Tag Archives: criminals

Gore Lane Fly Tipping

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Today’s press contains, yet again, a story about Gore Lane and the ongoing fly tipping problem there.  Although I gave the reporter a fairly comprehensive comment, repeated below, this was abridged for the press item.  

This is a long-term problem area, that is caused by a couple of issues.  The main area of fly tipping has been identified as the collection point for the refuse and recycling generated by adjacent properties.  This is not an ideal situation, but it does address the previous situation, whereby residents were dumping their full refuse bags onto the public footpath, despite many attempts to stop this anti-social practice.
Unfortunately, the creation of a collection point has not reduced the selfish practice of bags being disposed of in to the collection point when they are full, instead of only on the scheduled collection day.  This in turn has encouraged people to fly tip into the collection area.  Put simply, rubbish, attracts rubbish.
The problem of fly tipping is not just restricted to Spalding, or indeed South Holland.  In order to address it effectively, through the use of the law, we need to catch the offenders red-handed.  The very limited resources of the district council means that we need the help of the public to deal with these criminals.  I would therefore ask for the public’s help in identifying these ‘environmental terrorists’.  Without putting themselves at risk, we would ask anybody seeing suspicious activity, to make a note of what is being dumped, the type of vehicle being used, including its number plate if at all possible and a description of the people involved.  This information should be passed on to both the police and the district council.
Finally, the council is also looking at the responsibilities of landlords for the behaviour of their tenants and will be seeking to make them take a more proactive approach to this issue.

My final paragraph could, potentially, of given the reporter a stick with which to beat the council, as the area in question may well belong to SHDC.  That said, if it does, it also gives me a better chance of sorting the problem out as, in the worst case scenario, I will be pushing to have the car park closed, thereby limiting access to the dump site by any vehicles.

This rubbish doesn’t get there on its own and, in the case of a mattress, is unlikely to be carried through the streets by somebody without being noticed.  I have asked for the public’s help in fighting this crime because, without it, we are likely to be fighting a loosing battle.

Riots, a truly classless problem

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Am I the only one beginning to see evidence emerging that proves we are indeed living in a society that, if not actually broken, has certainly lost its moral compass.

Commentators, politicians and social activists have all been trying to identify a well defined group of criminals as being responsible for the recent riots. As well as being feral and disaffected, these people are supposedly lacking in hope and are forced in to their extreme responses because of their frustrations with a society that has abandoned them. This has lead many to become outright criminals.

However, a quick scan of the details of those who have been through the courts, reveals a much more disturbing fact. Not only are many of those currently bailed or sentenced in gainful employment, a number are very well educated and some were about to embark on productive careers.

If you can’t pin loutish, anti-social, or even criminal behaviour on a disadvantaged background, then you have found yourself a completely new can of worms to open. The Government now has to examine the whole spectrum of our society. It needs to identify how we have distrorted the morals of those involved in theses riots to the extent that, no matter what their backgrounds, they felt that it was, if not okay to do what they did, it was certainly worth the risk.

If it was just a case of reconnecting us all with our lost respect for authority and in particular the law, then that would be easy. More police on the streets, a zero tolerance approach to low level crime and a crime and punishment system that isn’t paralyised by political correctness of the liberal left and the extremes of the Human Rights Act. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that it is anywhere near as simple as that and that what we are dealing with is a state of mind that many of those in charge and over the age of 50 might have difficulty getting their heads around. Why over 50? Well, I think the rot set in the late 60’s, started in our schools and has been reinforced by numerous political decisions and social changes since then.

When my father was alive and something about kids behaving badly was reported in the papers, or came on the TV, one of his favoured comments was, ‘what we need is another bl***ing war, that’ll give ’em something else to think about!’. Given his experiences in WW2, that was a bit extreme to say the least, but I could see where he was coming from. The consumer and celebrity obsessed society we have allowed to develop in this country, has distorted the attitudes of recent generations to what is important and to their place in the world. I fear it will take much more than a few years of David Cameron’s Big Society to fix it – I just hope it doesn’t take another war.

Time to choose Dave

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Rather than being seen as a failure for David Cameron’s government, the recent outbreaks of criminal behaviour across England, could actually be seen as a confirmation of his Big Society vision. Unfortunately, unless he is able to back this vision up with money, that’s all it will remain – a vision.

However, things have gone too far and the damage has already been done to several generations. It’s a racing certainty that a number of those carrying out criminal activites in recent days, will be parents in some form or another. Even if only in the same way a feral dog becomes a parent by spawning with any willing bitch it comes across. The only way to deal with these people is initially via the justice system, but not just by a police caution, a supervision order, or an ASBO. If you can’t alter the way these people think and act, then all you are doing is using a sticking plaster on a stab wound that needs major surgery.

David Cameron now needs to acknowledge that his policy of throwing money at the overseas aid budget is not an acceptable thing to do whilst London and other cities are burning. Until he has sufficient cash in the bank to do both, he needs to prioritise fixing what is wrong within our own borders, before he continues to try to fix what’s wrong in the rest of the world.

First priority should be to take back control of the streets, but not by using Theresa May’s approach of permissive policing. More police on the streets, a court system applying swifter and harsher justice and a genuine attempt to prevent repeat offending.

The next priority and this is where Dave’s Big Society comes in, is to prevent another lost generation being created. However, unless David Cameron is prepared to accept that this cannot wait for the government’s finances to be healthy enough to support all of his pet projects, I fear the recent unrest will be repeated again and again.

Politicians – don’t look for easy answers

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I hope MPs don’t return to Parliament on Thursday and talk themselves into thinking there are any easy answers as to why the recent nation wide criminal behaviour took place.

Convincing themselves that this was about cuts in public funding, or the increase in tuition fees, will be cowardly cop out. The non-citizens, otherwise known collectively as rioters, yobs, thugs, morons, etc, have no cause other than themselves. Naked greed, opportunistic theft and mindless violence are the only reasons these feral youths were on our streets and it is this terrifying attitude to the world they live in that needs to be examined in depth.

As well as dragging the kids through the system, the authorities need to grasp the parents firmly by the scruff of neck and walk them through the system at the same time. Any parent who has no idea where their early teen child is at 2 am in the morning, is just as guilty of a crime as the child that commits it.

Philip Johnston, in today’s Daily Telegraph says it all so much better than I can and should be required reading for our decision makers before they ponder these issues on Thursday. They should also take note of the need to give the police their b**ls back by allowing them to be a force and not a service.