SPECT HE AT T O R
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LABOUR'S 'DISPOSSESSED'
Street riots are as British as roast beef, and we have not seen the last of them. Almost any demonstration or public gathering is now liable to end in violence, the modern British propensity to which must be sought in both immediate and remote causes.
Among the more immediate explana- tions for the latest riot in London are the fact that rioting can be fun, especially for bored and frustrated people, and the pre- sence of agents provocateurs from extrem- ist political groups who, undeterred by the collapse of totalitarianism in eastern Europe, would like to see some form of it instituted in this country. Their tactic is to stimulate such scenes of violence as will lead many people to question the viability of our capitalist liberal democracy; their strategy is to provoke the Government into drastic overreaction.
Still, you can lead a man to a petrol bomb, but you can't make him throw it. That is why a narrow focus on agents provocateurs, police behaviour or other immediate precipitating factors will ensure that the main lesson of the latest riot in the West End of London is lost.
It cannot have escaped notice that the rioters displayed particular animus towards any symbols of wealth, such as expensive cars or car showrooms. Before destroying such symbols they did not enquire, of course, whether the wealth was earned or inherited, whether it was the wages of sin, genius, hard work or good luck; theirs was merely a visceral hatred of anyone who had more than they.
The attempts by some Conservatives to blame the Labour MPs who spoke in favour of breaking the law at the poll tax demonstration for the subsequent violence entirely misses the much deeper responsi- bility of the Labour Party not only for these terrible scenes, but for the profound human wretchedness that underlay them. For the philosophy of the Labour Party has long been one of entitlement: not merely to opportunity, but to actual goods, inde- pendent of efforts to earn them. Thus, the non-possession of a videocassette recorder or a satellite dish can come to be regarded as a legitimate cause for complaint, even as an infringement of basic human rights. The press has inadvertently supported the Labour Party philosophy by calling the rioters 'dispossessed'. Of what exactly are they dispossessed, to which they are enti- tled?
No doubt it will be argued that they have been 'dispossessed' by the educational system, which has failed completely to give them the skills necessary for success in modern life. There is some truth in this; but the educational achievement of 'dis- possessed' immigrants from the Indian subcontinent proves that it is possible to overcome disadvantage, provided the will and family support is there. If Hong Kong Chinese should arrive penniless on our shores, how long will they remain 'dispos- sessed'? Thus the problem is a deep-seated cultural one. Despite Mrs Thatcher's attempt to persuade the British that men are sometimes masters of their fate, that reward is the consequence of effort and risk, and that were it otherwise life would have no meaning, a large percentage of them yearn for the mediocre security that the Labour Party seems to offer, but which, for a country that must compete with others, will in the long run prove both less than mediocre and less than secure.
By constantly raising expectations that cannot possibly be met, by deriding the idea that it is individual effort alone that can promote general prosperity, by per- suading people there can be victories in life without risk of defeat, the Labour Party promotes the very dissatisfaction and re- sentment of which the recent riots were so terrible a manifestation.
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