LONDON has a new landmark – a purple line that runs along Oxford Street telling tourists and locals alike to: Mind the Grab.
They are in the nation’s phone-snatching hotspot.
A scheme warning Londoners about phone theft is a sad indictment of the city’s lawlessnessPA
And with a smartphone stolen every eight minutes in London, getting your device nicked by some two-wheeled scumbag is a very real possibility.
“Enough is enough,” says Ed Connolly, of electrical retailer Currys, who are behind the scheme.
“It’s time to draw the line on phone theft.
“That’s why we’ve launched the Mind the Grab campaign — a bold pavement marking we believe can make a real difference by encouraging people to step back from the kerb.”
Good for Currys. But what a tragedy it is not our invisible police, the useless London Mayor or our spineless politicians who had the wit and will to say enough is enough.
And what a crying shame it is the innocent, law-abiding and decent who must adapt their behaviour as thieving little bastards are allowed to run amok.
But this is the country we now live in.
There are voices on the Left who insist statistics prove crime’s going down.
But that is not the way it feels when you see the thin purple line on Oxford Street. And that is certainly not what the rest of the world believes.
Degrade quality of life
My family was in Lapland earlier this year when a fellow traveller was shocked to learn that we live in London.
“Do you feel safe there?” she gasped. And she was from . . . Iran.
But this view of the UK as a lawless land is growing.
The Australian government warns its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” when visiting the UK, because “petty crime is common, including pickpocketing and thieves who use scooters and bicycles to snatch belongings”.
It is not just Australia. New Zealand, France, Canada, the UAE and even Mexico — home of the drug cartels! — all warn their citizens to beware.
Sadiq Khan has been unable to say ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to London’s crimewavePA
The heartbroken family of student Mohammed Algasim, 20, stabbed to death in an “unprovoked” attack in Cambridge, say the UK is “no longer safe” for visitors.
Mr Algasim’s family are from Saudi Arabia. And who would dare to contradict them?
The Broken Windows Theory of crime states that visible signs of criminality — broken windows, graffiti, the stink of weed — create an urban environment that encourages further crime. And that is exactly where we are today.
Last year around 80,000 people had their phones stolen in London.
Yes, phone theft is horrible. But then so is burglary, shoplifting, mugging and knife crime. They all degrade and coarsen our quality of life.
The decline of the social contract means we are becoming a nation fit for thieving, violent little scumbags
They all make us feel our loved ones are not safe on the streets where we live.
Exactly 14 years on from the riots of the summer of 2011, you will hear many smug voices telling you Nigel Farage is wrong to speak of lawless Britain.
I guess these people don’t get out of the house much. Because as they close all of the police stations, the coppers withdraw from sight and the UK becomes the global centre of street crime, the UK sure as hell doesn’t feel safer than it has ever been.
Significantly, the Australian government gives the UK a Level 2 rating, reflecting “a weak law and order system, where violent crime is common”, and a country that “may lack some key public services, such as a responsive police force”.
Yes, that’s us! The police will not save you. The courts will do bugger all.
We are on our own now. Because there has clearly been a fraying of the social contract in this country.
Meaning — the way we behave.
Meaning — how we treat each other.
Meaning — our sense of our rights and our duties.
Meaning — the immutable standards, values and beliefs we all share.
Meaning — communal sense of decency.
Now, hurting someone you don’t know is socially acceptable. There is nothing pathetic, nasty and cruel about taking something that doesn’t belong to you.
Shoplifting, phone theft, mugging, assault — it is no big deal.
And it ends with a student, a beloved son who was thrilled to be in the UK for ten weeks, bleeding to death.
The decline of the social contract means we are becoming a nation fit for thieving, violent little scumbags.
And I fear it will take more than a thin purple line to stop them.
Arrest E-bike idiots
THE backlash against e-bikes has begun.
One London council, Hounslow, has terminated its contract with Lime after two years following complaints about “antisocial parking” on pavements.
Writing in The Times, Agustin Guilisasti, co-founder and CEO of e-bike company Forest, calls for greater clarification about the rules and regulations around his booming industry.
These would be good rules.
Every e-bike that is abandoned on a pavement should be removed and destroyed.
And the law should treat e-bike users like motorists.
When they race through red lights, gawping gormlessly at their phone at 30 mph – nick the morons.
Business is booming for the e-bike companies.
But they are aware that many of us heartily despise them.
Hounslow council has decided to end its contract with Lime and hand the reins to rivals Forest and Voi to “maintain clear pavements and discourage poor parking”.
Good luck with that.
As far as I can tell from my neck of the woods, they – and the people who use them – are all as thoughtless as each other.
E-bikes are not saving our towns, cities or planet. They are wrecking them.
Name shame
It is no longer fashionable to name your baby after a member of the Rolling Stones
BACK in the Sixties they asked, would you let your daughter go with a Rolling Stone?
Now the question is, would you name your baby after a Rolling Stone?
Probably not. Keith is no longer in the top 100 names. Neither is Mick.
All those “dad” names – Steve is another one, and Ian and Nigel – are on the way out.
As is Tony. Nobody would call their baby Tony these days.
One of us launches an unnecessary and unprovoked war against Iraq on fabricated evidence and suddenly our name is mud.
Still a trump card
Yvette Cooper and Labour look out of answers on migration after the Rwanda scheme was scrappedAlamy
I HAD my doubts about the Tory scheme to send illegal migrants to Rwanda.
Too legally complicated, I thought. And too prohibitively expensive.
The £700million scheme was promptly ditched when Labour won the election.
But how galling that Rwanda is now taking 250 migrants from the US under Donald Trump’s removal system.
And their pleasant accommodation in Rwanda will be paid for by the British taxpayer.
Perhaps Rwanda will work as a deterrent after all.
And it will certainly be a much greater deterrent to illegal migration than Labour’s “one-in, one-out” deal with France, meaningless sound bites about “smashing the gangs”.
And Home Secretary Yvette Cooper looking very, very cross.
Ozzy Osbourne’s death certificate boasted a job title anybody would be proud ofGetty
OZZY OSBOURNE’S death certificate describes the Black Sabbath supremo as a “songwriter, performer and rock legend”.
That sounds like a good job.
What’s the money like?
Home front
Rushanara Ali has resigned as minister for homelessness after evicting her tenantsPA
LABOUR’S minister for homelessness, Rushanara Ali, has resigned after turfing four tenants out of her London rental property – and then re-listing the same gaff for £700 a month more!
Hypocritical? Undoubtedly.
But you must admire Ali’s flair for economic growth.
Perhaps she should be Chancellor.
Top Marks for putting Aimee in Christmas ads
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood is a great choice for Marks & Spencer’s new advertGetty
WITH only 137 days to Christmas, thoughts turn inevitably to the big Yuletide commercials.
Marks & Spencer has signed Aimee Lou Wood to front its Christmas campaign – a definite upgrade of last year’s effort (Dawn French as an unfunny fairy).
Aimee was the best thing in the third series of The White Lotus.
The Stockport-born actress, 31, is glamorous yet approachable, charismatic yet relatable. She seems nice. Very British.
The perfect fit to front a Christmas campaign for an institution like M&S.
Aimee definitely has a girl-next-door quality.
If you happen to live next door to one of the hottest names in Hollywood.
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