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Every time someone is up for extradition in the UK there's a big media campaign highlighting how unfair it is - allegedly - to send poor 'so and so' off to face justice in a foreign land.
Doesn't really matter who it is - young or old, rich or poor - though interestingly most suspects turn out to be men.
But whoever's involved there's always a tear inducing argument at hand to explain how terrible things are likely to be - for the alleged criminal.
The underlying logic being that they must be allowed to remain in the UK - at all costs - instead of being packed off abroad to face their accusers.
So to illustrate the point:
Julian Assange says he won't get a fair trial in Sweden - he didn't sexually assault anyone.
Shrien Dewani says he shouldn't be extradited to South Africa - he didn't arrange for his new bride to be murdered .
Christopher Tappin says American justice is not to be relied upon - he didn't know his weapons grade products were destined for Iran.
But put the boot on the other foot for a moment and consider the following case - where the argument is made in reverse by two Frenchmen - accused of murdering a British teenager in a Spanish holiday resort.
A young British teenager - Andrew Milroy (15) - was killed on the Costa Brava last year in a brawl involving some French youths.
Two young Frenchmen - Jeremy Puydeboix and Ludwig Galler - were charged with murder and causing his death by the use of a knife - but argued that they would not get a fair trial in Spain because of 'virulent anti-French sentiment'.
In other words they should be allowed to stay in France - where of course they cannot be charged with a alleged crime not committed on French soil.
Which is clever legal speak for saying they should be allowed to walk away - Scot-free.
"I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to be involved in a homicide case,” Mr Puydeboix told Lyon Appeal Court. “It was just a fight.” Mr Gallier admitted to detectives that he stabbed the British teenager during a disturbance outside a disco in the resort of Lloret del Mar.
But Galler claimed he was unaware that Andrew Milroy died of his wounds.
The two French suspects told police they had been insulted and attacked by about 12 people - but their stories are contested by various witness statements collected by Spanish police.
Wisely the French courts decided that the two suspects should face their accusers in a Spanish court - which is the only place where the evidence can be properly tested of course.
And in the case the British family of the British victim wanted the extradition to proceed - in the interests of justice for their dead son.
I suppose it all just goes to show that while there are no guilty men in prison - there are no potentially guilty men facing extradition either.
Not in the UK anyway.
Governments seldom get any praise - so let me raise a small cheer on behalf of the Treasury's move to order Barclays Bank to pay £500 million in tax - which the bank's bosses tried to avoid.
The government also took the highly unusual step of of introducing retrospective legislation to prevent Barclays from getting away with its policy of 'aggressive tax avoidance'.
Now that has to be good news - whatever your politics.
And the fact is that if people actually paid their fair share of taxes - then tax rates could actually start coming down.
If I had a magic wand I'd bring back the old 10p tax rate - because that helped put money in the pockets of low paid workers - particularly women on part-time hours.
Abolishing the 10p tax rate was one of the craziest things Gordon Brown ever did - apart from bottling out of a decision to call a general election in October 2007.
But the former Labour leader did the wrong thing on both counts - and ended up paying a very heavy price because his premiership never really recovered from those two disastrous decisions.
The present coalition government is seeking to repair someof that damage by raising people's personal tax allowances to £10,000 - a welcome move that will also benefit the lower paid.
Quite when that will happen is another thing - but the sooner the better.
The other thing that I would do if I had a magic wand is to lower the 40p tax rate.
Because once you add on National Insurance contributions - anyone on a salary over £35,000 is keeping less than half of what they earn.
Handing over more than 50% of what you earn to the taxman - is no one's idea of an enterprise economy.
But to get to the point where tax rates can be lowered - the government needs to focus on a culture where so many people try to avoid paying taxes at all.
Or in some cases where they come up with fancy schemes - which allow them to pay artificially low rates of tax - by setting up bogus companies and things like Employee Benefits Trusts.
Which of course got Glasgow Rangers Football Club into so much trouble - and who are now facing £60 million plus tax bill.
No one likes paying taxes.
If they did, the Greek economy wouldn't be in such a catastrophic mess.
UK taxes should be lower than they are now, but while the economy recovers going after the tax dodgers, scammers and benefit cheats - is a sure fire way to win public support.
So the occupy protesters have finally been moved away - from their tent city outside of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
I can't say the occupy movement did much to inspire me - I know only too well that I didn't cause a run on the UK banks.
So I suppose that makes me one of the mythical 99% - but so what?
What I certainly don't need is a motley crew of anarchists, students and alternative lifstyle types - pitching their tents just about anywhere they like - and then claiming that they're acting on my behalf.
No one asked me for my approval - or even my opinion - yet this self-selected group all claim to be acting in the name of democracy.
Much as I agree with the sentiment of 'tarring and feathering' a few of the culprits - politicians, bankers and greedy borrowers too - I can't bring myself to say that a self-appointed mob should be the ones to dispense justice.
Not in my name anyway.
So it's about time people were moved along - though the legal proceedings have been a bit of a circus.
No one's interfering with the right to protest - all that's happening is that a few people are being told you can't just pitch up anywhere you like and call other people's property - your home from home.
The folks I saw and met when I was at St Paul's last year were all perfectly nice - but what's that got to do with anything?
I'm sure it's been great fun while it lasted - though the same was not true in Glasgow's version of tent city in George Square - which packed up long ago.
Yet before it did so a woman was attacked and raped - which all just goes to show that these things are all great fun until someone loses an eye - or worse.
I read a report yesterday which said that Gordon Brown - the sometime MP for Fife - is facing growing calls to sing up as part of a 'dream team' to oppose independence in the forthcoming Scottish referendum.
Now I missed the explanation about who exactly is clamouring for Gordon Brown to get on board - I'm certainly not.
In fact I think it would be a disastrous move for a whole number of reasons.
Firstly, Gordon is not much of a team player - turns out he spent the best part of 10 years trying to undermine his pal - Tony Blair - yet when he got his chance at the top job Godon fluffed it big time.
Secondly, Gordon is far too hostile towards the Scottish nationalists and would want to run a very negative campaign - instead of accepting that the SNP are widely accepted to have done a good job in the Scottish Parliament - which is why they won a handsome majority in 2011.
Thirdly, Gordon is pre-occupied with other things - such as spending 70 days a year Abu Dhabi campus of the Univeristy of New York - and hardly has time to fulfil his commitments at the House of Commons - never mind leading a campaign against Scottish independence.
I might have a different view of the former Labour leader if he turned his back on Westminster - and decided to stand for election to a future Scottish Parliament.
Because that would be a bold risk and would signal a real commitment to Scotland - which I'm sad to say there's little sign of at the moment.
So I would go back to the drawing board.
History is littered with dream teams which were never formed - or just didn't cut the mustard when they finally did appear on the same side - just look at the Scotland football teams from the 1970s.
And whatever his supporters think - Gordon Brown ain't no Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan when it comes to politics.
The latest edition of Prviate Eye has a nice line in modern nursery rhymes - which might upset traditional church goers as well as confusing poor old Mr Spock.
New Secular
Nursery Rhymes
Here's the church
Here's the steeple
Look inside, there
Aren't any people
Here's the vicar climbing
The stairs
Here's the policeman arresting
Him for saying his prayers
I listened to the ridiculous old booby Lord John Prescott give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday.
If LJP's not the most inarticulate man in Britain - I'll swear I'll hop on one leg all the way to Motherwell Civic Centre - and back.
As far as I can gather - and I listened very attentively - old Two Jags thinks he is the victim of a terrible conspiracy.
Because his name appears on a list drawn up in 2006 by a private investigator - Glenn Mulcaire - working for News International.
But you can see why the deputy Prime Minister of the day was of interest to the press - because he was conducting a clandestine affair with a junior civil servant - his diary secretary at the time, Tracey Temple.
So why wouldn't the media want to expose the old goat?
Because there was a good argument for sacking the deputy PM - for mixing together his professional and personal lives - though what the much younger woman saw in the now 73-year-old Lord Prescott is anyone's guess.
In any event Lord Prescott has now received a £40,000 settlement from News International - without producing a shred of evidence to show that he suffered any actual harm or financial loss.
At one point in his evidence Lord Prescott said he did not use the voicemail on his mobile phone - because "it means you have got to reply to them if they leave a message".
Exactly, that's the whole point of having a mobile phone with a messaging service - so that government colleagues can contact you and get you to ring back if necessary - in the event of some urgent official business.
So it's pretty unebelievable that a person in high public office like the deputy Prime Minister - could be out of reach for long periods - unless it was inconvenient to be contactable in the first place of course.
Nowadays Prescott is treated a minor TV celebrity - he pops up absolutely everywhere - like a Labour version of the former Tory minister - Ann Widdecombe.
Someone told me LJP appeared in Hello Magazine a while back - which ran a big feature on LJP's big house in Hull - under the grand title 'Prescott's Castle' would you believe.
But I'm drawing a clear line in the sand.
If old Two Jags appears on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, then that's it - I'm definitely asking for my licence fee back.
Here's a You Tube video of the famous Monty Python sketch on the Spanish Inquisition.
Just goes to show that there's a funny side to organised religion - albeit many hundreds of years after the events in question.
Because I'm pretty sure that Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam would have had their knackers cut off with a rusty cheesewire - had they made this joke in less enlightened times.
In fact I seem to remember the church calling for the Life of Brian to be banned - when it was first released back in 1979 - the cinematic equivalent of book burning of course.
http://youtu.be/Tym0MObFpTI
