AS BRITAIN struggles against rising crime rates we learn today of an amazing attack on Home Secretary Michael Howard and Lord Chief Justice Lord Taylor of Gosforth.

Lord Taylor has taken such umbrage at Mr Howard's attempts to reshape the undoubtedly outdated and seriously lacking judicial system that he's brought the row out into public and accused the Government of rushing through ill-conceived legislation.

And he goes even further, warning the shake-up is in danger of "undermining public confidence in the justice system".

Come on now, does he really believe the average person in the street has total confidence in the current system?

Surely not. Hardly a week goes by without someone, somewhere, publicly voicing their disapproval over an illogical decision by some doddering judge who is out of touch with the real world.

Mr Howard's moves, albeit long overdue, are at least some attempt to halt the downward spiral.

No decent-minded person could possibly argue with his aims for a tough new sentencing regime for violent offenders, habitual burglars and drug dealers.

This is precisely what the British public has been waiting for all this time.

Our own recent survey which showed a whopping 96.8 per cent of respondents believe the courts are too soft on criminals, is plain evidence of that fact.

For Lord Taylor to attack Mr Howard in such a public manner is unprecedented.

He is clearly losing sight of one of the most basic principles of the British constitution - the fact that Parliament, elected to represent the British people, is there to create laws, and the judiciary is there to apply them.

Should we ever have a situation where the judiciary makes and applies the law, we will have come to the stage where democracy no longer exists.

Rather than get involved in a slanging match, Mr Howard has instead issued a statement which says "The Government has a duty to protect the public and to change the law in order to achieve that."

We couldn't agree more.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.