Our Boys

It was suggested this week by, among others, Lord Tebbit that shooting should be introduced in schools. Learning to use guns, it was argued, would turn troublesome teenagers into responsible, law-abiding citizens.
Today we learned that on Friday British soldiers in Cyprus had once again run amok, wrecked a pub and were awaiting trial.
Enough said?

Well, not quite.
For today the Telegraph's defence correspondent went on BBC News with pleas of mitigation. Our Boys needed to "let off steam." And they "feel under-valued."
It's not a defence or explanation I've ever heard the right making about the underclass in the inner cities. From which, of course, many of our soldiers come. And, of course, all that firearms training teaches them discipline and self-respect and rescues them from violence, vandalism and crime.
Or possibly not.
Ask the long-suffering residents of Cyprus.