An Englishman's home is his castle, right?

Not quite. Well, best ask the Home Secretary Mr. Charles Clarke who has decided that householders should not be given more powers to defend themselves against intruders in their own homes.

Is that right, Mr Clarke?

I was watching Newsnight on BBC 2 earlier tonight and one of the correspondents said something that really got my blood up: [I must paraphrase, but the wording is right] “Charles Clarke wishes to appear less popularist [sic] and more liberalist.”

Now, this brings us into an area I have had good cause to put thought to in recent times, something that I feel very strongly about. For example, let’s assume that there are but two ways of thinking: old-fashioned and progressive.

It appears to me that if the above assessment of Mr Clarkes’ thinking is to be believed, then the likes of Mr Clarke are those that choose the progressive route to success. Well, I say success, but any success is entirely subjective and utterly relative.

The progressive thinker, presented with the above dilemma will nearly always choose the option less likely to offend their sensibilities. This to me is utterly abhorrent. The very idea that someone would make a decision in such a way is beyond belief.

Surely, a decision should be arrived at based on the merits of the option in fair and contrasting comparison with all other options? Whether the solution is progressive or old-fashioned is an irrelevance, surely?

I posed this question to my dad, he replied simply: ”There’s only a right way and a wrong way.“

While that might sound prosaic, it’s actually quite simple: as a person, you know what is right and what is wrong. If you don’t, you need help. If you’re a politician and you still don’t know, you should be removed from your seat of responsibility forthwith.

Further to this, my dad began with a very functional scenario that I myself had seen: he’s fast approaching his mid sixties, so he’s no longer the lithe young thing he used to be. I’m out on the razzle, he’s at home on his own. He hears a noise and goes down stairs to investigate.

He comes face to face with some smackhead twat brandishing a knife. Now, we have yet another dilemma: this young but ultimately shit-faced goit could easily over-power my dad, but my dad would struggle to wrestle this sack of shit to the ground. So my dad simply must use more than ‘reasonable force’ to knock the smoke out of the intruder to subdue him. But now, he’s outside of the law!

Who care’s whether you’re seen as being popularist or liberalist! The point is, are you doing the right thing?

Fuck dogma! Fuck the politik! Go with the logic and the rule of common sense. Or is that me being old-fashioned?