Friday 12 August 2011

FOOL AND THE GANG

Yesterdays debate in Parliament over England's week of unrest saw Tory speaker after Tory speaker trying to create as much distance as they could between there being any political dimension to the events of the week and the behaviour of young people on our streets.

Yes, I agree  it was blatant criminality, Yes I also agree that this was also a case of crass opportunism and greed, an element within our society that thinks it can just take what it wants, how it wants without any consequence or moral conscience.

It was also I agree "Gang culture" that orchestrated and conducted the proceedings, and lets take David Cameron at his word when he said

"For too long there has been a lack of focus on the complete lack of respect shown by these groups of thugs, For me the root cause of this mindless selfishness is the same thing I have spoken about for years - it is the complete lack of responsibility in parts of society"

And he is right! some in our society have no respect for property or a sense of right from wrong, some feel as if they have a divine right to do whatever they please and to hell with the consequences, they gang together, drink themselves into a near stupor and then commit mindless acts of wanton vandalism and arson, just for the sheer hell of it.

He is also right that he has been speaking about this for years, lets look for example what he was allegedly reported as saying back in 1986 explaining away a gang led vandalism and arson attack in Oxford.

"Things got out of hand and we'd had a few drinks. We smashed the place up and Boris set fire to the toilets"

Bullingdon Club D C, top 2nd left. B J, bottom far right
Of course the "gang" involved in that particular act of mindless and wanton vandalism was the Bullingdon Club of which he, Boris Johnson and George Osbourne amongst many others were members. But they were never held to account for their actions, no court appearances for them, no criminal record to prevent them climbing the ladder in years to come and Daddy probably picked up the bill for any damage. The quote above has since been challenged, but what remains are story after story about the antics of this particular gang including Boris or should we give him his proper name Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson  being involved in an incident where a pot plant was thrown through a restaurant window after which he freely admits to spending a night in the cells. There rather basic chant belloowed out in local restuarants which usually ended up being trashed was:


"Buller, Buller, Buller! Buller, Buller, Buller! We are the famous Bullingdon Club, and we don't give a f*ck!"

And if you have got the time this is worth a view: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVEhMCshD0&list=SL&feature=sh_e_top

So what separates their crass and reckless behaviour from that witnessed on the streets this week? and should we draw any parallels? Well for a start Gang membership is a more potent attraction, and recruitment far more easy when youngsters are away from any influence of parental control. For the PM and Boris et al it was because their parents sent them away from home to Oxford as the latest expedition on their boarding school/university careers, whereas in the inner cities there is often no parental control because in too many cases there are no parents, and in others the parents have little or no control of their own lives let alone their children's.

So in the absence of parental control these kids look to role models or diversion to keep them out of trouble, but when the local council has withdrawn all the funding for youth provision and all the local sports and social clubs have long since closed then they are easy prey for the gangs looking for fresh blood to carry out their drug running and other criminally based dirty work.

The rise in gang culture, and gang membership can be correlated directly with recent rises in youth unemployment and social deprivation, these factors are underpinned by economic and fiscal cut backs in public service. Jobless youths simply become more detached from mainstream life and quickly learn to disrespect its rules. In the first quarter of 2011 the unemployment rate amongst 16 - 24 year olds rose to 20% compared to a UK overall unemployment rate of 7.7%. As a result the numbers involved in street gang activity continue to rise.

Yes our kids are out of control, yes their behaviour is sickening, and yes whenever they commit an offence then they should be punished, you will not find many people leaping to their defence, that is understandable, but government and parliament have a duty to do more than simply be outraged, they have a duty to identify the causal link between the unacceptable behaviour young people engage in and social environment they live in.

I despair for the future of our estates in coming months and years, and I worry what sort of children these children will raise! but I can understand far more how they have got the place they are in  than I can explain how those who have every privilege in life show the same lack of respect for property and public order.

And cutting back on youth services on those very same estates is not a good start.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

WHEN HOPE IS OUT OF REACH AND THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF TOUCH WHY ARE WE SURPRISED THAT OUR STREETS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

I have been criticised in the past for predicting on this blog unrest on Britain's streets during this summer despite my plea for the police to prepare and my wish that any unrest would be quickly controlled.

I also share the anger of so many when looking at the blatant looting going on in High Streets across the nation, it seems the riots of 2011 are for far too many, more about personal gain than community despair.

And no doubt the whole role of Social Media in the planning of events will be questioned when we finally get round to trying to understand what went so badly wrong.

The right will just condemn the criminality, give unequivocal support for the police and belittle anyone trying to explain the events with any reference to wider social and economic factors including unemployment, poverty, historic tensions with the Police etc.

But for now let us face some uncomfortable truths.

Today's youth have no respect for authority, why should they have? They have seen in recent years our politicians on the make as MP's fiddled their expenses,  they see our police service shamed by the actions of both rogue officers taking backhanders and senior officers covering up for them. They see a government cutting off any route they may have had for higher education (unless you are wealthy) and their chances of simply holding down a job or god forbid getting their own flat. Youth unemployment is rising and services for young people are being decimated by cuts on top of cuts.

Today people are calling for more police officers on the streets, but I can't help but think that if the government had not have cut youth services and youth worker posts on our estates in recent years then maybe some of those caught on camera last night might not have been such easy prey for the criminal fraternities on the same estates who have since recruited them to a their cause.

There is at this moment in time a desperate need to bring our streets back under control, and everything must be done to achieve that in the coming hours and days. We also need to ensure that those responsible for looting are seen to be brought to the courts and punished.

But we must also remember that riots don't just happen, the risk of public unrest is a built in factor in the decision making of politicians when they agree to cut services too far too soon. When I wrote of this unrest being wrongly seen an unpredictable "Black Swan" moment is was for the very reason that many of us could see it coming a mile off.

Unfortunately the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and it seems the Metropolitan Police where not so ready for action. Gone are the days when Dave wanted to hug a hoodie. Now he is in power it seems he just wants to ignore them and hope they will just go away

But If you think the kids are angry for what the nation is not doing for them, then what can we expect from the rest of us who are seeing our communities torn apart with little resistance from a police service which has been cut to the bone and can only contain unrest rather than deal with it properly.

Perhaps we need less troops in Libya and Afghanistan and more Police in the UK?

Perhaps we need less cuts and more jobs?

Perhaps MLK had a point when he said

"When you cut facilities , slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate,drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard"

 But I can't also help myself thinking that the concerns of the majority of hard working, law abiding, tax paying citizens of our nation are also going unheard. If I want my tax take spent on youth diversion rather than flower tubs in Abington Street then who is listening to me? If I want less troops in Libya and more police on our streets at home then who will represent my view? My sister in law and others in her street had their cars stripped of catalytic converters last night leaving them with bills of £150+ to pay today with no guarantee that the scum responsible wont come back again to do the same. After all their crime was easy enough to carry out as the County Council had turned off all the street lights in her street! How angry is she today? and how can she vent her anger? And how angry am I at wondering how no one seemed to see all this coming!

As I said on the 26th June 2011  http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-many-black-swans-does-greek-urn.html

"I hope I am wrong, I hope that the powers that be will not be caught off their guard and do all they can to protect our peace but we are in for an uncomfortable few weeks and maybe months ahead, it seems it will be less of an Arab Spring and more of a very sticky British Summer."

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Thank you for visiting "tonyclarkegreenparty" The views expressed here are mine and mine alone. They are made by me personally in my own capacity as free citizen and not as representative of any outside body or council that I may serve on or be employed by. However if anyone is offended by any of these comments or feels that they should be corrected then please contact me in the first instance at tony.clarke@email.com and I will do my best to consider your comments and correct any errors.

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