Centre For Social Justice Take on the Riots

Below is a press release from the Centre for Social Justice which contains a well thought out and difficult to disagree with reason for the riots.

 The Centre for Social Justice 

1 Westminster Palace Gardens 

Artillery Row 

London SW1P 1RL 

Telephone 020 7340 9650 

Website www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk 

Release date: Tuesday 9th August 2011 

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE CENTRE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE 

RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATE 

Criminal riots reveal part of British society ‘broken and detached’, says Gavin Poole, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice 

Gavin Poole, Executive Director of the CSJ, has issued the following comment on the riots that have disfigured London and other major cities: 

“The appalling scenes on the streets of London, and elsewhere in the UK, should be condemned unreservedly. 

“The actions of those people, many of whom are reported to be children and teenagers, are endangering lives, attacking police officers, destroying buildings and looting goods. It is criminal behaviour and must be met with the full force of the law. 

“Yet we have to recognise that this mayhem also exposes a broken section of British society – utterly detached from the values and responsibilities we expect of our fellow citizens. When the crisis is eventually controlled and the broader questions are asked, we will find many of these young people roaming the streets causing chaos are from a lost generation. 

“As wrong and unacceptable as it is, they project anarchy in public because it is what surrounds them at home. 

“Many will have never known stable parenting or fatherhood role models. Such family breakdown and dysfunction has rendered countless young people damaged and directionless. 

“We will find a high majority of these young people have failed in schools where truancy is normal, behaviour is often disruptive and boundaries are not established. 

“Many of them face a life on benefits in ghettos scarred by poor housing and street gangs, completely devoid of aspiration. In such communities, they have been written off by society repeatedly. 

“These are the actions of people who live in chaos, hopelessness and poverty. What they are doing is criminal, completely wrong and must be punished. But it is not entirely random; they believe they have nothing to lose and no one to answer to. Some even consider it normal. 

“Yes, we need political leadership and a debate about policing techniques. But when the violence ends, we need deep rooted social reform which understands that a section of Britain is badly broken and needs to be rebuilt.” 

For media inquiries, please contact Nick Wood of Media Intelligence Partners Ltd on 07889 617003 or 0203 008 8146 or Alistair Thompson on 07970 162225 or 0203 008 8145. 

ENDS 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

The Centre for Social Justice is an independent think tank established, by Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP in 2004, to seek effective solutions to the poverty that blights parts of Britain. 

In July 2007 the group published Breakthrough Britain: ending the Costs of Social Breakdown. The paper presented over 190 policy proposals aimed at ending the growing social divide in Britain. 

Subsequent reports have put forward proposals for reform of the police, prisons, social housing, the asylum system and family law. Other reports have dealt with street gangs and early intervention to help families with young children. 

The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP stood down as Chairman of the Centre on his appointment as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in May 2010 and is now the Founder and Patron.