Two wrongs don't make a right

It’s remarkable really. The government is to reduce the compensation payments it makes to its victims so that it can increase the compensation payments it makes to other people’s victims.

Doesn’t that strike anyone as a little odd?

Yes, I know, the judiciary is independent of the state but you really don’t want to go through that territory. Down that road lies questions about culpability for believing the judiciary and imprisoning the innocent on their request. Only following orders? Yeah, that’s going to work.

It's hard to work out what the government is trying to achieve here given that the compensation figures are so low. Having said that, if you were a nasty piece of work in a government hell bent on removing the checks and balances that can prevent miscarriages of justice wouldn't you be looking for some pre-emptive way of reducing the impact of your mistakes in the future?