I thought judges were independent. As I recall, Pete Townsend who you may ask, yes that one, did not receive a custodial sentence for his research into downloading child pornography.

John Reid has made a lot of mistakes and a lot of enemies. When it suited him he would grab the headlines to attack others. Now those headlines are attacking him.

I don't like any Home Secretary. But, at least Churchill did reduce the prison population by half. All this get tough on criminals and prisoners, overfilling prisons like rush hour tube trains.

Geoff Hoon on Question Time yesterday tried telling the public that this get tough approach was what they wanted. Not one clap, not one cheer of support, if this government does not get that message then they are not listening and deserve all they get. What they want is an effective system and John Reid is not delivering it.

Is that the Liberal Churchill who set troops on to the Welsh miners... or the Tory Churchill who authorised the use of WMD (i.e. mustard gas) against the Kurds?

As I say... you pays your money and takes your choice.

I don't give Churchill credit for anything other than reducing the prison population, and his speech in 1910 in which he said: "The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country". Even if he did somewhat plagarise Dostoievsky.