Stupid Labour idea number... I've lost count

Rule 1 of Labour government: People express concern. Government responds to concern by suggesting something that mentions concern but really either does the f****g obvious OR is unenforceable.

Case study: John Reid suggests victims should have a say in the release date of offenders by being represented on parole boards. Many victims of crime won't want offenders released at all. Isn't this obvious? Does it need them to be there in person to have this opinion aired? Don't victims of crime have better things to do than sit on parole boards? And if they're that keen to sit on a parole board then they're extremely unlikely to be able to make anything approaching an objective or fact-based judgement about the crime in question.

The idea of 'justice' is that someone with no personal connection to the crime and ideally a bit of experience arbitrates on the case as impartially as is humanly possible. Their detachment allows them to think through all the facts and circumstances. Sometimes the outcome isn't what the victim wants. This isn't ideal but the alternative is vigilantism which Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells wouldn't like in the slightest. Or they would until they accidently broke the wing mirror of next door's Porsche and faced summary justice down the barrel of a blowtorch.