Criminal gangs are running riot in the UK… if there’s anarchy here now, where will it end?

THE Brits tend to be a law-abiding lot whose idea of “anarchy” is parking on a double yellow line whilst popping in to the corner shop.

But community apps such as Nextdoor show that, all over the UK, people are sick of seeing criminal behaviour go unchallenged and feel abandoned by the police and judiciary.

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Car theft is rife, so too shoplifting, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing by criminal gangs and knife fights between mostly young men who should have their whole lives ahead of them but end up in the morgue.

It already feels like anarchy out there, but unless the law instils some order, and soon, who knows where we will end up.

Remember Haiti? It’s a founding member of the United Nations and, in 2010, was devastated by an earthquake that killed at least 250,000 people and prompted many major nations to cancel any outstanding debts.

With its tropical climate and close proximity to Caribbean destinations such as Jamaica and Barbados, you would imagine it would be a tourist hotspot.

But instead it has descended into escalating violent anarchy since its prime minister resigned last month following pressure from the criminal gangs that now seem to be running the country.

Just ask 37-year-old Briton Ben Reinbold who, until last month, was general manager of the only golf and country club on the island, but has since decamped back to the UK for his own safety.

He says bodies were starting to pile up on the streets, “charred remains or sometimes chopped up”.

He adds: “That was my biggest fear — not being killed, but being chopped up by machetes.”

Millions of citizens have been left without food and water as violent gangs fight for power on the streets and thwart any aid operations.

“It really felt as if the walls were closing in . . . It’s not one ideology or political movement fighting another — it’s just out-of-control gangs, mostly youngsters in flip flops, drugged up or boozed up and with a lot of guns,” says Ben, from Chester.

Sporadic gunfire

“Living there was a bit like being a frog in gradually boiling water.”

The country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is a war zone that the UN describes as a “cataclysmic situation” and, according to Ben, he would hear “sporadic gunfire all around the town every day”.

Kidnappings are commonplace to get money and “nearly every family in Haiti has experienced [it] either directly or indirectly”.

“One group of people is really rinsing this country out at the expense of others.”

Sound familiar? OK, so we’re not yet at the point where bodies are piling up in the streets and we fear being taken hostage, but the sense that criminal gangs are slowly increasing their hold over our cities is very real and unnerving.

And when it gets to the point that their power and influence outstrips that of any law enforcement, what then?

Haiti’s airport closed on March 4 after gangs took control of it, thwarting anyone trying to leave the country. So Ben got out just in time.

Whether he’s jumped out of the frying pan and into the preliminary sparks of fiery lawlessness here depends on what those in power do to tackle it.

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DAMN GLAM SHAM

JENIFFER CAMPBELL was crowned Ms UK International Elite just five years ago.

She was 45 at the time and her Facebook photos show an undeniably attractive woman in full glam make-up and a variety of eye-catching outfits.

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Yet, when a female colleague introduced her to a new recruit and referred to Ms Campbell as the “glamour corner”, she claimed the remark was “offensive” and sued employers Waltham Forest London Borough Council for race harassment and discrimination.

An employment tribunal has dismissed the racism claim but warned that calling a woman “glamorous” at work risks “belittling” them.

In certain circumstances and depending on tone, yes.

But surely, to avoid wasting court time, common sense must also come in to play.

So that, when one woman tells another (who enters beauty pageants) that she’s “glamorous”, it might be taken as complimentary rather than “offensive”?

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DESIGNERS of Team   GB’s new merchandise have understandably attracted criticism for messing with the Union Jack.

One simple solution: Money talks, so don’t buy anything that features this pink and purple travesty.

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Then they will be left with masses of stock they will be lucky to sell off as dish rags.

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ILLEGAL migrants have been dodging rules and regulations for years in their bid to stay in the UK.

Some use a fixer to find them a willing “wife” they never clap eyes on again once the ink has dried on the certificate.

Others have “converted” to Christianity for all of five minutes to help their asylum application.

And now we have Albanian gangsters targeting mums-to-be who are willing to register (for cash) an illegal migrant as the father of their unborn child.

Thus enabling them to potentially dodge deportation by claiming they have a UK family.

Meanwhile, our politicians continue to tie themselves in knots over how to tackle the issue for fear of being branded unwelcoming or, God forbid, non-inclusive.

And anyone who thinks the problem will suddenly stop when Labour comes to power is deluded.

Take us back to Motherland, Netflix

MOTHERLAND is one of my favourite TV shows.

It’s funny,  poignant  and brilliantly acted.

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So, naturally, it has been axed as part of the BBC’s plan to save money. Grrrr. Memo to Netflix: Snap up the rights and make a fourth series.

Memo to BBC: If you still send 48 squillion people to cover Glastonbury this year, you deserve to have the licence fee stopped.

WAIT IS TAXING, ANGELA

A SENIOR Labour figure has suggested that the party’s deputy Angela Rayner should ask HMRC to investigate the issue of whether or not she dodged paying capital gains tax on the sale of her former council home.

Good luck with that.

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I have been filing my self-employment tax returns in plain sight of HMRC for the past 24 years and, in 2018, it decided to take a closer look at my accounts.

I have politely answered hundreds of questions, tolerated incompetence and mistakes and put up with a carousel of ever-changing caseworkers.

And yet here I am, six years later, still waiting for a decision from HMRC on my case.

Mind you, given that Labour will shortly be forming the next Cabinet, perhaps it would be a good thing for the feisty Ms Rayner to experience first hand how frustrating and unnecessarily draining it is to deal with this shambolic government department.

BANGER & TRASH

STAND-UP comedian Ed Gamble was forced to replace a hot dog with a cucumber on promo posters for an upcoming gig.

Otherwise, the poster would have been banned under Mayor Sadiq Khan’s policy of no junk food adverts on London transport.

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Meanwhile, passengers watched in horror last week as a man was stabbed on a train in South London.

Still, at least they were saved from the distressing sight of a calorific sausage.