tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post7942950755099016141..comments2023-11-02T07:54:22.317+00:00Comments on Unenlightened Commentary.: Does Parliament Lead Or Follow Public Opinion?Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-51146621386044930982009-06-28T18:47:25.004+01:002009-06-28T18:47:25.004+01:00It's not an either-or question when it comes t...It's not an either-or question when it comes to legislation vs public attitudes. The one reflects and reacts upon the other. Sometimes Parliament leads (as in legalising homosexuality), sometimes it follows (the pathetic attempts to show themselves as 'tough on crime' while not actually doing owt about it).<br /><br />The attitudes of most Brits at the time of legalisation in 1967 ranged from 'lock them all up' or worse, to 'there are poor unfortunates on whom we should have compassion' - and those last were the liberals, the ones who voted for legalisation. Following legalisation and 30 years of the cultural revolution, the speeches made in Parliament by the supporters of legalisation would probably see them arrested for hate speech today !<br /><br />As I said about a different subject : <br /><br />The two things - attidudes to criminals and their punishment - react on and reinforce (or weaken) each other.<br /><br />Take Saudi Arabia, where murder is punished by beheading and robbery by amputation. Were we to introduce such punishments to the UK, crime would fall, but not to anywhere near Saudi levels. The existence of such draconian punishment is a reflection of a culture that has no time for thieves and murderers. It's the culture that makes the crime rate low - the punishment reflects and reinforces the culture.Labanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12031578024191117985noreply@blogger.com