Take action to bring back London's pride

I'm diverting from my normal rants about the need for etiquette on the London Underground to something much more important this week: restoring London's pride.

While various members of the City's youth has done its best to tarnish our reputation as well as the many local businesses who are now wondering what, if any, future they have, the working together attitude the mainstream communities has displayed means that our pride in London is still evident.

Reports abound of the clear up operation today being inundated with eager volunteers, so much so that people were told to stop coming.  Let's hope another clear up operation isn't needed tomorrow.

These youths are looting for no other reason than to appear radical or cool to their friends. They have no real political message and are nothing more than children who are either being caught up in the mindless violence or are made to think they are making a stand because they feel like society has forgotten them.

Well society will certainly remember them now - and for all the wrong reasons. They may use social media to incite other riots but we will use it to name and shame them into, hopefully, custodial sentences.

My fear is that, because of the ridiculous 'human rights' law, police are not empowered to take more drastic measures to stop them should the riots continue.  Europe, who until now has been concentrating on its own financial issues, is now looking at the UK in disbelief and asking, why aren't we taking a stronger stance? Why aren't we getting the water canons out and deploying army troops to send a clear message that this will not be tolerated?

Why indeed. What David Cameron et al need to decide is if stamping out this complete disregard for people's safety, livelihoods and the country's reputation at a time when international reputation is so important to the economy is the main priority. I for one believe it is and that any action should be taken to do so.

Youths that run around and set fire to people's businesses and shops should, quite simply, be looked at as potential murderers. The images of people jumping from burning buildings or running out of shops just in time before they are set alight is evidence of a much more sinister edge to looting and disturbance.

It's all very well asking parents to call their children and get them home - if these children were likely to listen to their parents and respect their orders do we really think that they would disrespect their communities in such a way in the first place? Of course not, the problem is much deeper than that and only showing strength and intolerance will stamp out the immediate issues.  Then, we can go back to examining the longer term issue of respect, parenting and of course poverty.

Although - you have to wonder just how genuinely 'poor' these kids are if they are using blackberries to organise the riots in the first place.


Laura King is the author of The Little Book of Tube Etiquette, available at Waterstones, Foyles Bookshop, Amazon and other retailers.
Follow me on twitter @LauraKing14
http://www.gibsonpublishing.co.uk/