Now home after an Easter visit with family,

I went to Theo's place and- among other things- found more reasons it's painful to read about Britain nowadays.
When Garry Varley assaulted and threatened to kill the landlord of his local pub, two policemen heard him do it.

And yet it took the force five months to charge him – and hours after he was given bail, he returned to the pub to fulfil his promise.

Varley stabbed Steven Galsworthy to death and then walked back to the same police station he had been released from hours earlier.

Then we have
Crime is rising faster in the countryside than in towns and cities, official figures show.

Since Labour came to power, the 13 counties classified as "rural" have seen the sharpest increases in violent offending and criminal damage.

Violent crime rose by 119 per cent in country areas between 1998/99 and 2006/07 - compared with a national increase of 108 per cent.
...
Offences of violence in Gloucestershire and North Wales have more than trebled - increasing by 235 per cent and 207 per cent respectively.

In Cambridgeshire, the number of drug offences has risen by 80 per cent - almost double the national increase.

The total number of recorded crimes in Dyfed-Powys has shot up by 22.5 per cent, almost four times the national increase of 6.2 per cent.
As to why?
A total of 550 police stations have closed their doors for good over the past decade. Of those which have survived the cull, only one in eight is open round the clock.

And in a truly idiotic piece of work,
Gordon Brown was facing a growing Labour revolt last night over the Government's "pathetic" treatment of Gurkha veterans.

More than a dozen Labour MPs are calling for an end to the "arbitrary" rule which bars retired Gurkhas from taking British citizenship if they left service before 1997.
...
"Every member of the public I speak to understands the service Gurkhas have given this country. To make the right to stay based on such an arbitrary date is just so pathetic that it makes me very angry indeed."

She pointed to the fact that around 2,000 immigrants every day are given National Insurance numbers, which allow them to live and work in the UK.

Yet experts believe only 7,000 more Gurkha veterans would settle in Britain if the laws change.

Yeesh.

Let's see, fix the problems by
A: putting criminals in jail and keeping them there; make sure people know that IT WILL HAPPEN.
B: Let people both own arms and use them in self-defense; it'll make a world of difference.
C: Someone has put their ass on the line for the country? THEY CAN COME IN. Period.

And how likely do you think it that any of those things'll be done?