Ban it harder! An unwelcome new trend in British politics

CATS areMP not like diamond necklaces or Rolex watches. For one thing, they have minds and legs of their own. “They are known to occasionally make themselves at home on other people’s sofas,” acknowledged Mark Spencer, a government minister, to a committee of s on January 31st. The facts of feline behaviour have not deterred the government from backing a new bill that will make the “abduction” of a pet cat or dog punishable by up to five years in prison. The act of “inducing” a cat (perhaps with a tin of sardines) will also be caught by the new offence.The problem with the bill, which is sponsored by Anna Firth, a Conservative backbencher, is not only, as a government “pet-theft taskforce” found, that public fears of this dastardly act far outweigh its actual incidence. It is that stealing is already punishable under the Theft Act of 1968 by up to seven years in prison, and that the stiffest sentences are already handed out for crimes that cause emotional distress. Ministers used to argue as much themselves until they yielded to a campaign by pet lobbyists. For when it comes to tackling an injustice that is already against the law, the answer can be simple: ban it harder.