By Irwin Armstrong
Alex Kane’s latest diatribe against the prime minister is as bleak as it is simplistic. Of course a strong security response from the police and the judiciary is required to deter rioters, but David Cameron is right to try to mend the broken society, which forms a backdrop to the rioting we’ve seen this summer.
Mr Kane clearly believes that the UK’s problems are unfixable. Thank goodness the prime minister doesn’t take such a depressing and fatalistic approach. Long before the outbreak of violence and looting in England, David Cameron identified family breakdown, welfare dependency and a lack of personal responsibility as the scourge of a functional, happy society.
It’s all very well to blame previous governments “cosying up to a human rights, social work, blame-everyone-else brigade” and indeed the prime minister has criticised a culture which twisted the concept of human rights and elevated ridiculous health and safety regulations. Rather than look back and complain, though, it’s much more important to look forward and see what can be done.
That’s exactly what David Cameron is about. His government has introduced sweeping reforms which will tackle welfare dependency and make it pay for people to go back to work. It has unveiled plans to strengthen families, combat addiction and provide an alternative to gang culture for young people. And, if truth be told, the type of security crack-down which Alex Kane wants is also underway.
It’s very easy to be cynical and fatalistic and to grumble that the world has gone to the dogs. It’s rather more difficult to identify where society is broken and try to fix it. David Cameron and his government are fully committed to this trickier but more constructive path.