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I think that is jumping to a conclusion - is there any evidence this was caused (in whole or part) by austerity?
The police response was good (5mins armed team arrival is not shit) and the release was a result of sentencing law. There obviously are issues in policing and the criminal justice system arising from austerity - just not clear this is as a result of them?
Interested to hear what the contrary argument is.
andyfallsoff-
I think that is jumping to a conclusion - is there any evidence this was caused (in whole or part) by austerity?
I'd like to know what happened in the 8 years Usman Khan was in jail. The UK prison system tends to warehouse people and do very little to have a reasonable expectation their behaviour will be different at the end. Reoffending rates remain far too high and I don't recall politicians treating it as a high priority. There is a fair bit of evidence that conditions in prisons have deteriorated in the last decade or so which I think is likely to lead to disaffected and angry people still being that way when released (at whatever point of their sentence).
I'm a hand wringing lefty liberal that thinks that when you have an angry 18 year old with mostly fanatical plots with his mates banging him up for a decade is just going to piss him off some more. Seems to have happened here. We probably needed to be doing more to integrate him into society when he was 13.
I believe it's things like decent prospects and family ties that prevent attacks, not police or the threat of punishments. The relative success in Scotland in tackling knife crime has a lot to teach the rest of the UK IMHO.
Hmmm, I think I'm rambling. I don't have the answers but I don't think 'bang them up for longer' is going to help.
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Well, the CPS and probation service have been on their knees for years and reoffending rates are reflecting this. The intelligence services and police are also badly squeezed. All of the above have been warning that they are at breaking point. I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that there might be a link.
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jellybaby
Stonehedge
It's not a political point. As you have noted, two people have died in what looks to be a hugely preventable attack likely caused by the effects of austerity.
Also, fuck off with your righteous indignation.