在英国,消费者必须申请牌照才能收看电视,为电视这种普通的消费品而扰民,已属奇怪的事。但更令人感到奇怪的是,目前英国有14％女囚犯,只是因为没有按照规定缴纳电视牌照费而入狱。 同样令人奇怪的是,英国政府愈来愈喜欢送人入狱。英国的判刑制度本来就比欧洲其他国家严厉。80年代初,由于囚犯数目剧增,几任内政大臣已屡次呼 In the United Kingdom, it is strange for consumers to apply for a license to watch television and disturb the ordinary consumer goods such as television. But what is even more strange is that at present, 14% of female prisoners in the UK are only jailed for failing to pay TV license fees as stipulated. Equally strange is that the British government more and more like to be sent to jail. The sentencing system in Britain has always been tougher than the rest of Europe. In the early 1980s, several Home Ministers had repeatedly called for the increase in the number of prisoners