Talk about using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut! Wandsworth Council have announced that they have served an eviction notice to the family of one London looter, becoming the first Council in the country to do so.
Council Leader Ravi Govindia said, "in Wandsworth we are determined to take the strongest possible action against any tenant or member of their household responsible for the truly shocking behaviour perpetrated on local home and businesses earlier this week. This council will do its utmost to ensure that those who are responsible pay a proper price for their conduct. Ultimately this could lead to eviction from their homes."
I suspect this is really about political points scoring. A Tory borough taking tough decisive action against 'broken Britain' and garnering lots of press coverage in the process.
Now I am all for punishment of those that have done wrong and I do believe that parents have to take some responsibility for their children's actions but evicting the whole family, surely that is a step to far?
Some parents have been shocked and outraged by their childrens actions. Some parents have even shopped their own children to the police, disgusted as they were by what they had done.
How does Wandsworth intend to distinguish between these parents and those who might not give a damn. Not all families can be tarred with the same brush.
The families of other criminals don't get threatened with eviction - murderers, rapists and the like so why should it be the case here?
I wouldn't be surprised if the actions of Wandsworth Council actually provokes more trouble, but I am sure the core voters will love it.
I would be interested to know the proportion of looters that don't live in Council owned homes, I am sure we would be surprised. So what happens to the property owning families of looters - will there be a similarly headlining grabbing action taken against them? I don't think so.
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