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Saturday Diary: In the Dog House

Jonathan Sheppard extends the warm hand of human kindness to the rioters. Or something like that...

By Jonathan Sheppard

13 Aug 2011, 08:00

* No one can fail to be totally appalled at the thuggery which took place in various parts of the country this week. One thing that vexed me was that from some quarters we got people trying to explain, and by doing so, almost legitimise what was happening. Frankly if I had suffered at the hands of the rioters and looters, an explanation of why this had happened would not be my immediate priority. What I would want is a swift return to law and order, and followed by that, swift tough justice. I didn't miss the irony of the thug who went to his youth club, saw things were kicking off, and then went looting. But I thought this was some sort of protest about the closure of youth clubs? Clearly not.

* Then of course we have the argument that its all about broken homes. Really? I was brought up in a single parent unit in the gritty north in the 80s. Did that give me a right to go a kick in shops and take what I want? No of course not. I was taught right from wrong. Don't insult the law abiding majority - many of whom have been brought up in single parent families who come from a poor background, by suggesting it's down to a breakdown in the family that has brought us to where we are today. Its a complete lack of values whatsoever that some people suffer from, and I see that disease afflicting many families where two parents are present, just as much as those who may have been brought up with one.

* This week I have been typing up some of my Tory Radio interviews for a book I am hoping will come out in time for party conference. Interestingly I just finished transcribing one with Michael Howard in which he is very adamant that prison still works. Lets hope many of the thugs now caught by the police will have their chance to test that theory. I am now in the midst of transcribing my Ken Clarke interview. I suspect he will be busy providing a few more prison places in the weeks ahead.

* The riots did raise an interesting question about the use of technology in society today. Some have suggested it was the Blackberry messaging service that allowed the rioters to communicate with each other without the police knowing. Maybe so, but does that warrant a backlash against social media? No. Surely any invention can be used for both good and indeed evil. So Twitter was used by idiots to flag up when and where the rioting was taking place so their moronic friends could join in. Fine. But then Twitter was also used by the law abiding majority to catch some of these thugs, and now to help raise money for some of the victims. Lets not decry technology. It was law breakers that used a tool to help them break laws, as they always have, and indeed always will. The same tool in the hands of good and virtuous people is a force for good.

* This weekend millions of men, and indeed women folk will be rejoicing because the Premiership kicks off once again. Can King Kenny bring some silverware back to Anfield? Will the cash Roman splashes mean Chelsea will win the Champions League? More importantly how many dodgy decisions will Wenger not see, and how many pieces of gum will Sir Alex get through each game. Millions of people hopes will be raised and dashed over the space of 90 minutes each weekend. Football - I've missed you.

* Fresh from Mrs Sheppard getting stuck in making the lovely courgette pickle I was tasked with collecting the fruit on our fruit trees so that we could do something equally virtuous with the produce. Unfortunately that was not to be. For you see the recently acquired water containers we are using to collect rain water had the remnants of wet malt in them, a substance that looked not unlike a thick dark treacle. How do I know what it looked like? Well I thought it would be a good idea to empty the remnants out onto the grass. One day later, hundreds of wasps had arrived, not just happily tucking into the wet malt all over the ground, but now munching through every piece of fruit we have. Needless to say that if I hadn't already put a great deal of effort into splitting the numerous logs we 'inherited' on buying our new place, I would currently be using the wood to build myself a dog house.