It's Time For Us All To Take A Stand

As I walked to work this morning to get the tube there was an atmosphere in the air. The like of which I haven't ever felt around where I live before. It was on of fear and anxiety, palpable in the air flowing around me. Looters and scum came to my town last night. I saw sights I never thought I would see, sights that will stay with me for as long as I live.

Riot police standing in a line outside of The Kenneth Moore theatre in Ilford High Road, ready to face the onslaught of what was coming their way. Looters smashing in the doors of Debenhams in Romford Market, hooded scum getting off the bus and smashing Greggs to pieces in Barkingside high street. These are not inner city streets, these are small towns on the edge of Essex/East London, unfortunately though there was an air of inveatabilty about the whole scenario.

What ever your political want, this has been coming for many years now, the traditional areas around where I live which were once focal points of Jews, Sikhs, and Irish have been over ran with bad parents who don't give a shit about what their kids get up to and do. Does it surprise you I'm not blaming the immigrants, the asylum seekers or the Muslims?. Why should I? It doesn't matter what colour or creed you are if you have children and you don't bring them up to respect the people they live around you could be yellow with pink spots, a bad parent is a bad parent.

People have hidden behind the Human rights act as a reason for not parenting their children. They take from the state and then expect the state to clear up after them. Communities that once bonded together are now split down the middle, fratured beyond repair, because the children who are respectful and work for a living are being targeted by the kids that don't. There is no easy fix to tis situation it will take many years to correct and successive governments have swept the problem under the carpet.

I was on twitter for most of the night and saw the call from numerous people, even myself at one stage, to send the army in. That wouldn't have solved the problem it would have escalated it. The army do a brilliant job, but they are trained to kill, and they have no place on the streets of this country. I have an enormous amount of respect for them and the job they do, but we need a strong police force with the powers to act rather than tanks rolling down the streets.

This government has one chance, and only one chance, to change this country back into the great country it once was. It won't be easy, but they need our help and not our condemnation. I agree they could have returned from holiday earlier, but they can only act on the information they are given. I would bet my house on the fact that David Cameron was being told the police had it under control, by senior policeman who don't have a clue, clearly they didn't, by the way I'm not blaming the police in any way they are exstremley brave men and women and do a job I couldn't so they won't be criticised by me, but it became evident that it was out of control completely.

David Cameron now has to do the following in my opinion if he wants to win back the trust of the country

1. Anyone found to be in procession of items that were looted needs to be sent to prison, they are criminals end of.
2. Anyone who caused damage last night must be sent to clear it up, the cost of repairing the damage be removed from their benefits and then be sent to prison. If they are working for a living then their employers to dock their wages accordingly and sack them for bringing their company into disrepute.
3. Any child found to be under 16 and proven to have taken part last night to be sent to a young offenders institue
4. Any parent of said child to be convicted of willful neglect and their benefits to be docked to repay the damage, if that parent is working then again their employers needs to dock the money from their wages.
5. Rip up and rewrite the human rights act, stop people hiding behind it and let the police do their job without fear of being sued.

If you are old enough to participate in looting, rioting, destruction of property, and putting fear into ordinary citizens then you are old enough to face the full force of the law. It's time this country stopped pussy footing around with group hugs and play stations and made people accountable for their actions before its too late.

It worries me that tonight voilence could once again erupt on our streets, that once again our streets could be a mass of destruction but anyone that is reading this I ask this I ask this of you. Please don't take to the streets and confront these yobs, we don't need groups of vigilantes running a mock, attacking people with bats and other such objects. I fully understand the feeling of wanting to do this I really do, but there are other ways of doing this.

We all have to stop hiding behind our curtains and fearing our neighbours because of the colour of their skin or their religion. We need to get know them, and yes they must be far more open and honest with us as well, the laws of this land need to change, we know that. Immigration is at saturation point and has been for a few years now, we need to be toghter with it, but we also need to be able to deport criminals, fake asylum seekers and unlawful immigrants than we are no matter how much money it costs us in the short term.

The time now though isn't about scoring cheap political points, it's about making sure that laws are changed and that people feel safe where they live. It's about making parents responsible for the children they bring up and educate, it's about politicians being held far more accountable than they have ever been before. Mostly though it's about doing the right thing, making sure that we lead with our heads and not our hearts, as difficult as that might be, because in the end if we lead with our hearts then the scum win and we all lose.

Follow me on twitter @ahodgson72