We cannot forget the riots, nor ignore their causes

If I’d said that an MP had accused the Church of England of being too obsessed with gay marriage and women priests — and not worried enough about how God can keep young boys out of harm’s way — you’d probably imagine that a Tory had gone nuts. But this is the David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, who has gave an interview to our Books Blog. In it, he elaborates on the theme of his new book: that his colleagues are so keen to help single mothers that they’ve lost sight of what really helps working class boys. Amongst the contributing factors, he mentions two things that may cast him out as a heretic in Labour’s secular religion: fathers, and God.
 
Lammy’s book, Out of the Ashes, was released yesterday. On Monday. the government’s inquiry into the riots is due to deliver its interim report. Not many people know it even exists — David Cameron said he didn’t want one, but Nick Clegg did, and to compromise they created a rather lame one called The Riots Communities and Victims Panel.