From riots to shoplifting: dealing with lawlessness

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Sunday 20 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

‘Lawless Britain is out of control’, screamed a recent headline, capturing the sentiment that the UK has descended into a ‘Wild West’ country where there is a general disregard for the law. That was before the recent riots, which both added to the mood of a lack of respect for authority, but also arguably reflected a general feeling of insecurity in local areas. Where are the police on our streets when daily news is filled with reports of stabbings, anti-social behaviour, drug-related crimes, vehicle theft and more?

This anxiety may reflect a broader societal concern about the erosion of trust in public institutions such as the police and courts. Long predating the summer’s public disorder, and perhaps one of its catalysts, scandals involving police misconduct, two-tier policing and failures in the justice system seemed to undermine public confidence in the very institutions that were created to uphold the law. Last year, half of the phone thefts in London were not investigated by the Met, and 130,000 incidents of criminal damage in 2023 were not attended by the police. Burglary is viewed by many as a virtually unpunishable crime. The state seems unable or unwilling to keep citizens or property safe.

Is the perceived ineffectiveness of the legal system to blame for the seeming rise of lawlessness? One commentator on the criminal justice system complained that even when offenders are brought before the courts, far too much consideration is given to their human rights rather than to the victims of their crimes. Others think that even when criminals are convicted of a crime, they are not adequately punished, leading offenders to think it’s OK to break law. This summer, the Ministry of Justice announced that in an effort to address prison overcrowding, some offenders will be released after completing only 40 per cent of their sentences.

However, other commentators suggest that fear of lawlessness is itself a misdiagnosis, a new moral panic driven by more existential anxieties about the state of society. There are fears that the demands to lock more people up for longer, often in the name of victims, can lead to an atmosphere of punitive, subjective retribution rather than justice. And what of possible drivers towards criminal activity, such as increasing poverty, neglected local communities with decrepit amenities and declining services? And perhaps perceptions of increased crime are amplified by politicians making laws that deem more and more activities as crimes.

Or is there a broader problem of authority shaping individuals’ values and behaviours, such as the seeming lack of respect for teachers and school discipline? Is social media – which amplifies voices that challenge traditional authority – to blame? Are today’s cultural attitudes towards authority and the law influencing levels of lawlessness?

SPEAKERS
Professor Ian Acheson
senior advisor, Counter Extremism Project; visiting professor, school of law, policing and forensics, University of Staffordshire; author, Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it

Shaun Bailey
Lord Bailey of Paddington; London Assembly member; youth worker; co-founder, My Generation

Richard Garside
director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies; lead author, Criminal Justice Systems in the UK

Lisa McKenzie
working-class academic; author, Getting By: estates class and culture in austerity Britain and Working Class Lockdown Diaries

Alan Miller
co-founder and chair, Together Association;

CHAIR
Simon McKeon
founder member, Our Fight UK; QPR season ticket holder; archivist