These are four of England's major population centers.

Some city forces are policing difficult areas with only half of the officers available five years ago. For this and other reasons (notably the general breakdown of society), mindless thuggery is on the increase in England.

Symbolic of the inclinations of British society were the thousands of dollars' worth of damage caused to a London bus by rioting students. The indignant head of the bus company reacted by personally driving the vehicle to the school and showing the headmaster the massive damage to its interior. Then he promptly canceled all runs to the school.

Of particular concern were the London riots of May 1 when officers of the metropolitan police squared off against 4,000 anticapitalist protesters near the houses of Parliament. But, before these violent rioters were fully brought under control, they had managed to deface Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square as well as a war memorial in the area-both historic symbols of Britons' willingness to protect their national integrity.

Sir Winston was a national hero credited with being one of the most important World War II leaders who helped save the world from fascism. In many people's minds he was Britain's man of the century. Yet thugs desecrated his statue by daubing it with word murderer.

Daily Mail columnist Lynda Lee-Potter commented: "This vile anarchic army of would-be destroyers was recruited through the internet. The potential viciousness on the day appealed to every failure, every embittered useless troublemaker and yob in the land ... The genuine protesters were totally swamped by those who had destruction in their hearts."

A whole generation in Britain has not learned even the most basic of biblical teachings—the Ten Commandments. We are reaping the bitter fruits of our careless neglect. (Sources: The Daily Mail, The Economist, The Daily Telegraph [all London].)