You'd think we're in some kind of war time disaster scenario, or the pinicle of crime in our time, the way some seem to wish to go on about "youths" and the crime they cause. Of course, by crime we mean nuisence. And by nuisence we mean they look a little bit unruly while standing around causing no harm whatsoever to anyone. In Redruth they wish now to ramp up from dispersal orders which have clearly had no lasting effect by implementing a curfew scheme, something the Times claims has wide ranging support not only for Cornwall but nationally as well!

How Cornwall, completely ruled over by Liberal Democrats, can abide by this I'll never know. But I'll say this, if you wanted one shining example of why I could never be an active Lib Dem supporter then Cornwall is your answer. Try as we might, the Cornish are a fairly liberal sort...those not living there in their second or third home pushing those actually from the region away that is...it seems our endeavours to encourage liberal governance is being thrown back in our face at every turn.

While we must not demonise all young people, we have to acknowledge that youngsters don't have to commit crime or anti-social behaviour to be intimidating to residents. - Julia Goldsworthy

I don't know why Julia doesn't just switch parties to the Conservatives already and be done with it. How the hell can you end up not demonising all children while simultaneously applying a blanket law depriving them of their freedoms and treating them as criminals after an arbitrary time? As if suddenly after 9pm they all turn in to feral beasts that go to town on the local communities. And that is even aside from the arbitrary ages applied also, as if those that have turned 16 are suddenly respectable chaps and chapesses. She goes on to say...

Simply hanging around on street corners can be enough of a threat.

This is how out of touch Julia has become in such a short time. Lock the kids up because some withering fools are threatened by them standing around! No, no, don't go to the fuddy-duddies and try to alleviate their concerns, something like "here's a number you should call if they do anything illegal" or, "stop moaning you paranoid time waster", simply get straight to the source and cut the rights down of the youth. I mean, after all, the young can't vote can they?

In fact all of this looks like it's the Lib Dem's turn to try and follow the Tories on every level from the (absolutely bizarre) council all the way to it's MPs. Not content with having had them steal the show with their "lock 'em up" routine, as David Cameron would have it, now the Lib Dem's want to be seen tough on an issue that is also entirely pointless. I mean...did they not realise it would be illegal to actually enforce?

Of course they did, which is why this scheme is "voluntary", if you can call threatening parents with control orders if they don't ensure their kids are under their roof by 9pm a "voluntary" measure. To me it sounds like giving people the choice between cutting their arm off themselves voluntarily or having the state do it for them anyway.

You only have to look back three years, to Richmond, to see that the police will have a hard time telling any kids to go anywhere without being told, not so politely no doubt, to fuck off.

So it's a scheme that potentially breaches the human rights act, follows the path of other orders that have been deemed illegal, and also should you read in to it only actually makes any impact in a small area, a particular part of Redruth not all of it. One of two things here are going to happen, either the kids are all going to go and loiter in areas they didn't before, increasing the unease that sheltered middle-aged folk have as the unwashed masses come closer to their front garden, or the police are going to crack down on all children on the basis of the actions of those in one area.

I suppose that latter example wouldn't be the surprising course of action given that the curfew is, by its very nature, an act of penalising all children because of the minority. Think this is just someone on a blog talking nonsense?

think the curfew is a great idea to clamp-down on the handful of youngsters who cause problems in Close Hill. It is just a handful of children in the area who cause problems and not the majority. - Mark Kaczmarek (emphasis mine)

Others have said it, but if this is the attitude you're going to take to combating crime then why not just give everyone a 9pm curfew and be done with it? Why not just lock us all up, because at least that way we can only do harm to ourselves, right? Crime levels will plummet!

Of course the main reason, as if it isn't obvious, that you shouldn't be doing this in Redruth, or even nationally, is that it is completely and utterly illiberal. It doesn't matter to me even if you could prove that curfews work because there is absolutely no price that I think we should be willing to pay for reduction in crime and increased safety if it has to be bought with our freedoms. For the Liberal Democrats to come across in support of this especially makes me think that truly the political masses have absolutely lost the plot in all three corners completely.

I just also want to give heads up to other bloggers, DK, Womble on tour, Jock Coats, Liberal England and Don't Trip Up all have very sensible things to say

Finally, going back to that Times report on over three quarters of people agreeing to curfews, one has to ask exactly what the respondents were thinking when answering that. Were they looking self-loathingly in the mirror as they admitted that they were a bad parent and needed police aid to help them? Or was it more likely that perhaps they were thinking that their children are little angels, but my god those shits from down the other end of town ought to be locked up let alone put under curfew? I guess we'll never know, but one thing I think would be interesting is to see just how popular it is when their kids are moaning and complaining indoors about having nothing to do.

In fact, on that line of thought, while it is easy for the public to decry perfectly reasonable measures on disuading knife crime because of "practicality issues" they think that this country is set up and resourced to have police patrolling every town, city and village for kids hanging out on street corners? My what an amazing power the ferocious red tops have over us when it comes to only being satisfied if we get blood with every solution.