British Conservatives in Paris Blog

Writing in a provocative article about the recent UK riots in the news blog of The Telegraph of 2 September, 2011, Peter Oborne who is chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph, views the root cause as the moral decay which is as bad at the top as the bottom of British society.
He considers the entire British political class right to denounce the rioters and to say that the actions of these looters, arsonists and muggers were abhorrent and criminal, and that the police should be given more support. However, he also found something very phoney and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament when MPs spoke about the week?s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them.
He believes that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up.
Although he stresses that most people continue to believe in honesty and decency, hard work and putting back into society at least as much as they take out, there are those who do not. The so-called feral youth for example seem oblivious to decency and morality but so also are the venal rich and powerful – and he quotes examples in his article ? including too many of our bankers, footballers, wealthy businessmen and politicians.
Mr Oborne notes that most of the venal rich and powerful are smart and wealthy enough to make sure that they obey the law although this cannot be said of the sad young men and women, without hope or aspiration, who have caused such mayhem and chaos in the riots. However, in their defence the rioters were just following the example set by senior and respected figures in society.
We must bear in mind that many of the youths in our inner cities have never been trained in decent values. Our politicians and bankers, in sharp contrast, tend to have been to good schools and universities and to have been given every opportunity in life.