Thugs and Cub Scouts.

What relevance is someone's background to whether or not they should be prosecuted for breaking the law?

While I agree that Merseyrail have been harsh in their treatment of Kathleen Jennings, the media reaction goes to the crux of what sort of justice people seem to be calling for. The sort of justice that prosecutes people 'we don't like'.

Is it ok to break the law if you are 'a nice sort'? Maybe only certain people should be prosecuted for breaking speed limits, parking violations, fare dodging, shoes on seats etc. The authorities are surely being overly harsh when they prosecute some people, i.e. people 'like us', but should throw the book at anyone who is uneducated, obviously....

Boris Johnson is, of course, loving all this. He makes some good points that we would all agree with but also misses the point at the same time.

Boris bemoans that having a flash bike makes it more likely to be stolen and I agree that more needs to be done to stop thieves. I think 'decoy bikes' etc are a good way of deterring and it should be well trailed, but at the same time - it is possible to use cycles without having them stolen. Admittedly I have an old unfashionable bike - but I have had it 8 years now without problems (and it is regularly locked in town centres).

He does make the point that support for citizens who tackle unruly youth is frighteningly low and that the police are never gonna be around to help when you need them, no matter how many more of them we have...but as people now realise, more prison is not the answer. In fact Boris doesn't seem to have any answers at all. He asks the right questions but a return to a mythical past is just that - something that will always be a mythical past. The Right try to belittle what government can achieve, except when they make fantastic claims to improve the morals of the nation. Hogwash the lot of it!