Riots

We have all been shocked by the scenes of rioting on our televisions over the last few days. It is many years since we have seen such scenes in the capital. At the time of writing, Dartford has thankfully been spared any significant problems but there remains the possibility of mindless individuals carrying out copy cat attacks on people or property.

I don’t see these riots as a response to Police or Government actions but rather they are the actions of those who seem to enjoy taking part in vandalism and violence. The stealing of property from a shop has nothing to do with responding to a so called ‘social injustice’ and everything to do with utter selfishness.

At the front line are our Police who have to directly tackle those who are causing the disorder. We are fortunate in Dartford to have a very good local Force that has made sure Dartford has kept out of the national problems and could even assist the Metropolitan Police with tackling the violence. There has been some talk about Police in London using rubber bullets or water cannon to deal with rioters. My view is that it must be right for Government to allow them to use whatever equipment that they reasonably need and ask for. The Courts must also play their part by robustly dealing with anyone who is convicted of crimes connected with these riots against property or people.

Both Britain and Dartford remain a generally civilised and peaceful place but we are reminded, through these disturbances, that it only takes a small number of selfish people to shatter that peace.