[Waterstones]

Alexander along with Hastings and Mckay are the kind of people who make you want to say to them 'If you think you can do a better job here you fucking do it!,but then that's what you could say to most other newspaper reporters as well in my view,

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Alexander along with Hastings and Mckay are the kind of people who make you want to say to them 'If you think you can do a better job here you fucking do it!,but then that's what you could say to most other newspaper reporters as well in my view,

So, so true...

And politicians.

[Waterstones]

One other I take issue with with Alexander is his view that if the West settled the Isreal-Palestine problem then Al-qaeda will stop attacking the West because in his view that's why they hate us,I think that's bullshit because look at the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany or the Weathermen in America both groups set up to oppose the war in Vietnam,both groups carried on killing long after the war ended so you can't tell me that Al-qaeda wouldn't stop killing if peace broke out in the middle-east next week all they would do is find some other excuse to carry on killing.

[Ebon Badger]

Al Qaeda has very little to do with the whole I/P thing. In all the stuff I've read about them, Israel has come up very little. Ideologically, there is this very weird belief that if they attack, say, a police station in Cairo, that the whole populace will rise up against their oppressors (real and imagined) and then a perfect Islamic state will spring into being. It's basically an extreme form of what your average mailite true believer thinks- if we could all go back to some perfect time [that never existed] then everything would work fine, and everyone would behave well, and there would be no crime or poverty etc etc. Most of their victims are muslims for this reason- they genuinely believe that killing people will cause them to rise up
Palestine is simply one region out of zillions of square miles where muslims* are getting the shitty end of the stick, so Israel is simply one of many enemies. A very long list of enemies.

*as well as the non-muslim compatriots

[Malcolm Armsteen]

All that - plus, if everyone followed my rules to the letter, the world would be a better place. At least for them.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Alexander's a funny one:

Here's the usual Mail rubbish that "people who oppose discrimination are humourless, and Sky Sports is Socialist"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... es-up.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Here's a decent attack on Cameron:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... vants.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


And here he tears Ronald Reagan a new one:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... ed-us.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Messianic Trees]

ANDREW ALEXANDER: Don't whine, Ed, rioters deserve hard labour

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1VGol2Lag" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All my instincts cry out for severe punishment as the march through the courts goes on.

I have a real fear that in some way the rioters and looters will get off lightly — sentences substantial in theory but short in practice and little more than months of lounging around in front of a TV, which they already do at home anyway.

They should have prison with hard labour, something they have probably never encountered before.

[Bones McCoy]

ANDREW ALEXANDER: Don't whine, Ed, rioters deserve hard labour

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1VGol2Lag" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All my instincts cry out for severe punishment as the march through the courts goes on.

I have a real fear that in some way the rioters and looters will get off lightly — sentences substantial in theory but short in practice and little more than months of lounging around in front of a TV, which they already do at home anyway.

They should have prison with hard labour, something they have probably never encountered before.

He comes across as a genuine maverick from the right- as opposed to the "Yes Mister Dacre, I'll copy the article nicely in my own handwriting" brigade that provide most of the Columnist inches in this rag.
I respect that, and will robably devote a little time to his work.

It is however disappointing to see the pretence that "hard labour" exists as a sentencing option.
It was referred to as "Penal Servitude" and abolished in 1948 (England and Wales), 1950 (Scotland), 1953 (N. Ireland).
I'm disappointed because it creates the impression that there are "better" punishments available.
This allows the typical reader to conclude that "they" (PC, liberals, vegans, cyclists) are preventing it.

An honest paper might discuss the abolition and which parties/MPs favour its reinstatement.

This is a contrast to the hanging debate, where we all know the facts, so fans can cut directly to "bring back the rope".

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's because work does more good than being bored in prison that some of us support more community punishment. But "common sense" suggests we support that because we're softy do gooders.

[davidjay]

I had this argument when the idea of part-time prisons was put forward. I was told I was in favour of criminals when I was actually saying we could lock some offenders up at weekends who don't get custodial sentences now.

[Bones McCoy]

Powell.

Robert?
Cozy?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I don't mind which, so long as you capitalise proper nouns.

[AOB]

The right-wing have truly become a parody of themselves this week. Their knees must have cuts and bruises galore on them.

[davidjay]

The right-wing have truly become a parody of themselves this week. Their knees must have cuts and bruises galore on them.

Sadly, they're not alone. This week has shown how the British (or to be more accurate, English) psyche is instinctively right-wing and bigoted.

[Waterstones]

I found out a a month ago that Mr Alexander was a friend of Enoch Powell,during the 1974 General Election Powell gave a interview to Alexander in which he attacked Edward Heath for taking Britain into the Common Market and destroying in Enoch's view Britain's Independence,this attack by Powell was seen as one of the reasons on top of the 3-day week that Heath lost the election.