In answer to R Webb (Letters, June 26), the reason why Frank McCourt has joined the long list of people arrested for standing up to a bunch of thugs is not because he allegedly kidnapped a youth subject to a citizen's arrest. He did something far more sinister. He drew attention to the fact that there has been a complete breakdown of law and order caused by an incompetent Government infested with "do gooders" armed with social science degrees.

These incompetent MPs cannot seem to understand there is a big difference between a reason to do something and an excuse to do something. Poverty is an excuse to commit crime. It is not a reason. Attention deficiency hyperactive disorder is an excuse to cause trouble in the neighbourhood.

It is not a reason.

Our incompetent Government cannot understand that the way to solve all law and order problems is to make sure that the fear of the consequences of getting caught outweighs the risks of committing crime.

Borstal may not have done any good to the thugs sent there, but it did get them off the streets and stop them inflicting their problems on the rest of society. It also sent a clear warning to the other children in the neighbourhood of what happens to those who refuse to accept the standards of decent society.

  • Stuart Bower, UKIP prospective parliamentary candidate for Hove