I have just returned from two weeks in Lagos in the Algarve. This is a part of the Algarve Coast which reminds me of Albufeira 30 years ago when it was relatively unspoilt and undeveloped. It is also a town only 10 minutes away from Praia da Luz where Madeleine McCann disappeared. Having three young children to look after on holiday and with the profile of the ongoing search very much in the local media hearing on the news just prior to our return about the sad shooting in Croxteth Park of Rhys Jones brought matters regarding the day to day safety of our younger generation firmly into focus.
Going back to my younger days spent with my parents, brothers and sisters summer after summer on the Algarve thoughts of threats to our safety were pretty low on the agenda. Likewise 30 years or so ago a teenage night out in Liverpool most probably up at Kirklands in Hardman Street hardly seemed something for my parents to worry about. On a lighter note I recall my father sending me off to Casa Italia in Stanley Street for a Pizza with a girlfriend and giving me £5 and telling me to enjoy myself. In those days a meal for two could leave you change out of £5 – how times have changed!
On top of all of this hearing about two bouncers shot outside of Alma de Santiago – a premises we previously only recently disposed of on behalf of clients – brings firmly into focus the issue of gun crime which we are told is still of a manageable proportion. Looking at the sad sight of Rhys’ parents at Anfield last night I am sure currently they wouldn’t believe that reassurance.
For the sake of ourselves and our younger generation the circumstances leading to these tragedies have to be analysed and addressed for the future sake of our cities and in a wider sense our society and it is to be hoped that we can all rise to and support that challenge.
Remember what you did last summer?: My fear is that all that will happen is a few knee