Evening Standard comment: Hate preacher’s release is a challenge for the law; Microsoft memories; England shine in Spain

He’s a risk to others, a target himself and doesn’t seem to regret a thing. Whatever else can be said about Anjem Choudary, he’s a nasty piece of work who thrives on the protections that come from living in our liberal, law-based society while working to destroy it.

But if the rule of law means anything, it is that you can’t treat one person differently from another just because you dislike their beliefs.

That’s why Mr Choudary is going to be released from prison on Friday after serving half of the five-and-a-half-year sentence given to him at the Old Bailey in 2016 for inviting support for Islamic State — even though the Government agrees that he poses a big risk to society.

As we report today, the police and security services will have to mount a huge and expensive operation to stop him spreading hate .

The restrictions on him will be stern — and entirely necessary. He won’t be able to leave London or visit St Pancras station and City Airport — to stop him escaping the country.

He’ll be prevented from talking to children or contacting other radical Islamists. He’ll live under curfew in a former hostel.

Of course some will ask whether it wouldn’t have been better to keep him in jail, and when money for policing is tight it’s distressing to see so much taken up dealing with the consequences of one man’s hateful agenda.

But the blame for that lies with Mr Choudary and those like him who preach violence.

The law can be tightened — as the Government proposes — and if he commits a crime again he should be prosecuted. But the authorities are doing what they can in hard circumstances.

Microsoft memories

In a world of smartphones, the early days of computing sound as remote as those of steam trains and sailing ships.

But the stories Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen, who died yesterday , had to tell about his pioneering work are also the stories of the founding of today’s digital economy.

So much flowed from the work he did with Bill Gates: the Basic software that made IBM machines run took computing from backrooms to the office desktop.

Even then, Microsoft’s products were not as glamorous as those of some of its rivals: MS-Dos was functional, ugly and useful.

But Mr Allen — who recalled the thrill of first trying computing at school in 1968 on a remote terminal linked to a teletype printer — did not mind that.

Apple’s products might have got the glory but it was software from the business he helped build that most people used.

He left Microsoft in the early Eighties but his shares made him almost unimaginably rich. He used that wealth to do good work — and to have fun.

Computing’s pioneers are passing into history.

England shine in Spain

England's thrilling 3-2 win over Spain in the Uefa Nations League last night — their first in the country since Gary Lineker scored four in 1987 — was a huge boost for Gareth Southgate’s young squad and for the nation’s belief in its football side.

We’ve come to think that England teams simply aren’t supposed to play like that.

The country’s unexpected march to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer came on the back of well-drilled set pieces, a cynical interpretation of the video referee rules and a forgiving route through the knockout stages.

But once again they lost when they came up against one of the best, Croatia deservedly beating them in the semi-final in Moscow.

Last night was different, as England’s young men scored three superb, unanswered goals before half-time.

Raheem Sterling, criticised so often, shone brilliantly to get two, while Marcus Rashford, who squandered easy chances against Croatia on Friday, netted the other.

It was an uplifting performance — from England’s youngest starting XI since 1959 — that spoke of athleticism, ambition and so much potential.