This weekend Charon interviewed John Hirst of Prison Law Inside Out about his experience of life in prison, his thoughts on the penal system and about his victory a couple of years ago in the European Court of Human Rights in Hirst v UK, in which he successfully challenged the legal bar preventing prisoners from voting. Well worth listening to.
And after, that, Charon discussed the Hirst case with me! I don’t have strong views on whether prisoners should be able to vote – I was happy with the status quo but I can also see a good case for the ban being removed completely. But I am quite critical of the ECtHR’s judgment: I think it reduced the margin of appreciation to vanishing point and intervened far too readily with the UK’s approach, and on the basis of bad reasoning. We also talked about about Lord Phillips and my extreme and immoderate reaction to his lecture the other day.
You can listen here to Charon’s interviews with John Hirst and with me.
I have never heard such ostentatious smoking on a podcast before. It was Charon rather than you I think. Overall effect, presumably as intended, was kind of louche and libertarian.
You’re right, Nicholas, it certainly was Charon. I’m far, far too now to smoke, but that chap… he’s a shocker. And you have him BANG to rights as louche and libertarian. Louche and libertine, is my suspicion.
Libertarian? Yes…. Louche…… well… possibly in my heyday….
I smoke too much – curiously, it helps me to think…. mind you, so does Rioja.
Ostentatious smoking ? An interesting idea….
Enjoyed doing the podcast as always…
🙂
I have just checked the meaning of libertine…
Libertine has come to mean one devoid of any restraints, especially one who ignores or even spurns religious norms, accepted morals, and forms of behaviour …
Wikipedia
Well… it is a start!… definitely not New Labour… or New Tory!