Barometer | 20 August 2011

Bishops and rioters

From the Scarman report to ‘Faith in the City’, no British riot is complete without politicians and churchmen weighing in with the answers. It was no different in the 13th century. In 1272 the townsmen of Norwich rioted after the prior to the city’s monastery refused to allow the arrest of monastic servants charged with murder. The cathedral was burned down. In response, the bishop excommunicated the townsfolk, but two years later the Pope was asked to pass judgment. He deferred to Edward I, who besides ordering the townsmen to pay 3,000 marks towards rebuilding the cathedral, produced an agreement with a phrase worthy of a primary school headmistress: ‘That all parties should be real friends.’

National service

David Cameron floated the idea of non-military national service in response to the riots. Only seven European countries retain national service for men. They are:
Austria: 6 months, with a longer, civilian option for conscientious objectors
Denmark: holds lottery if not enough volunteers for military. No lottery this year
Estonia: 8–11 months
Finland: 6–12 months
Greece: 9 months
Norway: 6–12 months
Switzerland: 24–27 weeks. Those unfit pay an extra 3% income tax until age 30

On the rails

Rail fares are to rise by up to 13%. Has rail privatisation been a success?
Passenger numbers: up 57% since 1996
Freight: up 26%
Passenger revenue: up by £1.7bn
Government subsidy: up by £2.7bn, now accounting for 38% of total revenue compared with 23% in 1996/97
Fee paid to Sir Roy McNulty for his ‘Rail Value for Money’ study, published in May:  £218,215

Criminal forces

The MoD has revealed that 405 serving soldiers in the Blues and Royals regiment have been convicted of 685 offences since 2007. Estimates of ex-forces personnel convicted of criminal offences have varied widely:
2,430: Ministry of Justice/MoD (2008)
8,500:     survey by probation officers’ union Napo (2008)
Around 3,000: report by Sir John Nutting for Howard League for Penal Reform (2011).