Not worried about Woolwich?

I am not rattled, concerned or particularly outraged by the grisly proceedings in Woolwich yesterday, though my deep and sincere condolences go to the family and friends of the victim.

The latest statistics available show that murders in England and Wales, in terms of raw figures, run at about 550. That is just less then ten for every million of the population. The figure is slightly higher in Scotland but in but cases, the trend shows a decline in homicides. Predictably the victims, especially if they are women or young people, tend to have known their assailant. Most of these murders affect many people around the victims but most of these murders go largely unremarked in the national press. Indeed, you would probably not be aware of a double murder, some weeks ago, in the street where I grew up. (See Below)

It is true to say that violent crime as a whole has a disproportionately high number of black people as perpetrators.

In the case of the Woolwich incident it is clear that the two self-confessed murderers were of Afro Caribbean origin and apparently converts to Islam. They appeared, in the street, covered in blood, brandishing weapons and claiming that they were part of some kind of worldwide grudge against the wicked West.

I am just not convinced that Islam is to blame. For sure, the problem with Islam in this country is that their leaders refuse to be unequivocal about such outrages as suicide bombings and the so called "community" itself reveals very mixed messages about their position.

I shall never forget a playground bully who asked me if I had any sweets and then demanded that I hand them over. Well, I had no sweets, but the playground bully decided to beat me up anyway.

The point I am trying to make is that violence and the kind of psychopaths who perpetrate violence, don't really need a reason to murder or injure others. They do it because they lack basic human emotion or because they are unable to empathise and because they are consumed with hatred.

I am always fascinated to read of the continuance of violence and disorder in Northern Ireland. It seems that there are "dissident Republican" elements who continue to plot and carry out murder and mayhem. This is absurd. Their erstwhile leaders are now in Government, their beloved Eire has ceded most of its power to the EU and there is a steady course towards correcting the inequalities which caused the trouble in the first place.

What these dissident Republicans have in common with the animals who carried out this latest atrocity is not some ideology, not some heroic act for the betterment of society and not a genuine plea to be heard. Neither is it about sudden and violent death, because to the some 2,200 victims of Road Traffic Accidents last year on Britain's roads, I dare say their families are every bit as bereft and bereaved as this young soldier in Woolwhich.

What this is all about is hatred and  pure, unadulterated evil and it deserves the severest form of punishment.