Death to The Londoner

This was going to be a post about the "The Londoner*", the former printed newspaper that Ken Livingstone created and sent to all London homes following his initial victory in 2000, but the recent stabbing of Steven Bigby, Lyle Tulloch and Jimmy Mizen all within a matter of days of each seemed more important.

There have now been thirteen murders of teenagers in London in 2008. All but one of them have been visible ethnic minorities; the police seem to have a real problem on their hands now.

The British Crime Survey has consistently showed that people's fear of crime is higher than the recorded reality and that actual crime (i.e. crime that is and is not reported to the police) is, on average, over twice the recorded numbers. Furthermore, in an article published in June 2007, the Independent newspaper reported that even the BCS itself understates the problem, since it caps the number of times a victim can be targeted by an offender at five incidents a year.

What this means is that if a participant in the survey states they have been targeted more than five times a year, the sixth incident and beyond are not included in the BCS!

The problem of violent crime - particularly involving knife crime in young persons in London - is a shared one. As such, whilst it is only right and proper that Boris Johnson supports the police in trying to reduce the number of these incidents, the wider community has to share some of the blame for this.

However, what the police and the previous Mayor of London have been extremely adept at to date is dodging the thorny issue of addressing the significant involvement of black teenagers in the above murders. Tony Blair, in his last weeks, made some comments that stirred the fury of various community leaders, when he asked for the black community to address the issue of gangs, knife-carrying and lack of respect on the part of younger people.

Regardless of the arguments for social poverty - and there are many to be made - the reality the police can and will have to be far more aggressive that they have been in targeting those persons who feel that it is perfectly acceptable to walk around London carrying a knife.

The reality of the situation is that there is an elephant in the corner on this issue; the BNP gained a seat at the May 2008 London Assembly vote. The BNP always win in an environment where the white majority feel that their interests and their rights are being diluted away to the benefit of others. The reticence of the police to engage in this issue in the face of being accused of being racist (and - let's be honest, the police does not have a good track record on this issue) is fairly apparent.

No one but the Far-Right wins in this context.

The Police are accused of ignoring the problem on political grounds, people continue to get killed, the fear of crime goes through the roof and the number of BNP members and councillors increases.

London is at a very dangerous junction right now. With an economy on the slide, the perception of crime rising, changing political landscapes and a general sense of disquiet about the land then this is a perfect breeding ground for the BNP.

Unless we want to wake up on the morning after the next Local Elections in London having breakfast with an increased number of BNP members, then the problem of knife crime needs to be dealt with swiftly, even if it causes short-term pain for the Police and the Mayor.

P.S. *The Londoner was indeed put to sleep this month. For which I am glad. I was getting a little tired of taking out a rather tedious piece of propaganda every month to the recycling bin, especially when I live in one of the poorest parts of London. Two and a half million pounds a year had "better uses" splashed all over it.