BLITZ ON FERAL KIDS IS THE ONLY WAY TO TAME THEM

This is gonna be a really serious blog. I might get worked up; I might swear. So be it. In the light of the death of caring family man Gary Newlove, every decent citizen should be getting seriously worked up.

There is, of course, no one answer to the problem of Britain’s so-called Feral Kids. The kids who beat and maim and kill the innocent.

You can talk all you like about the easy availability of cheap booze, the lack of facilities for teenagers, and poor parenting … but the root problem is a problem that can’t be solved by a wave of the political wand.

Politicians are even frightened of saying it; possibly because they helped cause it, possibly because they know there’s nothing they can do about it. Except, perhaps, over a very long period. A period that party politicians have no need to even contemplate.

The unpalatable truth is that most of the violent kids come from an underclass with no brains, no skills (certainly no social skills), no prospects. Most of them are as thick as pig shit. There, I’ve said it.

They eventually copulate with their own sort, occasionally marry their own sort, because no one else would have them. They spawn more thick kids. It’s a form of in-breeding.

Their nothingness, their ignorance also breeds anger and resentment. Their only refuge is cheap booze; so cheap they can afford it on pocket money or benefits. And that, of course, makes them more violent.

Bad or non-existent parenting is obviously a major factor in teenage violence. But how do you solve it when the parents are pig-shit-thick? Maybe bit by bit, generation by generation is the best we can hope for. Severe fixed penalties for the worst parents may help speed that up slightly.

Stricter regulations and policing of off-licences will, of course, help. But not a lot, I fear.

I think the powers-that-be should make a start by copying, wherever there is a problem, the example of Stockport police in Greater Manchester. They are reclaiming the streets by sweeping through problem areas one at a time in campaigns lasting several weeks. They ask residents what problems need dealing with – and then do just that. Be it burglary, be it abandoned cars, be it graffiti, be it intimidating kids.

They sort out shops selling alcohol to kids, they take youth leaders with them to try to interest the kids in youth clubs and activities, they come down hard on the young ring leaders.

As Chief Superintendent Neil Wain said, “That tends to have the desired effect on the rest.”

Since the campaign began, violence in Stockport has fallen by almost 30 per cent (car thefts by 40 per cent, and burglary by 42 per cent). These are impressive figures. They should not be ignored.

It will be a long and slow process, probably revisiting the worst areas several times, but a start must be made. And I can’t see a better one than this.

For God’s sake, let’s fucking try it!