Daily Times

Nation-states fail because they are convulsed by internal violence and can no longer deliver positive political goods to their inhabitants — Robert I Rotberg.

Newspapers, periodicals and journals in Britain have paid little attention to the question of how to reorganise and reinvent the vulnerable British state. The 20th century British state was among the most stable states, but with the inception of the 21st century, things changed abruptly. The state remained in crisis as its political problems caught up with its economic challenges. In their recent research paper, Sean Healy and Brigid Reynolds have warned, “If the welfare state cannot be funded in the future then it will not survive. In fact the political acceptability of any development in the welfare state is closely linked to economic sustainability.”

The welfare state in the UK is under pressure from all sides. State institutions are not delivering properly and the literacy rate is very low. Secretary of State for Works and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith has recently warned, “Whole communities in Britain exist at the margins of society, trapped in dependency and unable to progress. In these areas aspiration and social mobility disappeared.”

Journalist Steven Toft in his July 2010 article has revealed the fact that, “Many people still assume that, once the fallout from economic crisis has worked through and the economy starts to grow again, things will get back to normal. Citizens’ expectations continue to rise, even though the state’s ability to deliver is diminishing.” The culture of violence is escalating to a horrifying level. Violence and persecution motivated by ethnic, racial and sectarian differences is increasingly destructive. Not only civil society demands reforms in the law enforcement and intelligence sectors, the bureaucracy and government officials too demand some changes.

In the history of British law enforcement, there have been several efforts at security sector reforms to reinvent both the state and government institutions. The government’s reform agenda faced opposition from within. Political intervention created controversies. The appointment of Mr Winsor in the police department brought out 30,000 police officers onto the streets of London.

In 2009, the government proposed some reforms in the intelligence infrastructure because according to some reports, the security agencies underwent reforms only in 1949 and 1989. The aim of the proposals was to strengthen the function of the cabinet office as it works with all intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee in its annual report for 2011-2012 stressed the need for protecting the state intelligence infrastructure that also needs to be strengthened. In October 2011, the government published the Justice and Security Green Paper, which outlines the proposals of reforms concerning the handling of sensitive materials in civil proceedings.

Moreover, the commissioner, Interception of Communications in his annual report for 2011 revealed the fact that prevention and detection of serious crimes in the interests of national security is necessary. This revelation caused further conflagration. As I noted, the power of the establishment in Britain is based on four elements: the banks, parliament, the press and the police, all of which have had their bouts of misuse of power in the past. The phone-hacking scandals and the reputation of the British police department due to corruption, racism and tactical mistakes led to the resignation of senior officers from their posts.

The state of cold war among the Home Office, Border Agency, police department and No. 10 badly affected the performance of these institutions. Politicisation of law enforcement further caused trouble. The Shadow Home Secretary recently warned that the police department faces a perfect storm of cuts in staff and chaotic reforms. “I am worried in particular about the risk of a growing gap between public concerns about the need for police action but also the capacity of the police to deliver,” she said. Border control mechanisms having failed, are under severe criticism. More than 150,000 illegal immigrants have disappeared across the country. In a debate in the House of Lords on the performance of the Border Agency, Lord Marlesford talked about the role of the UKBA. In July 19, 2012, the UKBA was severely criticised by Lord Avebury, who said, “The UK Border Agency is in meltdown and it is a situation that is steadily getting worse, as illustrated by the increasing number of successful appeals against their decisions on applications for leave to enter or remain in the UK.”

The culture of violence prevails; narco-smuggling, addiction and the black market economy have threatened the values and principles of society. The UK’s 2,800 criminal gangs import and sell drugs in the streets and educational institutions. Organised crime firms are doing business in their own way. According to the Science and Innovation Programme in the Police Service for 2010-2013, “Between 25,000 and 30,000 criminals engaged in organised crime, generating over £ 20 billion of social and economic harm within UK communities each year.” Terrorism and human trafficking are an even bigger threat. Every year, the government outlines the strategy of saving the banks but fraud in the banking sector has become a big obstacle in the way of banking sector progress. The government approach to the issue of budget deficits is too weak. Economic recovery is very slow while the financial crisis is causing the closure of more and more industries and businesses. The country does not have enough force to collect tax properly; a majority of private firms, industries and businesses are stealing taxes. In Northern Ireland, the activities of terror-related groups have increased; attacks on police forces indicate that the security of the state is in crisis.

The virus of sectarianism and racism is rapidly spreading in the majority of state institutions. The police department is the centre of numerous deficiencies and controversies. Britain needs new reforms and a new scale of distance measure. The way with in which the law enforcement and security agencies are tackling national security and law and order management with a huge budget and sophisticated modern intelligence and surveillance technology is now unaffordable as the country’s economic and financial blood pressure is going out of control. These are major factors exacerbating the culture of violence and the state’s crisis. Finally, accountability and transparency can save the state from becoming weaker. Accountability within the police and intelligence infrastructure will provide more energy to the state institutions.

The writer is the author of Policing in Multicultural Britain. He can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com