Friday 12 August 2011

Lincolnshire Did Not Riot, Why is That?


I was on Radio Lincolnshire 8.30 this morning (Monday 15th August), it was a  round table about the respect agenda in relation to the riots. Rod Whiting led a discussion with Robert Dring (a retired Boston Head Teacher) and I. For a while you can find the broadcast here.  I thought it would be interesting to talk about why the riots happened and also why they did not happen here in Lincolnshire.
images of the community
  •      They did not riot, not in Lincoln, Boston, Stamford, or Grantham.
  •         They were calm in Sleaford, Alford, Mablethorpe and Bourne.
  •         There was not a hard word in Market Deeping, Horncastle or Spalding.
  •         Cows passively munched serene in Skegness, Spilseby and Wainfleet. 

None of our communities rioted

This is the Rod Whiting show, one of the most popular of the chat shows on local radio with its mix of serendipity and serious talk.
Tony McCardle Chief Executive Lincs County Council
supporting the opening of the Catch-22 Youth Advice Centre.

We discussed the need to ensure funding for LEAP, Catch-22, Framework & Nomad continued at their present levels supporting vulnerable young people. We also discussed the absence of a moral compass in our society and Robert particularly discussed what the man from Galilee would be asking of us, we should love our neighbour and I agreed with him.

    Rod now and again will ask a County person with a story to tell on to the show and we did that last year to chat about the range of things that have kept me off (and on) the streets over the last thirty years or so in this fair County.

    I noticed the take with Question time on Thursday night was to try to allow the public to bring out all of the real life issues and not just the politics. It happened again tonight with Young Voters Question Time. This is the BBC at its best, helping us to explore the issues, giving the people their voice.
    There was a point while I was listening when someone described a burning building and the fear of being attacked. I was swept right back nearly 40 years to the streets of Belfast where as a young serviceman I recalled a similar scene.
    David Dimbleby is another of my favourites and like Rod he will keep people on topic but also allows the human equation to emerge.
    He chaired the Question Time when the leader of the BNP was on the panel and although I had felt originally that he should not appear by the end I was very pleased that the public were exposed to his position and could make their own judgement. David enabled that.
    I have been a regular audience member and question “asker” for many years and once dined with David and the panel when the Labour panel member had to leave early.
    So I hope people can listen to what will be a very interesting take on the situation via http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_lincolnshire and hear our various views in Lincolnshire.

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