The thing that caught my eye amidst all of the domestic and foreign news this morning were the latest developments on the $10 billion lawsuit that Trump has brought against the BBC for a ‘misreporting’ of some of his words when the Capitol building was invaded by MAGA supporters. The BBC lawyers have demanded that Trump hand over a tranche of financial records so that Trump could ‘prove’ that he and his business interests had been damaged by the BBC revelations. This, of course, Trump will never do and Trump’s lawyers are trying to argue that handing over the financial records would be especially burdensome although a court has ruled that they should. I suspect the BBC have made a master stroke in this court case and after much huffing and puffing I would not be surprised if President Trump were to pull out of the case or if the whole case might be decided for a trivial but undisclosed amount. In the American political sense which I am following closely, I think we are living in the most dangerous of times. So much hangs on the mid-term elections to be held in November where Trump is destined to lose control of the House of Representatives (the Lower House) and even the Senate (Upper house) may be threatened. So time is running out for the Republicans as holiday season approaches. So Trump will be driven to make and more desperate moves to try to postpone or to ‘fix’ the electoral process by redrawing boundaries to minimise Democratic voting strength so called ‘re-districting’) Trump himself must realise that he is running out of time as the Iran war is re-igniting with a consequent knock-on effect on petrol prices at the pumps and of course his own health is visibly failing almost by the day as his evident dementia progresses. So, I suspect a really dangerous few weeks as Trump realises that his options and freedom of manoeuvre are being stacked against him and after November, he may well turn into the proverbial ‘lame duck’ president. So although the cornered and wounded animal metaphor is a little overworked, I think it is absolutely appropriate to apply in these circumstances. I am pleased that my Tai Chi classes are continuing throughout the summer but without the bonus of a pleasant chat with acquaintances in the Methodist Centre in which the tea and coffee area is closed for its summer refurbishment. In the slightly longer term, I am pleased that my application to be part of the next U3A coach trip has been accepted and in September we will be visiting Shrewsbury prison which has been turned into a visitor experience so that we can witness the delights of a well-preserved Victorian prison which was in active use until not so very long ago. At the end of the month, I also have the first meeting of the U3A Philosophy group where I think the topic for discussion is sometime along the lines of ‘The Philosopher Michael Sandel and The Moral Limits of Markets’ (and I am aware of some of the style of Michael Sandel whose contributions have been aired and I have followed in Radio 4 programmes)
In the morning, I attended my normal Tai Chi class but in the absence of any coffee bar facilities, I went out on the High Street with two of my fellow Tai Chi group members and we had a coffee together in favourite ‘Gifts of Love’ horse sanctuary which always offers a warm welcome and a range of delicious cakes and coffee to its visitors. Then I returned home and cooked myself an omelette which I had with some salad. The domestic agenda is dominated by the news that Andy Burnham and the newly appointed Justice Secretary are to review the early release of prisoners scheme under which people convicted of rape and even murder are released. Prisoners eligible for early release typically include adults serving standard determinate sentences who have good behaviour and have completed one-third (33%) to 40% of their prison term, depending on the jurisdiction and specific reform measures in place (such as those in England and Wales) More serious crimes may be released after about 50% of their sentences. The public are generally appalled by these policies, wiht the victims of rape and the near relatives of those murdered fearing that the perpetrators of the crimes may be released to roam the streets in the same areas I which the crimes were committed. The public affected by these early release schemes make the powerful but emotive point that the criminals only serve a sentence which can be less than half than that announced by the judge whereas the victims of crime are living with the consequences of these crimes for the rest of the lives – a type of life sentence in itself. The root of the problem is that after years of austerity and one of the highest prison populations in Europe, the rate at which prison places are provided is less than the rate at which prisoners are being sentenced. The government claims that many more prisons are being built but this takes both time and money and, of course, planning the location of a new prison is always problematic because nobody wants a prison to be built in their vicinity. So Andy Burnham and the new government are dealing with an inherited problem but in the short term the prison service is in crisis as the additional capacity given as a consequence of early release will soon disappear. Apart from the tagging idea, this is an area in which it is hard to think of an easy solution and, no doubt, other solutions such as prison ships and prison barges have to be ruled out. The primary problems with prison ships—both historically and in modern attempts to revive them—include catastrophic disease outbreaks, severe overcrowding, and logistical nightmares. Because they are confined maritime spaces, they present massive safety risks, strip inmates of basic human dignity, and fail to provide the resources necessary for rehabilitation. Some societies such as Holland have experimented with ideas such as ‘weekend’ jails in which prisoners live and work with their families during the week but ave to return to jail at the weekend. But this solution might only work for those prisoners with jobs which might be very few. Other European societies may be faced with these problems and it would be interesting to see if any other modern social democracies have thought of any solutions. As we know from the housing of asylum seekers, if any kind of penitential facility is housed near to other centres of population and the local community, aided by local and some national politicians, will vociferously object to any new penitential facilities in their area.