will be established and they can their independence.
How about letting some children continue learning at home where possible? I hated much of secondary school, not the teachers or the learning, but the social isolation and bullying. To have been able to learn from home would have been great. When I hear people say how children are missing the in-person contact, they need to realise that for some children this is not positive
The difference is that the media fawned over Blair and Cameron whilst they constantly attack Johnson, he is fighting an uphill battle when he communicates
Hopefully this will include the Gulf states and Asian countries like Indonesia and Singapore?
Why? Do Denmark, Switzerland or Slovakia send troops to the Middle East? Why do some politicians think we have some right to do so? Military costs are exorbitant and should concentrate on defence.
Firstly, theres the conflation of European and EU. Of course we're all European, and many of us like lots of aspects of European culture which we share. It doesn't mean we like the EU.
Also, the younger pro-EU Brits may become sceptics... their politics aren't necessarily fixed.
ID at polling stations should be compulsory. Lots of countries do this and I really can't see the issue. This could be with a passport, driving licence (incl provisional) or a free photo ID issued by the council specifically for voting, so no excuse about 'voter suppression'.
![[Avatar]](/images/avatar26.png){kind=avatar}
Medley