The smoke from burnt out shops and homes has hardly cleared and already the hand-wringing has started.
Some politicians, civil rights’ groups and commentators are condemning some of the sentences being imposed on rioters and looters.
Why am I not surprised? This well-intended liberalism has blighted our country for too long now.
In my view, we’ve talked long enough; it’s time for action.
There is a feral minority which clearly has no fear of authority or respect for others, and these need to be instilled if we are to progress at all in the longer term.
For them punishments in the community are, I would suggest, a waste of time.
And prison sentences – often too short – are nothing more than a badge of honour for many.
What’s needed is something more durable and constructive.
I repeat my call for some form of national service.
The courts could be given an option to ‘sentence’ offenders, especially young ones, to do ‘time’ with an organisation, where they’d be monitored and nurtured.
The armed services could be an option, but only for offenders who volunteered to serve their country in this way.
I suspect most would not, so ‘time’ with, say, a business, trade, emergency service or charitable group would suffice.
Yes, the state would have to pay, and I suspect this would grate with some of you.
But I have some experience of training young men, many from impoverished backgrounds, and it’s remarkable how quickly they change given a sound infrastructure, aspiration, leadership, friendship and discipline.
That’s the carrot.
If these youngsters fail to do what is expected of them, they go to jail.
]That’s the stick.
Of course, some may have committed crimes that are so serious that a custodial sentence is the only option, at least initially.
But why not revisit my idea for say a prisoner who has served a significant part of their sentence?
National service for two years is infinitely more constructive for both prisoner and the nation than rotting in jail.