Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime

I was reading yesterday how the Prime Minister wants to establish a UK culture of respect - I'm sure George Galloway will be chuffed! I also recently learned that the 'tough on crime...' ‘soundbite’ was one of Tony Blair’s first. Both are noble sentiments, but as we know stylish soundbites without substance or commitment count for little. Those who marry both are influencial people indeed.

‘We have allowed the poor to become invisible and we become angry when they make their presence felt. But just as nonviolence has exposed the ugliness of racial injustice, we must now find ways to expose and heal the sickness of poverty – not just its symptoms but its basic causes.’ (Carson (ed), 1999:262) Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr

Forty years on from Luther King’s insightful comments poverty shows little sign of relenting. As we strive to make poverty history we should take heed of Tony and get ‘tough on poverty, tough on the causes of poverty’.