David Starkey - Newsnight - 'Ratner moment'?

How sad.  It's not just that I disagree with David Starkey, it's that he has exposed himself to ridicule - which began whilst he was on air.  He was wrong.  So uncomfortable was I, I turned it off.

If we treat criminal behaviour as if it is a feature of a particular racial group, we ignore the progress that we have made in terms of treating people as individuals - a failure of which tends to be the result of what I believe to be an overly restrictive view of 'others' and 'difference'.

What is clear is that the recent riots in London (and elsewhere) were different - they did not appear to come from political needs; rather they appeared to come from criminal conduct and fed upon a sense of invincibility that comes from what has been described as the 'madness of crowds'.  It was the senseless violence, the looting of goods that no one 'needs' (even if we aspire to have them or something like them), and the anarchic highs that depresses me most.  The reason is that I don't think that there is any simple answer - and equating this to irresponsible bankers or MPs seeking to claim more in expenses than they are entitled to (leaving to one side the criminal conduct of some MPs for a moment) is simply daft. 

That there are criminal elements in our society is not a revelation.  We only have to read our papers and news feeds to know this occurs here and elsewhere.  The failure of the Police to respond adequately and soon enough resulted in large numbers of people appearing to act out of base instinct.  Moral direction, distinguishing between right and wrong and a sense of belonging to a community all but disappeared for those that took part.  Some instantly regretted their actions - and they should be commended for that - but it is clear that we all have some thinking to do.