Gang members are like 'child soldiers', says Iain Duncan Smith

10 April 2012
WEST END FINAL

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Britain's young gang members are like the "child soldiers of the third world", Iain Duncan Smith claimed today.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said this summer's riots were a "moment of clarity" which demanded action to end gang culture.

But he insisted that simply locking up troublemakers would not solve deep-rooted social problems and said reforming society was the "challenge of our generation".

In a powerful speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester, Mr Duncan Smith said: "Many young gang members drift in from dysfunctional, broken backgrounds, in search of a place to belong, a perverse kind of family, others through fear of retribution.

"With no role models except the violent and the criminal, like child soldiers of the third world these young minds bear the deep scars of a life filled with anger and violence.

"Fighting this through our police forces is crucial, but this isn't a job for officers alone; we must end the false belief that we can arrest our way out of this crisis."

Mr Duncan Smith put family at the heart of the solution, reminding Prime Minister David Cameron of his vow to give married couples tax breaks by the end of the Parliament and saying strong family units gave children stable backgrounds which helped them thrive.

He also said any tax cuts should be aimed at the lower paid - putting him at odds with those calling for the 50p top rate of income tax to be axed.

The former Tory leader accused the previous Labour government of a "terrible failure" in tackling gangs, with spending on prisons and offender management up 80 per cent but 26,000 more people in prison than in 1997.

He vowed to offer a "way out for those who'll take it" and the "toughest enforcement against those who refuse".

"Dealing with Britain's violent gang culture is vital because the simple truth is that where gangs rule, decent people cannot live," Mr Duncan Smith said.

His comments are a more compassionate response to the riots than Mr Cameron's condemnation of a society that is "sick" in parts and Home Secretary Theresa May's characterisation of "sheer criminality".

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