The central claim of the proponents of "practical moral absolutes" seems to be an empirical one; ticking bomb scenarios, such as our above-described terrorist case and other relevant one-off emergencies such as our above-described police beating case in which torture seems to be justified have not, and will not, happen.
Critics dismissed the proposal as "embarrassing" – insisting it did not offer a lasting reform because it applied only in one-off emergencies.
But it also aimed to look at the sector itself, generally seen as an ad hoc system evolved for dealing with one-off emergencies and now put under untold strain by the demands of long-running crises like Syria or Sudan over the last decade.
As has been argued above, there may well be one-off emergencies in which the use of torture is morally justifiable.
Most of the theorists who oppose the legalisation and institutionalisation of torture also (at least implicitly) reject the possibility, let alone actuality, of one-off emergencies in which torture is morally justified.
At best, torture is morally justified in some one-off emergencies just as murder and cannibalism might be morally excusable in a one-off emergency on the high seas, or desertion from the field of battle might be morally justifiable given a one-off emergency back home but absolutely nothing follows as far as the legalisation/institutionalisation of torture is concerned.
Figures released in April by the Ministry of Social Development showed that the number of people claiming one-off emergency food grants from the government was up 50percentt on the same time two years ago.
Funding had fallen by 10% in real terms, said the NAO, when the £270m of one-off emergency funding after the 2013-14 floods was excluded.
Funding had fallen by 10% in real terms, said the NAO, when £270m of one-off emergency funding after the 2013-14 floods was excluded.
As Europe's most powerful politician, she should make clear that this week's euro-only meeting is a one-off emergency summit rather than the start of something much more permanent and more damaging.
However, the National Audit Office has previously concluded that funding fell 10% in real terms in the last parliament, when one-off emergency grants were excluded, and the government's own climate change advisers warned of a £500m hole in spending.
