I haven't blogged for a few days, sorry. I don't want to lose interest in blogging but its becoming quite hard to motivate myself. I'm sure I'll be back in the swing of things once the new term at the Assembly has started. I'm going to London for a few days tomorrow- to meet some friends and to have a rest before Plaid Conference.... and before I am too busy to have a social life!
Since I last blogged the shooting of Rhys Jones in Liverpool has dominated the headlines. I wasn't shocked by the news following other similar incidents, both in Liverpool and in London, but it was another reminder of the growth in gun crime, especially amongst young people.
I've read many an article on the attack- mostly in the Independent, who have been careful not to go down the 'anarchy in the UK' route which Cameron has hinted at in the last few weeks. The articles rightly concentrate on the issues leading to such crimes- the fact that there are a lack of youth facilities in many areas across the UK that could deter young people from becoming part of such gangs, and the relative poverty of the young people involved. This doesn't make the crimes acceptable, but we cannot merely blame it on 'the parents', or listen to unfounded claims that 'there is no discipline in schools nowadays.'
We need to take a hard look at ourselves and question why such events are taking place here, whereas other European countries lag behind us in such unpopular league tables of statistics.
New laws are not the answer, neither is the idea of banning young offenders from driving, but we need to see the Government put faith in local, grassroots initiatives, and invest in local policing. It doesn't help to scaremonger as many newspapers do, but there is a fine line between appearing soft on crime and enforcing rigid laws that will not be adhered to.
The Government's reaction has been to announce the creation of drop off zones where illegal guns can be handed in anonymously. This could be seen as a desperate attempt at a solution, or a concerted effort to address the situation. Personally, I would like to wait and see the detail before passing judgement, but considering that other policy initiatives such as ASBO's have proved to be a failure in the past, I am a little sceptical.
Unsurprisingly, the Tories have been quick to judge this ' Dad's army' plan from a Government that wants a 'quick fix' to the problem. I would be inclined to say that the last thing we need at the moment are political parties squabbling over who has the best headline grabbing policy. We need to address this issue much more rigorously- look at the incident in its social context, assess why such gangs are ruling the streets, find out where the guns are coming from, and how the police are currently dealing with such issues.
The residents of Croxteth were waiting for an incident like this to happen according to Euan Ferguson of the Observer, who went to the area following the shooting to meet with local people.
We can't wait around any longer. Here in Wales, the Nationaly Assembly must too play a part in tackling this issue head on- to be pro-active in seeking to address youth exclusion and youth crime in Wales.
3 comments:
So agree Bethan, we need to sort the causes not the symptoms. What on earth makes a child kill? Many of these youngsters in gangs are just children.
It’s not about facilities -there were few when I was growing up, but that didn’t cause gangs to abuse and kill as they do now. Gangs then were nothing like they are now.
Why do we have such dysfunctional behaviour Interesting views come from a woman who has worked with gangs for years and is a youth workers with credibility - I am not sure of her full name -something like Bat-Menghela She talks a lot of sense.
I hope before the Assembly does anything it researches the subject and its causes properly
I agree we would need to research the issue before making any rushed statements on policy, valleys mam.
I'm not saying really that facilities will solve all, but I differ in that I think that more youth facilities will go a long way to getting young people off the streets- they have to be the right type of facilities as well where young people take part in deciding what is provided for their use.
Agree Bethan - keep lobbying
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