Taxpayer subsidised Brian Coleman’s hypocritical cheek in berating a single mum

Posted on by

Brian Coleman: Paying half the rent of the single mum he berated

I don’t want to be seen hounding  Barnet and London Assembly Brian Coleman on this website but his latest outburst takes more than the biscuit. The man who takes £128,000 from the taxpayer in council allowances – he’s probably about the third highest paid councillor now – has recently berated a desperate single mum with a six-year-old son for complaining that she is  facing a £150 a month rent rise to £1100 a month.

 She wrote to him for advice as she said ” out of desperation in the hope that someone can offer me guidance”. Mr Coleman was unsympathetic to say the least. Ms Sharada Osman wrote back surprised at his lack of empathy.

Mr Coleman told her ” I am afraid you have to live in the real world where the country has no money and residents will have to deal with their own issues rather than expecting  ” the system” to sort their lives out.”

What Mr Coleman did not tell her was that he was living in a subsidised  flat, courtesy of the Finchley Methodist Church charity, where he doesn’t even  have the responsibility of painting his windows.

His  rent is £546 a month – half that of Ms Osman. In the real world – the rest of the road-people are paying £1100 a month, according to local estate agents.

Don’t believe me. Well his fair rent agreement is a public document obtainable on-line from the Valuation Office Agency. Search Electronic Rent Register and put in N3 1ND and you can read for yourself and even print your own personal copy.

Then I might suggest – as Mr Coleman seems finally to have got over his technophobia and can use e-mail, send him a e-mail about what you think about it. His work e-mails are

 
 I’ll be interested to see if you get a reply.

The American and British time bombs still under Liam Fox and Adam Werritty

Posted on by

Together forever?- Adam Werritty and Liam Fox. Pic courtesy:http://www.parker-joseph

When Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell publishes his report this week on whether  former defence secretary Liam Fox broke the rules over his curious working relationship with ” adviser” Adam Werritty, it may not be the end of the matter.  There is still unfinished business across the pond in the US and there could be a kickback in Britain as well.

To use a metaphor that Mr Fox and his friend might be familiar just as  foot soldiers sent into battle in Afghanistan have to be wary of  the explosive danger of hidden IED’s in Helmand, Fox and Werritty are still in the middle of a minefield where one false step could be fatal.

One reason is that  a blogger from Manchester-Stephen Newton who had been pursuing  Fox and Werrity’s  Atlantic Bridge  Neo Con”charity” in Britain for two years – put a formal complaint into  the  US Internal Revenue Service about its sister organisation in America.

Basically the accusation was similar to the British charity whose organisers have just closed down rather than obey charity rules- that  Atlantic Bridge Inc was not a non-profit educational body which should avoid tax.

In a  cryptic reply, the IRS said it would evaluate the information they had received and decide whether to investigate but would not contact him until the investigation was complete. 

Remarkably ( and perhaps Revenue and Customs should do this here) they said that he might qualify for a financial  whistleblower’s award if Atlantic Bridge was found to be tax dodging.

 The IRS has still to inform Newton about his award  but has made it clear it will never discuss what action it is going to take. See his own website http://www.stephennewton.com/  for his  take.

 The signifance of this  is the US operation is totally bound up with the  British one – to the extent that it funded Liam Fox’ s charity and that some of the people thought to have bankrolled Adam Werritty on his trips with the minister may well be connected. On top of this as Sunny Hundal pointed out on the Liberal Conspiracy website last week, (see http://bit.ly/n53Oye ) they include through the American Legislative Exchange Council  links to powerful arms dealers like the Koch Foundation and the tobacco industry. It also backs the Tea Party. And one has only to look at the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Telegraph and the Times to see how extensive these connections are.

Now ,if and it is still if, the IRS acts against Atlantic Bridge Inc, this is only going to intensify the pressure on the people who have been backing Fox and Werritty and set a whole new trail going in the US ( no wonder the blogger has taken calls from the Wall Street Journal).

Meanwhile in Britain the trustees of the Atlantic Bridge charity have closed it down rather than comply with recommendations from  our own Charity Commission to make it less partisan.  the Commission seemed  to think it had to treat Atlantic Bridge with kid gloves. Indeed  unlike the treatment of the Smith Institute – slammed for links with Gordon Brown – it was almost obsequious in its dealings with a body that had five Tory shadow ministers advising it ( though two, Michael Gove and Chris Grayling can’t remember attending – I hope they take their present paid jobs more seriously!)

The Commission gave the charity months to change its rules – despite a decision that it was partisan which would disqualify it for charity status. Adam Werritty at the time objected to the findings-saying he was ” disappointed” by the ruling.

There was also the small question that five Conservative ministers-Liam Fox,George Osborne, William Hague,Michael Gove and Chris Grayling plus John Whittingdale ( current chair of the culture,media and sport committee) were all members of its advisory board of  what  is now known not to be a properly constituted charity.

 If I was a sharp tax inspector at Revenue and Customs I think I might decided to approach  the accountants of prominent donors like  Tory donor Michael Hintze   ( £47,000 in two years according to Atlantic Bridge Accounts) and see whether the donated money qualified for gift aid-saving tax payments by both the donor and the charity. And then I would claim it back.

Atlantic Bridge also charged unbelievable sums to attend its events -£400 a time and £700 for VIPs- to go to a  reception at the Lanesborough Hotel in Hyde Park Corner to see Henry Kissinger get the Thatcher Medal for Freedom. Luckily under gift aid rules, at least the people going could not get a rebate from the tax authorities. No doubt it was these lavish occasions that encouraged Werritty on his high living vists, funded we now know through his private company.

There is an interesting irony about all this – the resignation will enable Fox and his friend Werritty to continue their lobbying. Journalists should keep an eye on the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments website over the next few months to see what lucrative jobs Fox applies for next.

 Just like the Afghan war, this story will run and run.

Berkhamsted goes live – community TV launched

Posted on by

View of Berkhamsted's Grand Union Canal- Dee TV's HQ is alongside it. Pic courtesy http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk

Today (Sun) sees the launch of Dee TV – a community web TV station- covering Dacorum – that for those who don’t know their Roman history- is Berkhamsted, Tring and Hemel Hempstead plus a host of Chiltern villages in Hertfordshire.

 It has been set up as a private initiative by mum and daughter, Lindy  and Mischke Weinreb, two of the more colourful people in the town, with local web and graphic designer, Alistair McDowall. Expect it to be an interactive TV station reporting on local events. Its initial site has lots of short films on it-  a couple from local schools, interviews with local artists and musicians and a report of a local rock concert on The Moor at Hemel. It also provides a lot of coverage for local charities.

 I have no personal interest in the site  – but am really pleased to see  more community activity and journalism in the area. So far it  is feel good rather than controversial but there’s room for everything. You can see for yourself at http://www.deetv.tv.

Back to the Future: David joins Exaronews Fleet Street’s first investigative news website

Posted on by

From today I have started to put some of my investigations on a new City financed website, Exaronews.

For the first time in my long 40-year-old career I have started to work off Fleet Street in New Fetter lane and my local is El Vinos, where old hacks never die.

Fleet Street today more regarded as a heritage tourist stop where people reminisce about print and hot metal  will now become the venue for  a new cyberspace revolution-the rebirth of detailed investigative journalism on the web. The wheel is turning full circle with a site entirely dedicated to investigative journalism and detailed analysis of government,Whitehall, politics,foreign news and City investigations..

If you register for exaronews you will start getting,free of charge, stories from me examining Whitehall,  ( how £13bn of taxpayers money was qualified)local government  (the government’s plans for the Audit Commision)and the present dispute between the BBC and the National Audit Office. But there will be much more to come. Eventually there will be a charge -not all investigative journalism can be free!

Watch this space and enjoy government, politicians, senior civil servants and City people being brought to account by forensic examination of their policies.The link is http://exaronews.com

Exclusive: Westminster pioneers subsidised housing for higher rate taxpayers

Posted on by

Affordable housing: Now for higher rate taxpayers Pic courtesy BBC

Are you a higher rate taxpayer with a family? Need a three bedroom home convenient for the City and West End but can’t afford the rent charged as oligarchs and Arabs push up prices in Central London?

From next year the Tory flagship council of Westminster is to come to your rescue- they are diverting all their  new  and acquired affordable housing provided by social landlords to help what Ed Miliband, the Labour leader called the “squeezed middle”. This  includes helping  Iain Duncan Smith style Tory households where dad is the sole breadwinner, mum stays at home with the kids, but dad earns enough to put him in the higher tax bracket.

Too bad if you are among the 53 per cent in Westminster earning around £12,500 a year. From next year you are officially too poor to qualify for social housing anymore. You will have to go and live somewhere else.

Don’t believe me. See the table in  new Westminster Council documents, where the figures are revealed.

Table 1: Affordable Rent levelsBeds Sustainable for households (without benefit) with gross incomes*:  Weekly GrossAR range  Current RP rents (including service charges) 
1 £25k-32k(net 18.5k-£23.5k) £135 – £172  £132
2 £27.5-£36k(net £20.5k -£26.6k) £148-£194  £147
3+ £29k-£39k(net £21.5-£29.k) £156-£210  £152+

The  gross householder income figure for three bedroom homes actually exceeds the present 40 per cent tax band which  this year  is £35,001.

Even the document produced by the council’s housing director for  Jonathan Glanz, the Tory Cabinet member in charge of housing admits they might be a problem:

 “It is acknowledged that these rents are not currently affordable to many households with priority, without housing benefit. Income analysis indicates that in the main their incomes are low and significant proportions are benefit dependant.”

An accompanying document adds: “For some larger non working households, Affordable Rent may not be a sustainable housing option given what is currently known about the welfare benefit cap.” In other words The Conservative policy to cap benefits puts the unemployed permanently in the cold.

Even Westminster cannot stomach Grant Shapps 80 per cent market guideline Pic courtesy: Daily Mirror

What is even more amazing is that Westminster is  trying to implement  housing minister Grant Shapps’ plan to make sure housing association charged 80 per cent of market rents. The problem is that market rents are so high in Westminster, that even the Tory flagship authority is having to ignore  the Shapps guidelines. An accompanying document reveals average market rent for a two bed property is now  £564 per week in W1, £440 in the SW1  and £316 in NW8.

Even Westminster realises that to charge over  between £250 and £400 a week would hand over its entire social housing provision to higher rate taxpayers. Good policy for ” we are all in it together” from Mr Shapps. And Westminster’s market rents are lower than neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea and the City of London. Can’t wait for their housing proposals following Mr Shapps lead.

Not surprisingly Labour councillors in Westminster are pretty scathing about this.

Councillor Guthrie McKie, Labour’s Housing Spokesperson said;  “The Council is shifting its housing failures on to the most vulnerable people in our community. Due to its failure to provide sufficient social housing, the Council is doctoring its allocation policy…The Council is hell-bent on turning Westminster into a ‘no go’ area for the poor and low-income families.  These new policies will just add more misery to the lives of thousands of our residents.”

Mr Glanz disagrees: “This attack fails to understand the concept of the new affordable rent model and preys on fears of some of the most vulnerable people. Affordable rent is not a replacement for social housing. It is an entirely separate product for households that are in employment but would otherwise struggle to afford housing at market rents. ”

However this is only half the story. What was Westminster plans to do with its existing council housing is a matter for a further comment.

Exclusive: London fire company former bosses investigated as shares suspended

Posted on by

John Shannon , ex ceo, high flying and an alleged trail of AssetCo debts

Update: Judges are expected to approve tomorrow( wed july 28)) a deal allowing to dilute shares by 1000 per cent, raise fresh cash from foreign investors and pay off creditors so the company can save its Middle East operations and plan to sell off its London and Lincolnshire fire brigade contracts. Advisers, the current chairman,Tudor Davies, will also get big success fees for pulling this off.

Update:  Trade creditors- from American Express to Grant Thornton – today (Thursday) accepted a 23p in the pound settlement for over £1.5m owed -writing off over £1m debts and AssetCo subsidiaries -including London- accepted a  peanuts settlement (0.1p in £) for the £100m owed -paving the way for first step to save firm from total collapse but also pointing to sale of London and Lincolnshire fire contracts.

An investigation into the  financial dealings of  former bosses  of AssetCo, the private owner of London and Lincolnshire’s fire engines, is underway by the firm, shareholders have been told.

A statement from the company says: “”The Company has recently received details of allegations in respect of the activities of its former management team. The Company is investigating these
claims and following the completion of its investigation may initiate proceedings.”

The disclosures come as shares have been suspended after  the company sought yet another £14m from investors and massively diluted  junk status share price, last traded at a mere 1.75p. The move comes as Bob Neill, the fire minister, will be urging fire authorities across England to privatise their services and hand over their equipment , training and vehicles to  any private company that wants to make a profit from them.

Arcapita, the only bidder for the stricken company, walked after demanding auditors crawl over AssetCo’s accounts before it would talk any further about a take over. A statement was issued today saying it was not proceeding with the take over.

Worse, documents released to creditors reveal  up to £5m of unpaid bills – including unpaid debts for corporate entertaining at sports fixtures ( £31,000 )and the use of  private jets (£7000). The company blamed its former management and senior staff for leaving this trail of bills for high living, running up an unpaid card credit bill to American Express totalling £134,000.

Now one of the creditors, Bookajet, has told this website that it was left with unpaid bill of £7000 for a hired jet from John Shannon, the former chief executive, after AssetCo refused to pay it. According to a spokesman Mr Shannon appeared to have taken the jet for a personal trip and not on company business. AssetCo are not commenting about this but it looks like Mr Shannon is contesting it.

Bookajet say they have contacted debt recovery lawyers with the aim of seizing AssetCo’s assets.

A taxpayer owned Lloyds Bank fire engine

It has also been revealed by AssetCo and the London Fire Authority that all the capital’s fire engines have never been owned by either of them – they are the property of state-owned Lloyds banking group- owners of the Halifax and Bank of Scotland. The new difference is that Lloyds along with other London banks is now a creditor as well as an owner. There are massive unpaid loans  now totalling  some £30m since AssetCo was launched.

So firefighters are combating riots and blazes in vehicles courtesy of Lloyds Bank ,giving a new  meaning to the Black Horse’s advertising slogan ” for the Journey.” Lloyds are now both the owner and creditor to AssetCo London and promise not to auction them off to get their money back. London Fire Brigade issued a  statement assuring their fire engines are safe.

Two highly embarrassing documents  (see http://bit.ly/px5djv )have been sent to shareholders and creditors revealing the dire state of the company – and pleading with shareholders to accept a massive dilution in shares and creditors accepting less than a quarter of the money they are owed. Banks are being asked to reschedule debts.

Over £100m is owed by AssetCo to its subsidiaries,there are £17m in contingent liabilities to Lloyds, Barclays, Lombard and the Co-operative banks.

Grant Thornton, their auditors – the same company that missed the MetPro security company scandal in auditing Barnet Council’s accounts – are owed £267,000. EDF owed £18,000 in unpaid electricity bills, and even McGrigors, their solicitors based at the Old Bailey who are hosting creditors’ meeting for them, are owed £52,000. The Retained Firefighters Union, is also owed £12,000.

Even  the pension scheme for London staff is at risk if it is not bailed out – the company admit taxpayers will have  to pay out 90 per cent of the cost if it collapses.

Assuming the company is saved, the scandal is not yet over. Further litigation between the firm and John Shannon  over money  will come to court on December 5 as he likely to contest allegations of misusing AssetCo’s cash. Both Lincolnshire and London fire engine contracts are likely to be put up for sale. Only the interest in Abu Dhabi, where the firm works for the military, are likely to be saved.

London AssetCo will only be able eliminate £20m of its debts and be sold off with £30.6m debts. with Lloyds holding on to the fire engines. Lincolnshire has debts of £12m.

Anyone for privatisation after this debacle? Over to you. Mr Neill.

Lansley’s unhealthy double whammy: What you won’t know or find out about the NHS

Posted on by

Andrew Lansley's unhealthy changes. Pic courtesy:www.bexleymonitoringgroup.co.uk

Update:Department of Health has replied to this blog defending their position on Freedom of Information and cutting statistics – see comments.

While battle rages over the government’s  controversial reforms of the NHS, the Department of Health has sneaked out two toxic  changes that could  seriously damage your health by promoting ignorance and restricting your rights as a citizen.

The two changes appear to be unconnected  but are extremely helpful to new private providers of  NHS medical services. One will limit information the private firms  have to provide under the Freedom of Information Act to patients and relatives, the other will help them by abolishing the collection of health statistics on the services they provide and  the quality of  staff they employ.

The first has been revealed by the authoritative Campaign for Freedom of Information who are rightly demanding that Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, amends the law so patients can be protected. See their letter at   http://bit.ly/q35AsQ .                   .

This is incredibly serious as this example  by their director Maurice Frankel  shows here.

“Suppose there is concern about the use of potentially contaminated medical supplies by hospitals. For an NHS hospital, the FOI Act could be used to obtain details of stocks of the product, the number of doses administered, the numbers of affected patients, the quality control measures in place, correspondence with suppliers, minutes of meetings at which the problem was discussed and information showing what measures were considered, what action was taken, how promptly and with what results.
This level of information would clearly not be available in relation to independent providers treating NHS patients. This would represent a major loss of existing information rights.”

The second comes from a very convoluted consultation exercise launched the day after the August bank holiday and trumpeted by Anne Milton, the public health minister, as a drive against ” red tape”.

This proposes to slash the collection of statistics by the Department of Health by 25 per cent in a rather uneven and unclear way. But it is clear that the aim is to ” minimise the burden” on the NHS and in particular the new private providers.

Half the statistics collected on the NHS workforce – which are used to improve staff training and forecast the need for skilled staff – are to be dropped. The consultation document says: “This will be of significance for non-NHS providers of NHS services as it will determine the minimum workforce information they would be required to provide.”

And also being reduced are the statistics on the very sensitive political area of waiting times, targets for treatments and capacity of hospitals. The paper says: “the content and frequency.. should remain under review so that the right information is provided by the NHS at a sensible frequency and in so doing the burden to the NHS is minimised.”

Collection of  statistics giving the national picture on mental health are being abolished and the collection of statistics on patient safety look like being hived off to a private firm.

The one area that is being improved is cancer statistic collection which seems to be tied to a pledge by David Cameron.

What is particularly disturbing is that despite the document running to 55 pages at no point is a definitive list published of what is being scrapped. See document if you can bear to here:http://bit.ly/npcHmC .

Frankly Andrew Lansley should not be allowed to get away with either of these moves. The Department needs to change its position on the former and come clean on the latter. I suggest that you make your views known to Mr Lansley at his private office at the Department of Health the email address is  mb-sofs@dh.gsi.gov.uk. If  Zetter’s Parliamentary Companion is right his direct e-mail at andrew.lansley@dh.gsi.gov.uk.

Judge aids rescue package for ” bust ” privatised London fire firm

Posted on by

Mr Justic Floyd-Helpful to AssetCo Pic courtesy:thisislondon.com

A High Court judge came to the potential rescue of AssetCo, the near insolvent owner of London and Lincolnshire’s fire engines, by granting the company  another month to negotiate an extraordinary deal with its  creditors to wipe out debts of over £100m.

Mr Justice Floyd, sitting  at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, granted applications to adjourn  moves until September 28  to wind up the firm in favour of allowing  the company to open negotiations with its creditors on a deal that will recover some of their lost investments.

Mr Lloyd Tamlyn, for AssetCo, explained that if the company went bust now, the banks and other investors would be lucky to get 0.5 per cent of their money back. But if they agreed to negotiate with the company on a deal they could walk away with 23.5 per cent. In return they would have drop any further demands for cash, wiping out the £100m plus owed by the firm.

 In effect investors in AssetCo look set to lose some £77m. Since the judge was aware that this case was being reported, AssetCo were careful not to ( as at other hearings) list who is owed what.

But from the previous hearing ( where the registrar was not aware he was being reported) the creditors named included  state-owned Halifax Bank of Scotland which is owed £12m and energy company, EDF, which suggests AssetCo may not have paid fuel bills for premises they run in London. Others include FD Direct, the Inland Revenue. They will still be big losers.

The difference the deal would make is shown by Northern Bank who are owed £1.3m and have been very active in opposing moves by AssetCo to give preferential pay outs to its lawyers and accountants.

Adam Goodison, for Northern Bank,  who had pressed for the company to be wound up, explained to the court why the firm is now ” content”  for the deal to go ahead. This followed negotiations that changed the creditor status of Northern Bank, so it could benefit from the proposed pay out.

If AssetCo went bust the bank would be lucky to get £10,000 back from the £1.3m they put into the company. Under the revised deal the bank would get back nearer £300,000. The same would apply to other creditors.

 The question – dealt in passing during the hearing – is where has AssetCo got the cash to even finance this deal? It appears to have come from money raised from international financiers who have given another £10m cash to the company on top of money raised earlier this year which severely diluted its share price to near junk status.

At the last court hearing the financiers were named as North Atlantic Value LLP, a part of the J O Hambro Capital Management Group, Utilico Investments Limited and Henderson, which incorporates the interests of Gartmore Investments Limited.

A hint came from Northern Bank’s lawyer after the hearing when he told me that the deal could be “good news” because it could rescue the company and remove most of its debts. He thought investors were ” taking a punt” on the firm’s future.

The majority of the investors will still have to agree before the deal can go ahead and it will need final approval of the court on September 28 – but the judge’s move means that it could get Brian Coleman, Tory chair of the London Fire Brigade, off the hook from seeing London’s fire engines owned by administrators.

 Once the debt is cleared it then makes the company more attractive to a take over. Nothing more was said in court about a bidder – known to be Arcapita Bank in Bahrain – which suggests they have gone cold on the idea.

The situation is far from satisfactory and does not rule out a slow death of the company,reflected in its low  2.2p share price, valuing it at £5.52m today.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Privatising emergency services is stupid and dangerous. The long, slow death of AssetCo is a perfect illustration of this.  We still do not know what is going to happen to London and Lincolnshire’s fire engines.  They are, we believe, going to be the property of AssetCo’s creditors when AssetCo finally goes under.  I call on the London Fire Brigade and the government to bring the fleet and their maintenance back into public ownership.”

This blog was trying to contact Tudor Davies, head of AssetCo, for a comment.

Update: Near bust AssetCo to try and stave off insolvency again

Posted on by

AssetCo, the troubled owner of London and Lincolnshire’s fire engines and military contracts in the Middle East, will make a desperate attempt to stave off bankruptcy at a hearing at the High Court tomorrow (thursday).

The near bust firm will be up before Mr Justice Peter Smith in Court 61 in the Chancery Division of the High Court in the Strand pressing for yet another adjournment as it fails to clinch a take over deal with Arcapita, the Bahrain based company. The court hearing begins at 10.30 am ,though AssetCo is at the bottom of the list, and the case may not be heard until later in the day.

In another desperate move the firm will produce at the court draft  documents to be presented to its many creditors in the hope they may stave off the evil day when it will have to cease trading. Details of the documents have not been published but a majority of creditors will have to agree before the company can be saved. The last time the company appeared before the court it said it could go bust owing £140m to banks,electricity companies and suppliers.

Will the judge still be sympathetic to this ill-fated example of privatisation? We will have to wait events.

Smart riots need smart solutions

Posted on by

Rioter in London: Pic courtesy: Daily Mail

Are we going to fall into a simplistic trap over the riots that gripped London and England this week? So far much debate on the causes, much discussion on bringing the people who did this to book, and a sort of numbness over the horrific and frightening scale of it. But what is the long-term solution and how should we deal with the smart phone savvy generation that perpetuated it?

Up to now the debate has concentrated on making sure the people are punished – from ludicrous calls from one Tory MEP to shoot the rioters on the spot to making sure we fill our overfull prisons and detention centres with every single person who was on the streets. As David Cameron said today: “We will track you down, we will find you, we will charge you, we will punish you. You will pay for what you have done. ”

What of the cost to us the taxpayer of all this. Higher insurance premiums (a £200m pay out is on the way) or taxes running to hundreds of millions to pay for the damage to buildings is now to be followed by a huge bill  for legal costs, extra policing, and jailing the offenders. Remember the cost of  jailing each offender will be more expensive than the daily bill for educating David Cameron and Boris Johnson at Eton. And given the depressing picture of conditions at Wandsworth prison published this week by the Chief Inspector of Prisons,(see http://bit.ly/oEcESH ) much good may it do us.

It is likely that when the rioters emerge from these detention centres and prisons they be more savvy in avoiding detection, have lucrative drug dealing contracts, and learnt from hardened crims new ways to commit burglaries.

Looters in action in London. Pic courtesy ibtimes.com

So what is to be done? I have one suggestion – when people are convicted of damaging a police vehicle, fire engine, a shop and a home, or stealing goods they  should be presented with the bill and ordered to make a contribution to compensate the victim or the service.

Instead of going to prison they will bound over  by the courts to pay back money to victim or store – and  this will be enforced by either direct deductions from their wages or benefits or even from their credit cards if they have any, over a five, and in bad cases, a ten-year period. This would not apply if they had killed or seriously injured anyone where they would go to jail.

In case anyone thinks this is a ” bleeding heart ” soft option I would propose  very tough enforcement to back this up. If they fail to do this they will face – like a suspended sentence – going to jail for the full period of their repayment term, which would be much longer than a normal jail sentence for burglary or criminal damage. This would act as a strong deterrent but fewer people might want to risk going to jail.

Second there is a need to reconnect the alienated rioter with mainstream society. I suggest this is done by making him or her meet the victim, whether a small shopkeeper, the local fire or police station, or the local manager of  the wrecked Tesco’s, Carphone Warehouse or Barclays Bank. Then they might see this is not a victimless crime and that the people who work and live there are human beings with human feelings and their lives are blighted by such actions. The rioters may also want to see where the money is going and could mitigate the bill if they returned some of the stolen goods.

There needs to be a conversation between the community and the rioters not  separate anger among communities and young people themselves about what has happened.

How this can be organised  at a  time of huge spending cuts I do not know particularly when even some of the magistrates courts handling the emergency – such as Westminster – are about to be closed down, but organised it must be.

 Political leaders at Westminster and in town halls across England need to take the lead. Organisations like Victim Support and the probation service, must be able to play a role. There should be a simple way to set up an organisation that could pull this together. Any ideas?

.