Knee jerk reactions

JOHN Terry is stripped of the England captaincy eventhough he has pleaded not guilty to racially insulting a QPR player. Fred Goodwin is stripped of his knighthood, his crime being incompetence, nothing more and nothing less. Both are knee jerk reactions by the Football Association and probably the British government. Terry has pleaded not guilty but that is not enough for the Football Association who have decided that he can´t lead the national side. His club, Chelsea, are doing the honourable thing and sticking with their man because afterall he is innocent until a court of law proves differently. Chelsea are standing by their man it is pity that the Football Association can´t show the same loyalty which Terry has shown to them.

This trial by media and knee-jerk reaction is taking place everywhere including Majorca. Only a judge or a jury can decide if someone is guilty, not anyone else. Fred Goodwin has been made a scapegoat at a time when the government is trying to appear tough on banker´s bonuses. As I said elsewhere in this newspaper this week if he deserved a knighthood when he received it, he still deserves it today. There is a danger that this knee jerk reaction will start to rule Britain and this is bad news indeed. I would call on the British government and the Football Association to take the longer view and then react when all the facts are known. At the moment it is just a question of kicking someone when they are down.