and remember, crime is YOUR fault

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There's been a spate of burglaries along my street recently. Fortunately Lambeth Council and the Metropolitan Police are on the case and have struck back hard. They've paid someone to put up a series of laminate posters telling householders that the burglaries are their fault because, apparently, we leave our doors and windows wide open. Which is quite rich given that most of us have more or less nailed or welded them permanently closed some time ago.

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I'm only posting these pictures up because it's so typical of life in New Britain. Our government tells us that crime is falling and that hospitals and schools are wonderful yet everything seems to be worse rather than better. All we receive in exchange for higher taxes is a regime of signs and fines (directed at regular citizens rather than criminals). We have more CCTV cameras per head of population than anywhere else on Earth and record numbers of police. Yet, somehow, burglars can happily work a street, house by house day by day, with little fear of being caught and little prospect of any jail time even if they are. It's just a matter of time, and not much time, before someone does my place.

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What's galling is that the problem could be solved with a few days surveillance but our police are too busy hanging around in groups of thirty protecting buildings from bullsh*t terror threats to waste their time on anything so mundane as catching criminals. Bizarrely, the War in Iraq and douche bags breaking into flats in Lambeth ARE directly connected in this, our wonderful Culture of Fear.
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It's hard to explain just how angry and impotent I feel with our present government; incompetent at home, stained with blood overseas. And there's biff all I can do about it. I know I'm supposed to be living in a democracy but it doesn't feel like it. The problem is, of course, the matter of choice. Who do you vote for when all the candidates are w*nkers?

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PS Here's an email from my chum Ian in response to me sending him these pictures

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... not only is it your fault, even though you haven't done anything wrong (yet, in their eyes), it's your fault in advance, regardless of whether anything will happen or not. You should turn yourself in now.
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Last night in the pictures, I was accused, by the screen, of possibly wanting to drive too fast and knock motorcyclists down, not paying my tv licence and deserving a fine, and wanting to record Meet the Fockers on portable video equipment and deserving to go to jail.
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In addition I am guilty already in advance for not filling my tax return out in time (unless I actually do fill it in) and not paying my congestion charge in time and needing a terse reminder, even though I do not have a car.
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Reading adverts is shit enough all the time but I am reminded now that I am (probably) a criminal unless I keep track of all this shit. Was it like this 10 years ago ?

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The short answer is, no it wasn't like this ten years ago ..

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