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HOWARD'S WAY.... a weekly column from Michael Howard MP

13 April 2006<IMG height=195 hspace=10 src="images/michaelhoward3.jpg" width=130 align=right vspace=10 border=0>

Once again the past week has shed light on the kind of society we have become.

The comments of a district judge suggesting that it was political correctness gone mad to prosecute a 10 year old boy for using allegedly racist remarks in the school playground have led to bitter controversy. The general secretary of one of the teaching unions accused the judge of ‘trivialising racist taunts and abuse.’ She said the judge’s remarks feed the pernicious agenda of extremists.

But many people may think that it was the bringing of the prosecution in the first place that is more likely to achieve that. Of course racist abuse is unacceptable but surely we have not yet reached the point when common sense plays no part in decisions to prosecute. On this occasion I am wholeheartedly on the side of the judge.

Another decision of the courts was less welcome. Last Thursday the Court of Appeal decided that any asylum seeker granted sanctuary elsewhere in the European Union had a right to move to Britain and claim free council housing.

I wish I could take the appeal judges to some of my regular advice centres. They would be able to hear for themselves the heart rending tales of some of my constituents who have been waiting for years for decent housing. In my opinion they should come first.

Meanwhile we were told at the weekend that the East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust is going to lose 160 beds because they are getting £20 million less from the Government than they had expected. Few people would argue that we have too many hospital beds in our area. So I view this latest development with great concern.

How can we have got into this mess given the large amount of taxpayers’ money which has been poured into the NHS in recent years? To my mind it reinforces the view I have long held that without real reform the extra money would not deliver the improvements in health care we all want to see.

I was very sad to hear of the proposal to close the Folkestone branch of Marks and Spencer and have written to the Chief Executive of the company to try to persuade him to change his mind. I shall certainly do all I can to bring this about.