Strangers In A Strange Land

Raoul Moat was a general run of the mill low level criminal, who graduated last week to becoming a murderer, after he came out of prison, got a gun and shot three people, killing one, severely injuring an unarmed policeman,

and shooting and wounding his ex-girlfriend. He then went on the run and eventually saved us a lot of taxes by blowing his own head off, as the police surrounded him.

So far, so 'Broken Britain', but then came the real signs of how far we have fallen from a civilised law abiding state .....

Firstly, it emerged that on the Labour voting council housing estates of the North East of England, large numbers of people think that Moat is a 'hero', and they have been posting 'facebook messages' of support for him on the Internet. One user called 'Gary Marsh' wrote: "best group av ever joined rip raoul u legend we all know it was the scum who killed u really!!!" .... the scum referred to are the police.

Then secondly it turned out that many of his acquaintances had aided him as he avoided the police and gave him a car, and other practical forms of support.

And finally, his family and friends are now blaming the police for his suicide by suggesting that they didn't do enough to stop him killing himself. Not a word of condolence to the family of the the man he killed, or the family of the crippled policeman, or even of his ex girlfriend who has lost her new partner and is wounded. No, just a condemnation of the police for not stopping him from killing himself.

What does all this tell us all about how many of us are now 'strangers in a strange land', in our country of birth.