I was very disturbed this morning by your rant on Radio 4. In Britain we have a proud tradition of freedom and an independent judiciary - you seem to want to have our courts controlled by politicians - this is very dangerous and threatens our individual freedom. Sentencing should be set by judges, not you. You views seem more aligned with Hitler and Stalin than a modern free democracy.
I am not ashamed to have our legal system scrutinised by our European Peers - as I am proud of our legal system. In 2013 over 2000 cases were referred to the ECHR by British citizens - a freedom you seem to resent. Significantly only 21 when to a full hearing - and only 11 were lost by the UK Government (including Parliament's attempt to ban the wearing of a crucifix at work). This is an exceptional record and testimony to our outstanding legal system. By allowing our system to be open to such peer review shines the light on regimes who's record is somewhat worse, in particular Russia and Turkey.
If we left the 47 member ECHR we would be marginalised along with with Belarus and Khazakstan - hardly a pleasant prospect but that seems to be the sort of legal system that appeals to you -one where judges are controlled by politicians.
Having a whole life sentence reviewed after 25 by an independent and free judiciary is perfectly reasonable. Your rant degraded the debate and brought shame on to our political processes.
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