Panic on the streets of London

Anyone who has been watching the news will know that London has spent three nights under siege by rioters and looters. The violence kicked off after the shooting of a man called Mark Duggan, during an arrest in Tottenham on Thursday. It appears there are questions around whether the shooting of Duggan was lawful and members of the family and community where protesting peacefully and demanding answers from the police on Saturday. Unfortunately the protest did not remain peaceful and Tottenham High Road was the first area where widespread destruction and looting took place.

Following this numerous other areas including Enfield, Ealing, Croydon, and the frighteningly close to my home, Clapham Junction, have been targeted by bands of youths in balaclavas smashing in shop windows, helping themselves to electronics and sports goods and setting things on fire.

As a London resident, this is all pretty scary. I personally have managed to avoid all riot activity but Paul watched out of his office window as the riot police chased troublemakers down the Soho street he works on and many of my colleagues and acquaintances have been close enough to smell the smoke and hear the sirens.

Of course there is mass debate over why this has happened and who is to blame. I don’t in any way profess to have a deep insight into society but you have to wonder how we’ve gotten to a place where people are this angry. While there is absolutely no excuse for destroying property and taking things that are not yours, there is a large part of the population who appear to feel like this is their way of “sticking it to the man.” Unfortunately a lot of the time they don’t appear to realise that burning down small local business is just sticking it to your own community but that’s just a symptom of the lack of big picture thinking that’s going on.

A lot of people are looking back at past immigration policy, past police interaction with communities and past education policy and saying well if we had have done this or done that we wouldn’t be in this situation. But we are in this situation and we need leadership who will find a way to engage people, who are unable to see the effect that what they are doing is having and how much they are hurting themselves. These are people who don’t think what they are doing is wrong and believe that there won’t be consequences to their actions. That’s the bit that needs addressing. It doesn’t matter if it’s pure greedy opportunism or a result of a disconnection between the state and the disenfranchised youth, or something else entirely. What matters is making it stop and preventing it from happening again.

Have a little listen of this to get an idea of the mentality…

The saddest thing is that most Londoners are law-abiding citizens, who work hard for a better future for themselves, their families and communities, but the actions of the opportunistic few is likely to lead to the further demonization of the British youth… and that’s just not fair.

Does Britain need more fairy job mothers?

Last night Paul and I found ourselves watching something called Fairy Jobmother on Channel 4, not our proudest moment, but hear me out. The premise of the show is that recruitment specialist, Hayley Taylor, takes 5 people who are long-term unemployed (12 months or more) and pretty much overcomes all of their protests and shortcomings when it comes to finding a job.

I started watching last night’s episode with my usual snorts of derision and disbelief at the fact that these people who had no disabilities were not just going out there and getting work but as the show unfolded I found my opinion changing.

What Taylor does is not rocket science. She addresses issues of confidence and the kind of job seeking and job interview appropriate behaviour that those of us who have spent the majority of our lives in gainful employment take for granted… things as simple as what you should wear, being able to explain your skills in a sensible manner, turning up on timeand dealing with someone telling you what to do. And she does it with a firm hand and a refusal to listen to excuses. Her motto is that there are jobs out there but looking for one is hard work so focus yourself and get on with it.

By the end of the show four out of the five had secured a job. These were not glamorous or high paid jobs but things like part time cleaner, kitchen porter and garbage truck drivers’ assistant but they had all made a culture shift within themselves and it’s the culture shift within individuals that leads to culture shifts within families and communities. Three months on all four were still in work and one had been promoted.

There is no point in debating how the work/benefits situation happened in the UK. It is what is. What is important is that the government is spending money on getting people the simple skills and support that it takes to get a foot on the job ladder as well as a bit of a reality check. Growing up in a family where everyone is gainfully employed, education and hard work are encouraged and rewarded and support is easy to get, often makes those of us who have had the hand up, think that getting into and being in work is something simple. But without all of that, would it be as easy?

Why not train some of the public sector workers who are going to lose their jobs as part of the cuts as fairy jobmothers? Give them five vulnerable people at a time to work with for two weeks and target them on the number of people getting work and keeping it for 6 months or more. Alternatively why not go “big society” and work with employment related businesses about getting volunteer hours from their staff to help people. I bet loads of the people at the job board I work for would be willing to use their charity days to help people write their CVs or practise interview techniques… or am I oversimplifying things?