On September 10th, the Home Office attempted something unprecedented. It set out to measure the extent of anti-social behaviour in Britain. Over a 24-hour period, police, local authorities and other agencies were instructed to count the number of incidents falling under 13 broad headings ranging from intimidation to noise. Iraq, the health service, schools, taxes―these may be the big political issues, the ones that are expected to determine the future of the government and Tony Blair. But they are not what are filling the mailbags and the surgeries of most Labour MPS. In the past it would have been complaints about social security, housing or employment. The issues may have been complicated, but with experience and diligence, MPS could usually come up with fairly satisfactory answers to the problems of their constituents. Today, they are deluged by problems they have no answer to. What dominate now are accounts of incivility, disorder and nuisance―that menacing mix of small crimes and misdemeanours known as anti-social behaviour.
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