The riots: I blame the parents.

So it goes like this. 

1: If you’re a banker who takes reckless risks and ruins entire economies, wrecking or at least threatening the livelihoods and welfare of millions of people, then you will be criticised in the papers and by politicians for a few weeks, and then you will collect your bonuses and nothing else will happen to you.

2: If you’re a politician who thieves thousands from the taxpayer for “expenses”, or if you are a member of the media elite with political connections who hacks the phones of the families of dead soldiers and child-murder victims, then you will be politely asked to appear at the nearest police station to discuss the matter, at your own convenience, maybe one nice lunchtime, and then, eventually, probably nothing else will happen to you (we’ll see, eventually).

3: If you’re a young so-called chav who steals a pair of trainers or a TV, then the police will arrive at your home without warning and in force and will smash your door down and take you away.  And that is just the beginning of your punishment.

I’m not condoning looting, much less arson, mugging, murder, and all the rest of it. I’m just saying 1 plus 2 makes 3. And, just to be clear, I’m not blaming the police who follow laws and orders and put themselves at risk to try to limit the damage and clean up the wreckage carried out by the so-called chavs, but actually caused in a much more fundamental way by their bastard parents: i.e. the reckless bankers and the like; the corrupt or complacent politicians who allow the bankers to be so unruly; and the venal media who attack anyone who has the nerve to threaten this dysfunctional family with the social services.

So, like David Cameron, I blame the parents.  But in a different way.