Jack's Straw's personal decision to deny parole to the decrepit old lag, Ronnie Biggs is a spiteful and inhuman act of a remote Minister. Biggs is a crook who is not faking his infirmity; Simon Hattenstone of the Guardian detailed his pitiful condition which he witnessed in 2003, describing how he was, "bent double and dribbled, fed liquid food through a tube inserted in his stomach." It is an idiotic waste of tax revenue and public concern to spend £2,000 a day perpetuating this obscene incarcaration.
To Straw's credit, he set out clearly his thinking but simultaneously portrayed himself as some Victorian judge by raising the correct moral outlook above the right to a dignified death. In his reasoning, such as it is, he cited Biggs's, "propensity to break trust," and damned him for not undertaking "risk-related work." Work of any kind would come hard to a cripple who has been unable to speak for several years.
Straw defied the advice of the Parole Board; one of several Ministers to reject the wisdom of their own experts. "The legal system deserves more respect," he opined, clearly Straw feels deference to the law excludes any degree of mercy here. The public and media don't have much of a soft spot for Ronnie Biggs but Straw carries no popular support nor respect in continuing the "cruel and unusual," punishment of a dying man.
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