The ‘Independent’ Holds A ‘Missing The Bloody Point By A Mile’ Contest (Part II)…

Next, Camilla Batmanghelidjh:

London has woken up to street violence, and the usual narratives have emerged – punish those responsible for the violence because they are "opportunist criminals" and "disgusting thieves".

Ooooh, god forbid there should be punishment…

The slightly more intellectually curious…

Translation: ‘People who think just a little bit like me, but not enough’.

… might blame the trouble on poor police relations or lack of policing.

Surely not? *chortle*

What about you?

My own view is that the police in this country do an impressive job and unjustly carry the consequences of a much wider social dysfunction. Before you take a breath of sarcasm thinking "here she goes, excusing the criminals with some sob story"…

Yeah, you got me there!

… I want to begin by stating two things. First, violence and looting can never be justified. Second, for those of us working at street level, we're not surprised by these events.

Working ‘at street level’? Don’t you spend all your time at BBC TV HQ or charity events?

How, we ask, could they attack their own community with such disregard? But the young people would reply "easily", because they feel they don't actually belong to the community.

Community, they would say, has nothing to offer them.

A wise man once said ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask instead what you can do for your country’. Perhaps you should tell them that. In fact, he had other observations that would stand them well too.

The insidious flourishing of anti-establishment attitudes is paradoxically helped by the establishment. It grows when a child is dragged by their mother to social services screaming for help and security guards remove both; or in the shiny academies which, quietly, rid themselves of the most disturbed kids. Walk into the mental hospitals and there is nothing for the patients to do except peel the wallpaper. Go to the youth centre and you will find the staff have locked themselves up in the office because disturbed young men are dominating the space with their violent dogs.

What should they do, then? Get themselves savaged?

It's not one occasional attack on dignity, it's a repeated humiliation, being continuously dispossessed in a society rich with possession.

Most of these street rats seem to have had the latest mobiles and trainers even before the looting…

Our leaders still speak about how protecting the community is vital. The trouble is, the deal has gone sour. The community has selected who is worthy of help and who is not.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the community is right…

I got a call yesterday morning. The kids gave me a run-down of what had happened in Brixton. A street party had been invaded by a group of young men out to grab. A few years ago, the kids who called me would have joined in, because they had nothing to lose. One had been permanently excluded from six schools. When he first arrived at Kids Company he cared so little that he would smash his head into a pane of glass and bite his own flesh off with rage. He'd think nothing of hurting others. After intensive social care and support he walked away when the riots began because he held more value in his membership of a community that has embraced him than a community that demanded his dark side.

He didn’t try to stop the rioting.

He didn’t call the emergency services.

He didn’t stay to help the injured.

He walked away.

That’s the best you can do, Camilla? Is that the best your much vaunted charity can manage?

If so, we're screwed.