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Pirates Of The Home Counties
At the weekend, when it was revealed that French commando forces paid a ransom for a group of sailors held by Somali pirates, then stormed the ship to arrest the bad guys and recapture the ransom, your correspondent sent a weary message to his colleague about Britain's likely behaviour in similar circumstances.
"Good for the French - it's a pity they didn't blow the pirates out of the water", he wrote, "In Britain, we'd offer the Somalis asylum instead."
A Swiftian comment on Britain's "soft touch" status, or a prediction? Sadly, the latter: Britain's Royal Navy patrols the waters off Somalia, where most of the piracy occurs. The Navy has recently been warned by the Foreign Office that arresting pirates and returning them to Somalia could breach their human rights. Under the FO's reading of the Human Rights Act, the Islamic justice that awaits the pirates in their home country (beheading for murder, amputation for theft) is just the sort of punishment Britain cannot return criminals to face.
In the worst case, the Somali pirates could end up claiming asylum in Britain - where else can they be sent?
As new figures show that one in five of every murder or manslaughter in the UK is carried out by a foreigner (one in three in London), why on earth risk pushing these appalling figures any higher by bringing in Somali pirates too?
They won't be happy until the pirates are holding up Channel traffic off Kent, or boarding pleasure cruisers on the Thames.
