Friday 27th October, 2017

Good morning

Brief overview: A drop in arrest figures has raised concern. Six members of the far-right group National Action have been arrested, accused of plotting to murder a Labour MP.

Outside of the headlines: The JFK files have been released. My personal favourite is the revelation that a British local newspaper received an anonymous call about “some big news” in the US, 25 minutes before President John F Kennedy was assassinated.

Conspiracy is in the air

The total wealth of the world’s 1,542 billionaires rose by 17% last year to $6trn. I ate two-day-old cold pasta for lunch yesterday. We are all winners here.

Poll of the day: How would you feel if Brexit didn’t happen?

Cartoon of the day:

via Christian Adams

The Daily Mail

Owned by: Daily Mail and General Trust, owned by Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere

Editor: Paul Dacre

Political leaning: Right / far right

Daily circulation: circa 1,490,000 (10 million views per month from personal computer and 20 million from mobiles)

Brexit stance: Pro-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Arrest figures plunge by half

The Daily Mail leads with the news that police arrest figures have plummeted by almost half since March 2008 — from 1.5 million to 780,000 this year. The paper pins this on police being unwilling to carry out the appropriate paper work and ‘going soft’ on offenders.

Once again, the paper brings up the police painting their nails to raise awareness around modern slavery as one potential reason for the dip in arrests.

Afterthought: As is almost always the case, the story is more complicated. Observers point to police being more reluctant to put young offenders behind bars for misdemeanours, instead preferring to give them a warning or a caution. These will not show on the youngster’s record when he or she goes on to apply for a job.

Currently, having a prison record shuts the door to what society can offer you from a career perspective: