Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Benefits of devolution (If you're Scottish)
The Times reported yesterday here on a Scots version of "Megan's Law". A law which would allow you to find out about paedophiles living in your area.
Our masters in England have always been opposed to such a thing for various reasons, but the normally cited platitude goes along these lines: “We’ve got to work openly with sex offenders. We cannot afford as a society for them to be driven underground.” Anyway there's no such law for the whole of the UK and in my view unlikely to be one, but those North British are thinking of going it alone: "The initiative, expected to be included in Labour’s manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections in May, would reveal the location of the worst sex offenders to schools, community councils and, in some cases, local residents."
Now in principle of course I'm in favour of such a law, and in many ways don't blame the Scots for wanting the same, but of course this will mean a problem for England as it: "... raises the prospect of sex offenders moving to England and Wales to escape disclosure and the risk of being attacked by vigilantes."
So with this cunning move the canny Scots will get rid of their paedophiles, by the simple expedient of encouraging them to move here. No doubt the English taxpayer will then have to fork out for their "treatment", housing and other costs. If these "exiles" from the new "oppressive law" show their gratitude in their usual manner by re-offending then we wont just be paying with our taxes.
This is a perfect example of just how poor the constitutional settlement is. With full independence we could (in theory) control entry into England and ensure that such convicted criminals remained in Scotland. Without devolution then such a law would have to apply to the whole of the UK so they'd be no incentive to move anywhere. Instead our Scottish masters have given us a mish-mash that always puts England at a disadvantage. If the Scots want devolution then let them have it, who cares? What we mustn't do is allow ourselves to be disadvantaged, but instead we always pull short straw.
Our masters in England have always been opposed to such a thing for various reasons, but the normally cited platitude goes along these lines: “We’ve got to work openly with sex offenders. We cannot afford as a society for them to be driven underground.” Anyway there's no such law for the whole of the UK and in my view unlikely to be one, but those North British are thinking of going it alone: "The initiative, expected to be included in Labour’s manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections in May, would reveal the location of the worst sex offenders to schools, community councils and, in some cases, local residents."
Now in principle of course I'm in favour of such a law, and in many ways don't blame the Scots for wanting the same, but of course this will mean a problem for England as it: "... raises the prospect of sex offenders moving to England and Wales to escape disclosure and the risk of being attacked by vigilantes."
So with this cunning move the canny Scots will get rid of their paedophiles, by the simple expedient of encouraging them to move here. No doubt the English taxpayer will then have to fork out for their "treatment", housing and other costs. If these "exiles" from the new "oppressive law" show their gratitude in their usual manner by re-offending then we wont just be paying with our taxes.
This is a perfect example of just how poor the constitutional settlement is. With full independence we could (in theory) control entry into England and ensure that such convicted criminals remained in Scotland. Without devolution then such a law would have to apply to the whole of the UK so they'd be no incentive to move anywhere. Instead our Scottish masters have given us a mish-mash that always puts England at a disadvantage. If the Scots want devolution then let them have it, who cares? What we mustn't do is allow ourselves to be disadvantaged, but instead we always pull short straw.
Tags: devolution, England, Scotland
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
