By John Knox
With the English cities in flames again, it’s all too easy for us in Scotland to feel grateful, even smug, that we don’t have a restless underclass or serious racial divides. But the English riots are a warning to all countries that we neglect the poor at our peril – and, in, particular, that a huge investment is needed in our education system. Because education is the key to civilised living.
David Cameron is right that what we are seeing in London, Birmingham Manchester and Liverpool is “criminality” – looting, attacking the police, setting fire to cars and buildings. But it is all on such a scale, and with tacit support from parents and other adults in the estates concerned, that you must ask: “Why is this criminality taking place?” It must stem from a deeper disaffection with authority, the economy, the society, the way things are now.
In a way, we should not be surprised that this English underclass has risen in revolt. They have seen the economy devastated by the bankers, who have got away with their greed. They have seen the political class exposed for their dishonesty and greed in the expenses scandal. They have been told that they have to bear the lion’s share of the nation’s debt repayments – even though they didn’t cause them, so their wages are being held down while prices in the shops rise.
They have been told that their council services are being cut. They have been told to come off benefits and get into work, even though there is no work. They have been told – in effect – that higher education and training is something only the rich can expect. And now they are being told to go home and behave themselves. No wonder they are fighting back.
Undoubtedly the police have made mistakes in the way they have handled the riots. They have admitted not keeping Mark Duggan’s family in Tottenham properly informed of progress in the investigation into his death. They have not always had enough officers on duty to contain the rioters. And perhaps they have been too cautious in tackling gangs of looters following the criticism they faced over the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in 2009.
They also need to step up their intelligence operations against the drug barons and the violent gangs. But these shortcomings can be easily remedied. Not however, as the government wants to do in England, by cutting police numbers.
But the deeper causes of this summer of discontent are much more difficult to tackle. Creating jobs for those in the 16–24 age-range is the immediate priority. Over 15 per cent are not in employment, education or training. In England, that’s nearly a million young people. In Scotland, it’s over 30,000. Instead of cutting government spending, it needs to increase, until the economy starts to grow again.
The longer-term priority is to improve the education system, so that everyone is included, everyone gets the skills they need and everyone learns the finer arts of civilised living – like self-reliance, confidence, respect, an understanding of how society works and how to pursue true happiness.
This is why it’s important that Scotland keeps its education system well resourced and free. The training colleges, in particular, need to be given more resources and the school curriculum has to reach out to disaffected youngsters. Otherwise, we risk creating a feral generation of young people, as seems to have been done in the English cities.
So where, oh where, will the money come from for this educational investment? Well, it can come from higher taxes in the future or from other budgets, such as health, new bridges, roads etc. All of this is not good news for the politicians because, finally, they will face some “tough choices”. The riots, hopefully, will have concentrated minds at Holyrood and Westminster. They may even force David Cameron into adopting the much-denied Plan B.
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