The violence we have witnessed over the last few days in London and elsewhere is not due to the shooting of a young man in London, it is not even due to widespread “poverty”, rather it is the discovery of a tactic that is allowing greedy people with a complete disregard for their fellow citizens to temporarily obtain money and goods by criminal means.

We are all victims of this behaviour: Homes and businesses have been destroyed, confidence to work our way out of our current economic woes has been lost, insurance premiums will rise and jobs will be lost all because of the greed of these people.

What would I like to see changed as a result of this violence? 

Well it isn’t more people in jail but those who have instigated the violence and those that have looted should be made to pay in a way that is positive to our economy.  They should be made to pay the full market value for everything that they have stolen or destroyed through work for the community, even if this takes them the rest of their lives. It is likely that many involved in the riots will be considered dangerous and given prison sentances but unless the prison regime involves significant work for the community, the economic burden on society caused by these mindless idiots just increases. 

Once again people are blaming the police for failing to be stronger, act faster or be everywhere at once.  The tactics of the mob change as the tactics of the police change to take into account shifts in the law and criticism in the media and elsewhere.  We have spent many years tying the hands of the police with human rights legislation that has no human responsibilities counterpart.  It is time that we spelt out the responsibilities of an adult in our society and made it quite clear that human rights are for those that meet their human responsibilities one of which might be to return home when asked.

I am concerned about the possible reasons why people went to such lengths for a flat screen TV or a pair of traning shoes. Maybe celebrities would do well to turn down lucrative endorsements of brands and instead sing the praises of things that we can all afford.  In an economy that is so heavily dependant on consumption, this is a difficult thing to say but we have become slaves to retail brands and an over-glamourised lifestyle.  Nobody needs a particular brand of trainers to be happy, what they need is the respect of their peers and the acknowledgement of their abilities by those around them.  Our advertising and marketing industry should examine their collective conscience; we need to get away from the idea of respect by brand association.

Politicians need to think very carefully about the society they are responsible for shaping.  The disparity between the earnings at the top and the minimum wage is just staggering.  Do we really want to do all we can to retain in this country so-called brains who think receiving £4 million a year is more important than receiving £1 million a year and helping to preserve our country as we know it.  It is not just greed that has motivated the rioters but envy also.