Playing with fire

I BELIEVE we have reached one of those defining moments in the governance of our country which is stark in its simplicity.

Members of a quasi-military/political organisation, in the course of their fundraising activities (namely, bank-robbing), murdered a member of the civil police force.

The normal punishment for such a crime may be suspended by the Government in return for another 'promise' that an illegal private army will deign to stop maiming people while retaining a lethal armoury the purpose and effect of which is to embolden its political wing in negotiating its demands.