From the Dept. of Unintended Consequences

Why is it that the French can crack pirate skulls off the Horn of Africa but the once-mighty British Navy is reduced to a policy of "see no piracy, hear no piracy?" Ah yes...

THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.

Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.

The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.

This bit of news comes just a few days after a court ruled terrorist Abu Qatada could not be extradited to Jordan. At what point does the British public collectively snap? Surely there are only so many of these stories they can take, no?