We live in an age in which crime is out of control, especially burglary, yet Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot dead a violent career criminal, is still in prison.

His latest appeal is opposed by solicitors asking that burglars be given even more rights to protect them from assault by homeowners who think they have the right to defend themselves and their families from these invaders.

This latest Home Office proposal by the do-gooders and bleeding hearts of our society is the last straw and calls for an immediate and genuine public inquiry into this scandal, which our politicians ignore at their peril.

We are suffering an epidemic of crime which, before the Second World War, would have caused the Government to declare a state of national emergency.

It is about time to grasp the law and order nettle by the throat.

Tony Blair must put down his guitar and Bible and Iain Duncan Smith must learn to say boo to a goose. I don't even want to think about Charles Kennedy.

The Tony Martin case is the litmus test of our future as a lawabiding nation.

He must be given a Queen's pardon and should receive compensation for the suffering he has endured.

Remember the saying "There but for the grace of God go I".

-Jeremy Hall-Morris, Hove