ONE LAW FOR ALL

The reasons there have been no postings on this site for a few days is down to a visit to foreign climes, I have ventured across the border into North Wales as my old Mom, who lives in a village in Snowdonia, was in need of an eye operation at her nearest hospital which is around thirty miles from where she lives – but that’s another tale.

Being in Wales, as I often have to be to see my mother and do a few jobs for her, I have become aware of how there are now one set of rules for us English and another for the Welsh since devolution – it’s the same too for the Scottish. A typical example was this simple visit to the hospital, something that gets more frequent as your parents age. A couple of weeks ago we had to get Fred, my father-in-law to his nearest hospital one Sunday morning after a bit of a scare. Fortunately he was ok, but after several hours parking at the Good Hope hospital in Sutton Coldfield my fiscal resources looked less healthy than that of Fred after paying my parking bill. Not so at Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor – parking there is free as it is in all hospitals in Wales – free prescriptions too.

These little injustices, such as special privileges for those living in some parts of the British Isles, whilst others such as the English are discriminated against yet still expected to foot the bill for the special concessions in Scotland and Wales, set me thinking even more about injustice after reading a news item in the Daily Mail on the 27th June 2009.

This injustice, as do so many these days, comes courtesy of the EU, as the Daily Mail reported. It would seem our superior masters in the European Union want to force our British judges to, as the DM put it, “bow to Sharia law”. This would be for some divorce cases heard in Britain including family disputes such as the dispensing of wills. Sharia law always discriminates against female members of the family, rather than sharing equally between any brothers women beneficiaries are awarded less whilst brothers are treated equally. Under British law this would not happen – all would be treated as equals.

However, the EU in its wisdom, wants those facing family courts to be able to request the court to hear the case using the law of whichever country the couple have the closest links to. Courts would be forced to adopt the legal systems of all twenty seven member nations and even further afield, such as Sharia law.

To my mind this is sheer madness, I was always raised to accept there was one law of this land meted out equally to all who faced it no mater who you are, where you are from or what your religious views were. That, to me, was clear, simple and fair. These days fairness no longer matters. As the debate about the rights, or not to wear burqa’s rage, which is an insignificant argument as anyone should have the freedom to dress as they please as long as they are not bullied into it, the whole framework of our once blind justice is being dismantled whilst few seem to notice. The daft thing is, should the burqua debate end in court – what system of law will ponder the issue and will justice be given impartially? There should be one law for all which treats us equally – that law should be our common British law whoever you are as long as you live in Britain.