Cameron, Miliband row over causes of riots
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Xinhua, August 16, 2011
The riots in London and other English cities last week have reshaped the political agenda for the government under Prime Minister David Cameron and the main opposition Labor Party leader Ed Miliband.
Both party leaders were united last week in condemning the riots when they spoke in a debate in the House of Commons, exceptionally recalled from its summer holidays.
However, both were embroiled in a heated row over policing after the riots this week.
Cameron has the advantage as he is able to implement policy. In a speech in his Oxfordshire constituency, Cameron put together a network of policies designed to appeal to a public horrified by the violence of last week.
The prime minister announced an "all-out war" on street gangs, and laid much of the blame for the riots on "children without fathers, schools without discipline, reward without effort, crime without punishment, rights without responsibilities and communities without control."
He promised tougher policing and reform of how the police are managed with elected police commissioners, while pledging that government policies would be focused on the family as a stabilizing force in society.
Cameron criticized the policies of past governments which had pulled back from tough policing and extended the already extensive welfare system.
"Some of the worst aspects of human nature have been tolerated, indulged -- sometimes even incentivized -- by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally demoralized," he said.
"For years we've had a (welfare) system that encourages the worst in people -- that incites laziness, that excuses bad behavior, that erodes self-discipline, that discourages hard work -- above all that drains responsibility away from people," he added.
In a further blast for the Labor governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who ruled from 1997 to 2010, Cameron attacked their legacy of a dogmatic human rights agenda and health and safety culture.
Cameron said there had been a "twisting and misrepresenting of human rights that has undermined personal responsibility" as well as an "obsession with health and safety that has eroded people's willingness to act according to common sense."
Labor's Miliband, in the meantime, accused Cameron of producing "knee-jerk gimmick" policies, designed to keep the voters happy that were "shallow and simplistic."
Speaking to an audience at his old school in a riot-hit area of north London, Miliband blamed poverty as one of the main reasons behind the riots.
He said that his party when in government had failed to tackle inequality in society and that had contributed to the riots.
Cameron's policies are centered around a moral tone, which runs the risk of upsetting voters who do not like being lectured and also offering a hostage to fortune -- bad behavior by government members in future would be embarrassing.
But Miliband has problems too. The riots come after 13 years of Labor rule in which public spending on problem areas was increased and many new initiatives were introduced for just the sort of people who last week smashed up their neighborhoods. Many voters are asking if Labor's policy now needs to be radically different.
However, both leaders were united in blaming a culture of corruption and greed in politics, in journalism and in banking which had created an atmosphere which fostered the anger and resentment that lay behind some of the rioting.
"In the highest offices, the plushiest boardrooms, the most influential jobs, we need to think about the example we are setting. Moral decline and bad behavior is not limited to a few of the poorest parts of our society," Cameron stated.
Miliband spoke in a similar manner, "Bankers who took millions while destroying people's savings; MPs who fiddled their expenses; and people who hacked phones to get stories to make money for themselves." All were "greedy, selfish and immoral," he said.
"People who talk about the sick behavior of those without power, should talk equally about the sick behavior of those with power," he said.
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