Right wing buffoon Peter Hitchens is on Newsnight on the topic of capital punishment. He has been talking for perhaps 4 minutes in all, and his arguments have been, in chronological order:
1. Capital punishment is humane and cheap, and therefore should be introduced for murder.
2. The Government aren’t really tough on crime, and won’t introduce the death penalty.
3. Even though the Government has put in new and draconian sentencing laws, they don’t really mean it.
4. The Government shouldn’t have anything to do with sentencing, they should leave it to the judges.
5. The Government is authoritarian and just wants to tell us what to do.
6. The Government might introduce the death penalty for crimes other than murder, and that would be very bad.
So, meet Peter Hitchens, the anti-death penalty supporter of capital punishment, who wants the Government to get tough with criminals as long as it doesn’t, and wants to interfere with sentencing powers without interfering with judges’ discretion. Is it any wonder the Mail is a byword for intellectual honesty and clarity?