Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose( the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same in reality), having wisely refused to pursue charges of "treason" against IRA members during the NI "Troubles(not least because it was advised that the charge was essentially unworkable and anyway given that the mandatory punishment for treason was the gallows- a fate that could only have delighted the Provos), HMG is now reportedly mulling over the possibility of invoking the 1351 Treason Act against returning fighters who have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Given that the last execution for treason in the UK was for the pro-Nazi broadcaster William "Lord Haw Haw" Joyce( who however did not personally bear arms against "His Majesty's Forces"- he was simply accused of encouraging others to do so) in 1946 and the death penalty for treason was repealed in 1998- it now carries a life sentence, several observers have made the point that if the 1848 Treason Felony Act is outdated, the 1351 Treason Act is even more so- pointing to its anachronistic nature. Have ISIS fighters "imagined the death of the King/Queen?"(a treasonable offence according ot the statute) Are we at war with ISIS? If so, is it a war of religion , a replay of the conflict between Crusader and Saracen( a favourite claim of Osama Bin Laden and other violent jihadists)? All these and other questions have yet to be addressed before we can pursue charges of "treason" against ISIS members and supporters.

It may be argued that during the Cold War era we were never formally "at war" with the USSR and its satellites- although esp during the Stalin era, the Kremlin made clear its hostility to the "bourgeois" West in both word and deed, just as the IRA did during the "Troubles" and that the law must take account of the changing nature of conflict, but I question whether such an outmoded statute(which to my mind should have been repealed decades if not centuries ago) is suitable for dealing with ISIS and the whole concept of violent jihadism!

Anybody think as I do?

Terry