to imagine the death of the king

This is approaching the frozen edge of silliness.

Islamist radicals who express support for terrorism may face treason charges, the Attorney General's Office has said.

Lord Goldsmith and the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald have discussed action against three individuals, a spokeswoman said.

The Crown Prosecution Service's head of anti-terrorism will meet Scotland Yard officers in the next few days.

Omar Bakri Mohammed, Abu Izzadeen and Abu Uzair will come under scrutiny.

So Abu Jihad or whoever goes to court and as a patriotic Briton declares that this country absolutely needs to be saved by Allah and undergo mass conversion to Sharia rule. He believes this, not because he cares so little for us, but because he cares so much. No. the real traitors are yada, yada, yada. Do his calls for jihad incite terrorism? Then let him be tried for incitement to murder or terrorism. Etcetera.

Now treason makes sense as a charge if the government, the state, society and the individual are an organic unity. But we’re not. We’re a heterodox society. That’s the point of us. They make sense in terms of spying for a foreign power. But there is no caliphate, nor a prospect of one. In short, treason is dead letter.

The jihadis are supposed to want to take us all back to the seventh century. Their unwitting allies in the British government now seem to want to take us at least as far back as the days when it was a crime to imagine the death of the king..