David Lammy MP Cynical Ploy to become Mayor of London

David Lammy - the Labour MP for Tottenham gave a TV interview on boxing day warning that the ingredients of what caused the 2011 riots were still prevalent and that disturbances would again happen if these were not resolved by the present government.


David Lammy Tottenham Labour MP

 The Labour MP went on to say that disillusionment amongst white working class people, blacks and asians which the present coalition administration have not address will be the catalyst for the significant disturbances in the future.

I could not diametrically disagree more with the Labour former minister. The riots in 2011 were instigated by criminal gangs who saw it as an opportunity to loot, rob, burn and kill without fear of being caught by the police. It had nothing to do with young men having no hope or not having a stake in society and more to do with a sub-culture where greed, avarice, instant gratification and obtaining what you want at any cost is the norm. These so called disaffected people are not interested in getting jobs, if they were they would be able to obtain one if they put their minds to it. Remember we have had several million people mostly from Eastern Europe come to the UK over the last 10 years doing low paid jobs because employers could not find British people to fill the vacant posts. This story is the same up and down the country.

The reality is that this a cynical ploy from Lammy to be Labour's candidate for mayor of London. He believes if he can predict another major disturbance hopefully next summer, he will be able to come along on his white charger and be the saviour of post-riot London and telling anyone who would listen he foretold this and he has the answers. Riots may well happen again but the causes will not be the ones outlined by Lammy. The reasons will be gang related as the result of the breakdown of the black family which has given rise to the problem of drugs, crime and violence in the black community. It was this that led to the 2011 riots and I am afraid it will do so again. 

David Lammy and others prominent in the black community are aware of this cancer eating away in their communities but are in complete denial or worse they don't care. The MP for Tottenham must know that people were murdered in the disturbances in 2011. Why would he want blood on his hands for the sake of becoming leader of the most powerful and influential city in the world. Maybe I have just answered my own question.

Biggest Problem Facing Black People - Is Black People

Is name was Dwayne Douglas. He was only 15. According to his grieving mother he was good at school and aiming to go to university. He wanted to become a teacher. However, like many black teenagers before him he was stabbed to death by a group of other black boys. As the saying inevitable goes he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This sadly follows a number of other stabbings of teenagers that have occurred in my own area of south London, which have become so frequent over the years that it hardly makes the local press let alone the national newspapers. You don’t have to be a contestant on Mastermind to know that the one incontrovertible factor that these violent incidents have in common is, as in the case of Dwayne, that the perpetuators and the victims are black. For me it is become clear that the cause of this escalating knife problem in London is due to the devastating social consequences of illegitimacy within the Afro-Caribbean community. The last official census figures revealed that lone parents form the majority of Afro-Caribbean families. The family structure is increasingly disappearing – where drugs, crime, murder and social anarchy are evaporating once stable black communities. Black commentators would argue that problems facing the black community can be laid at the door of Institutionalised racism as outlined in the Macpherson’s Inquiry into the Death of Stephen Lawrence. There is no doubt that there is a good deal of residual discrimination in society and in the police, but not enough to explain the over representation of black people in prisons, crime figures, and school exclusions. Racism in itself is not the sole explanation. The absence of fathers as role models for young black males is critically important in the genesis of delinquency. We know that some single mothers succeed better than some couples at raising well-adjusted children but the downward spiral of deprivation among lone-parent families is far more pronounced than among comparably poor two-parent ones. The stronger the family unit, the better the economic and social progress, as witness with British Chinese and Asian families. Today, Black people found themselves at the precipice, as a result of the unwillingness among its ranks to tackle this single most important issue facing the community – it is more critical than crime, drugs, poverty, welfare or homelessness because the disintegration of the Afro-Caribbean family structure lies behind and drives them all. The Black community desperately need a debate on this issue if we are to avoid repeated scenes of inconsolable parents like the mother of Dwayne Douglas appearing on our TV screens mourning their loss of their children in such a violent and appalling manner.

Hey Fatty Boom Boom

Well it’s official. My 11 days in an all-inclusive paradise has resulted in me being the combined weight of Barry White and Demis Roussos. These guys may have been morbidly obese but at least they could hold a note. The only thing I can hold is several large chicken kebabs simultaneously. I swore an oath to myself that I would not become a stereotypical Englishman abroad at an all-inclusive establishment and eat my bodyweight every half an hour. So much for broken promises, I am eating like a condemned man who has been given the dubious request of having anything he wants for his last meal before being strapped to the Electric Chair and cooked himself. You see these US prison documentaries where the killer – who has normally murdered his whole family and some – always seem to have the same dietary requirements. It’s a variation on burgers, fries, fried chicken, steak, washed down with coke (personally, I would politely ask for a triple rum with the coke considering the circumstances) and an ice-cream dessert. For me the only thing that’s condemned is my waistline. I soon won’t be able to fit into any chair electric or otherwise if I don’t rein in my elephantine appetite. Roll on Friday when I return. It’s Slimfast, Ryvita biscuits and stomach crunches for the rest of the year.

BAYRAM

Last Tuesday was the first day of the Bayram Festival across Turkey, which lasts for nine days. My understanding from the locals is that in this period you sacrifice a lamb and other animals as a gift to the poor and disadvantaged. It’s a form of charity giving. I could not help reflecting on this national celebration whilst watching the England versus Poland match. Roy Hodgson would have been the “sacrificial lamb” for the British press if England did not win and qualify automatically for the 2014 World Cup. Finally, England played to their potential and really did not look in any trouble throughout the match. I thought Hodgson was brave and innovative in his team selections especially the picking of Andros Townsend. I suppose the manager is right to play down English prospects at next year’s tournament. But not me! The side have as much chance of winning the competition as any other European team. You first heard it here folks – England will win the World Cup (most probably beating Brazil 2-1 in the final). I am so confident that I am going to put a monkey on (£500) an England victory. Unlike those poor lambs giving their last rites during the Bayram Festival – my monkey will still be in very rude health with a World Cup winners medal draped around its neck come Sunday 13 July in the iconic and newly built Maracana stadium.