Question Time

[Seagull on the wing]

They were talking about punishing the rioters by taking away their council houses and stopping their benefits,I don't think that would work...but make those convicted of crimes WORK for their benefits,make them clean up their mess,clean graffitti,pick up litter from streets and byways...they would be less inclined to destroy what they have to clean.

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

And from one cuckoo's nest to another!

 

[Seagull on the wing]

I thought Ronnie Barker died years ago?

View attachment 27445
Class picture and comment.

Class picture and comment!

 

[smudge]

So the best they could come up with to represent "the street kids voice" was a probably middle/upper class old bat wearing the national dress of Ghana!

 

[Sussex Nomad]

only because that twit was blaming state schools.

Fair enough, but how can the previous Government get angry about anything? We are where we are because of them. He wasn't called two jags for nothing... the haves and have nots.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

They were talking about punishing the rioters by taking away their council houses and stopping their benefits,I don't think that would work...

Now that would be a breakdown in society on a scale we've never seen.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Fair enough, but how can the previous Government get angry about anything? We are where we are because of them. He wasn't called two jags for nothing... the haves and have nots.

Prescott got angry because that Frazer fella started to blame state schools. Which I think he had a right to get angry about. To broadly brush non private schools as being a cause of the rioting is a cheap shot and a red herring. Sure, some schools have issues but plenty do not. I think schooling was improving under the last government, and the current government must have felt the same as they adopted Labour's academy policy wholeheartedly. Something Fraser Nelson admitted himself, his quote being "they took the Academy scheme and put a rocket booster under it".

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

They were talking about punishing the rioters by taking away their council houses and stopping their benefits,I don't think that would work...but make those convicted of crimes WORK for their benefits,make them clean up their mess,clean graffitti,pick up litter from streets and byways...they would be less inclined to destroy what they have to clean.

Taking away their benefits is a waste of time, and as one panellist (David Davies?) said that given we fine unemployed people it currently happens anyway. The deterrents are currently in place and have no bearing on a particular group of people.

The idea of an community apprenticeship scheme for young offenders was probably the best idea. The criminals get to do something constructive in the area, local people benefit and the offender learns a set of skills.

 

[BadFish]

Fair enough, but how can the previous Government get angry about anything? We are where we are because of them. He wasn't called two jags for nothing... the haves and have nots.

I can't agree with this more. Successive governments of both sides have caused this widening gap between the rich and the poor. (surprised to see your name to the left of this comment though London Blue, but have some rep anyway.

 

[Gwylan]

So the best they could come up with to represent "the street kids voice" was a probably middle/upper class old bat wearing the national dress of Ghana!

That's harsh on Camilla Batmanghelidjh. She's someone's who's done a lot of good in the community, taking in kids that other agencies have given up on. If we had a few hundred people like her, there would be fewer problems in inner cities.

 

[folkestonesgull]

it was interesting watching as always....and i think the consensus coming out showed why our justice system is built on reform rather than punishment - we need to look at how to stop this happening again and take people out of the cycle that led to this - short term solutions won't cut it.
The shot at schools was cheap...particularly given the huge underinvestment in schools/hospitals etc in the 1980's under a conservative government that we are now seeing replicated for youth projects/schools/policing. This is mainly ideological - the country can afford to spend money on these projects, the government are prioritising other expenditure (Libya etc) and big savings to shape up for the next election campaign (i'm sure the party line will be we've saved the UKs finances now we can spend sensibly, which may well be fair however at what cost to society and the gap between rich and poor in the next couple of years?)
Watching the show I did think to myself where the hell are Labour these days - they dont seem to have an opinion or any direction. Atleast Prescott had passion, even if he cant stop ranting...the rest of the party seem non-existent when they should be standing up and making people think about why this has happened and how they as a party would act.

There was mention of CCTV above - there is no evidence that CCTV reduces crime and hasnt in 10 -20 years of being in place. There are more CCTV cameras in the UK than the rest of mainland europe - is the UK a safer place? no. Whilst it can help catch criminals it does not reduce crime - and surely that is what we should be trying to do. Spending money on reducing crime and the circumstances that lead to it in the first place has got to become a bigger priority in this country...