Early last week, Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a
speech in which he pledged to tackle a "slow-motion moral collapse" in Britain.
But in his first public reaction on the riots, Blair
wrote in the Observer, saying “Britain as a whole is not in the grip of some general 'moral decline'." He said understanding this was key to finding a workable solution.
According the former British PM, those involved in the riots that left several shops looted and policemen injured were from dysfunctional families isolated from the larger British society.
“…the truth is that many of these people are from families that are profoundly dysfunctional, operating on completely different terms from the rest of society, either middle class or poor’’ UK’s
Guardian quoted him as saying in the Observer.
His comments came as the police in Birmingham released
CCTV footage of rioters taking part in this month’s disturbances firing shots at officers and a police helicopter.
Blair who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, said dwelling too much on the morality factor would lead to what he called unnecessary depression for citizens, a trashed reputation of Britain abroad and “worst of all, miss the chance to deal with the problem in the only way that will work”
