2nd November 2016 – The families of six Britons jailed in India are “begging” Prime Minister Theresa May to help with their case.

Very understandably relatives of people caught up in trials abroad feel that the British government must surely have a magic wand or one of those infamous ‘get out of jail free’ cards we look forward to in Monopoly.

A couple of comments made in this particular case worry me though.

“Lisa Dunn, a sister of one of the men, says she is “sick to death” of being told the UK government cannot intervene in another country’s judicial system.”

“She cannot waste this opportunity face-to-face with Modi, she has six British men at her mercy, and can’t just waste it talking about her trade deals. There were six British soldiers who served this country and they need help.”

I am “sick to death” of airport security, but I don’t think my reaction to it carries any weight in the real world! I am “sick to death” of waiting at traffic lights, I’m “sick to death” of paying taxes, and so on.

The arrogance of thinking that being sick to death of something is enough justification for declaring something we don’t like to be unreasonable is dangerous. To my mind, the whole populist political scene is driven by that kind of thinking.

As for relegating trade deals to a Prime Minister’s private fetish, words fail me. Some people seem to have forgotten very quickly what Britain voted for with Brexit. Non-interference from Brussels was one thing, and placing ourselves outside the European single market was another.

A Japanese trade advisor interviewed on Newsnight last night put it more clearly than I have heard any British politician explain things. We may want ‘a way’ of remaining in the single market, or at least not have to pay tariffs, but Europe does not see it that way. There is no sign, much less precedent, that the UK will be allowed trading terms in Europe on a par with what we enjoy now. Trade negotiations now with countries outside the EU are vital therefore to Britain’s future and rank higher for a Prime Minister than the plight of nationals who have fallen foul of foreign laws.

Put another way, we should throw the book at these men for embarrassing Britain on the world stage like this!