Liberties!

Published: 5 August, 2010

• IS the editor of the New Journal having us on by lauding the intention of the Home Secretary to abolish Asbos (Comment, July 29)?

By introducing the Asbo scheme, conditions in the Kentish Town and Gospel Oak areas were improved.

For a while, the only civil liberties affected were those of the offenders.

Provided the conditions of the imposed orders were observed, their behaviour improved.

Only by breaching the Asbos were criminal courts empowered to step in.

Orders were imposed alike on both adult and youth offenders.

What would the editor put in their stead which would be a deterrent?

The vast majority of citizens are respectful of the law and of their neighbours.

As with CCTV no one has anything to fear unless they are criminals.

By liberating access to alcohol at all hours, the previous administration opened a Pandora’s Box.

This needs correcting and pubs should close at midnight.

To fund police foot patrols late into the night an additional tax on booze could provide the required funding.

Defend civil liberties by any means but beware of anarchy!

SKIP MURPHY
Prince of Wales Road, NW1