Over the last few weeks there has been a terrible rise in the amount of publicity given to knife crime.   I choose my words carefully, as I am far from convinced that knife crime has suddenly leapt up the tables to be so quickly in the spotlight, but rather the problem has been growing for some time.

Recently too there have been several incidents of cirminals re-offending when either released from or spared jail, as steps taken to respect their human rights.   Much discussion has then been held, rather awkwardly, after the event of their latest crime, the victim of whom has now no rights at all, as they are dead.

To me we seem to have this stuff a little back to front.   True, some criminals need to be locked up for good - and not in some apology for a sports hall - but in the main we just need to get the punishement to fit the crime.   Patently things are out of kilter.

As with an illness, the most effective long term treatment is to address the cause rather than the symptom.   This is why we need to consider how to supplant peoples' 'rights' and replace them with 'responsibilities'.   The weakness of socialism (especially as practised by the incumbent government) is that it seeks to take responsibility from the individual and attempt to impose it collectively via its' own offices.

This does not work.

Allowing people to take responsibility for their own lives is one area where the Tories could put distance between themselves and the neo-stalinistas of NuLabour. A policy of less interference in private lives, with the declared intention of limiting government to traditional functions would do much to persuade doubters that Cameroon is not "new labour lite".

You never know, it might catch on.