| Punishment depends as much on politics
as it does on crime: crime rates have been stable in recent years but there' s
been a striking increase in the prison population, And because populism is
coming so much to{{U}} (1) {{/U}}the political agendas, politicians are
advocating sharp increases in penalties to take{{U}} (2) {{/U}}of
public unease. The question is how far this will get. In the 21st century weak
governments might try to win legitimacy by being especially{{U}} (3)
{{/U}}on crime. That could mean high prison populations and draconian{{U}}
(4) {{/U}}such as those adopted in the United States in recent
years. Luckily, there remain significant differences between the UK and the USA: social divisions are less extreme and racial{{U}} (5) {{/U}}are not as high.{{U}} (6) {{/U}}there is a great deal of minor violent crime here, rates of murder—{{U}} (7) {{/U}}particularly fuel public anxieties—are much{{U}} (8) {{/U}}because guns have not been so widely{{U}} (9) {{/U}}. It' s unlikely that this will change greatly: the{{U}} (10) {{/U}}to tighten up the gun laws in Britain will continue ,and all{{U}} (11) {{/U}}the toughest criminals will still have a view about what is and what isn't "acceptable violence. So I don' t believe we will see a huge{{U}} (12) {{/U}}in violent crime, but I{{U}} (13) {{/U}}rates of property crime and crimes of opportunity to remain high. There will also be much more electronic fraud because it' s so hard to{{U}} (14) {{/U}}and prevent. This is an important problem for business, but not one that{{U}} (15) {{/U}}much popular agitation. It' s unlikely we'll see the return of the death penalty: the police are{{U}} (16) {{/U}}about its effectiveness and its reintroduction would be highly problematic{{U}} (17) {{/U}}the recent Council of Europe protocol outlawing its use.{{U}} (18) {{/U}}punishment remains a pretty accurate temperature gauge, though:{{U}} (19) {{/U}}there is significant political pressure for the death penalty, it' s a{{U}} (20) {{/U}} of harsher attitudes towards crime generally. |