Ahh.. Tony's transition is not turning out as smoothly as he might have wished. Not at all.
First, we have Police panic reactions to the terrorist threat.. two men arrested, one of them shot, and both subsequently released without charge. Now there's a case for the Courts..
Secondly, still with prisons, the news that 53 lifeers have been released within six years or beginning their terms, prompting Tony to re-examine the legislation on sentencing..
No 10 says a review is under way, but Mr Blair was urged to stop tinkering by the ex-chief inspector of prisons. Lord Ramsbotham, giving the opinion of the House of Lords, said the prime minister should stop making changes to the legal system, saying they caused more problems than they solved.
"I just wish he'd shut up, frankly," he told BBC Two's Daily Politics show.
Meanwhile, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer has defended judges, saying they should not be the "whipping boys" for a flawed system. Typical.
Thirdly, he has lost the confidence of the man on the street, with the Tory's leading in the polls for the first time in more than a decade..
Not good.
And then there's the issue of who will take the reins of the Labour Party once Tony abdicates, and abdicate he will.
This promises to be interesting, with George and Tony on their way out, and no real contenders to replace them.
One can be sure they're smiling in Tehran, Beijing, and Pyongyang..

Now back to the issue of torture, but this time let the focus be on the average Western family, rather than those barbarian states who've been typically branded as uncivilised by we in the superior West.
Lets take the average household in say, Glasgow.
One in lets say Easterhouse, or the Gorbells.
Not recognized by most of those reading this, but they're areas in which the police will not travel alone. In fact, they'll not likely to answer a household complaint without at least 4 or 5 officers, for fear of local reaction.
In these Estates, as they're known over here, child/wife/husband beatings are daily occurrances.
Having said that, the same could be said of any neighbourhood anywhere in this civilised West of ours.
It happened in chat today (and it might be well mentioned that betimes internet chat can be a source of some observational gems..) that it was said 'humans are unique in being capable of seeing undesirable behavior by members of their own species, and may be equally unique in ignoring it...'
We tend to look away from that which we find distasteful, unless it's a behavioral trait of another race, or committed by citizens of another country. We wrap ourselves in a woolen blanket of ignorance and avoidance, while proclaiming our enlightenment and compassion.
Tripe.
It is impossible these days, unless one is completely isolated, to witness in one's own backyard, mistreatment, disinterest, and sickness. It is impossible unless of course, it is more convenient to ignore a situation,and hope, or pray if that's one's preference, that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, an overwhelming force which will make everything just hunky-dory.
That force is within ourselves, and as long as we delude ourselves about that which is common in our own neighbourhood, we will never be able to change that which is commonplace in 'the Third World'
We have no moral high ground.
We are as guilty as anyone, and that means,anyone else.