RR1: The Respect agenda

A day does not pass in the United Kingdom without a mention in the national press of a certain aspect of anti-social behaviour or ‘(dis)respect’, in communities across the country. Whether it be groups of young people hanging around in bus shelters causing a nuisance to local residents; binge drinkers on a Friday night creating disruption in town centres; youths spraying graffiti; or people with oversized hedges disrupting the lives of their neighbours, it continues despite several years of government enforcement attempting to tackle these issues. The Government has set out its stall in its third term of office to attempt to further address these issues through its radical ‘respect agenda’.

The Queens Speech, in May 2005, addressed ‘respect’, with several bills clearly designed to address the ‘respect agenda’, for example, the Violent Crime Reduction Bill.