Queuing Up To Be The Public Hangman

The post of hangman is likely to be the only public sector appointment that 'The Guardian' would refuse to advertise; yet Akmal Shaikh's execution has shown just how many people seem to feel that they would have the stomach for it.

In a particularly nasty outing in the 'Daily Mail', Leo McKinstry is first to congratulate the Chinese. He writes that Shaikh was ' (a) bankrupt with a chequered financial history, a tangled personal life, and an obsession with easy money'. This words could, it seem, equally apply to a number of former Members of Parliament, and any number of company promoters and Fleet Street journalists. So do we kill them all as well? McKinstry's also good at smacking down suggestions that Shaikh was mentally ill. Real nice. Real class.

In 'The Times', Piers Morgans' father-in-law-to-be writes that we must 'remember the Opium Wars'. Dude, if you want to beat yourself up the Opium Wars, I can lend you a stick. In the meantime, if we want to go down the road of historic grievance, we can all remember Genghis Khan.