Hello I'm Krestey Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 2008. My cast away this week is the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Wolf.

Throughout his career he's been at the forefront of shaping our justice system.

Following the strange ways riots, he issued far-reaching reports on penal reform.

His part in authorizing the release of James Bulger's

killers attracted huge attention and as master of the roles he made an historic

judgment allowing Diane blood to use her dead husband's sperm to have a child. But his appetite to see justice

done was sharpened a good deal further back than the highest courts in the land. As a wartime

schoolboy prone to getting more than his fair shade of canings, he developed an early antipathy towards any perceived unfairness and was more than willing to make a stand against his stern schoolmasters, however unpopular it made him.

So Harry Wolf, offender rehabilitation, the freedom of the citizen, prisoners' rights, the causes

that you fought for have often brought you into conflict with politicians and press alike.

You don't appear to be someone too concerned about winning any popularity contest.

No, but concerned in persuading people that the things I say are things that should be listened to and perhaps influence them to do things rather better than they have been doing them in the past.

And are you, um, I was going to say are you comfortable swimming against the tide, but do you actually

prefer to swim against the tide?

No, I don't think I prefer to swim against the tide, especially now, so my swimming has got a lot slower, but I believe

that things I've been saying during my career should really be with the tide, and I'm an eternal optimist that the day will come and that I will the

day will come and then I will be swimming with the tide.

It takes a great deal of not just knowledge and self-confidence,

but it takes a lot of of courage to say the things that people

don't want to hear do you consider yourself to be somebody who has a good deal of

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