You frequently hear the charge today that the social contract in Britain has broken down. And there is much evidence to support this accusation. The epidemic of shoplifting, the tacit acceptance of fare evasion, rampant mobile phone-snatching in the capital, and most seriously of all, the fragmentation of our once much-vaunted multicultural society into a hotch-potch of mutually-suspicious and resentful ethnic and religious groupings: empirical research and personal testimony points to a society undergoing a process of disintegration.
The demeanour of London bus drivers today perhaps reflects how fed up they are of having to deal with members of the public
For many people, nowhere is this development more evident than in the normalisation of incivility on public transport. According to a report issued this week, this is why the general public are now no longer using buses when possible. As an essay by the shadow transport secretary, Richard Holden, for the campaign group the Conservative Environment Network argues, increased and persistent levels of anti-social behaviour are driving people away from using buses altogether.
As he states: ‘More often than not this is not serious criminality, but rather the irritation caused by loud music, vaping and rowdy, inconsiderate behaviour – such as shoes on seats – all of which erode passengers’ sense of comfort and security’.
