Histomat: Adventures in Historical Materialism

'Historical materialism is the theory of the proletarian revolution.' Georg Lukács

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

On crime and punishment in Cameron's Britain

How long do we think Cameron and Murdoch's cronies Rebekah and Charlie Brooks (who have been charged with perverting the course of justice - with the removal of material, documents and computers from News International to hide them from police officers investigating phone hacking etc) - might go down for if found guilty? The charge carries a maximum penalty of life, although the average term served in prison is 10 months. Lets have a brief reminder of the state of play with respect to crime and punishment so far in Cameron's Britain:

 'I obviously have done something wrong. And I've paid the price for it by going to prison. A big price.' 
  Lord Hanningfield, a Tory politician who in May 2011 was found guilty of claiming £13,000 in false expenses and sentenced to nine months in prison. After serving nine weeks, he was released on home detention curfew and he is now back sitting in the House of Lords.

 'I am not the first and I certainly won’t be the last person to do something without rhyme or reason’
 The celebrity Anthony Worrall Thompson - another Tory - apologising in January 2012 after being caught shoplifting cheese from Tesco five times. He was let off with a caution.

 'It was a foolish action which I completely regret. I will bear the consequences of my actions long into the future' 
City banker who stole £1.4 million and was just fined and so avoided prison in February 2012.

Spot the difference: 

 6 months - the prison sentence for Nicholas Robinson, 23, who stole a £3.50 bottle of water from an already looted Lidl during last August's riots.

 9 months - the prison sentence for Ikea worker Colin Kenny, 20, for allowing friends and relatives to leave the company’s Belfast store without paying for £10,000-worth of goods.  

Four years - the sentences handed down to Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe, 22, for inciting a riot that didn't happen on facebook in August 2011 during the riots.

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