On hooliganism

If you are going to write and article entitled Hooligans are patriots disowned by their country you'd better be pretty sure of your stuff. Lawrence James, writing in the Times, seems to be surer than most:

In the past there was a simple answer to hooliganism: channel it into some useful activity. Magistrates sent a steady stream of rogues into Nelson’s Navy and Wellington’s Army where, if they persisted in their trouble-making, the whip and the gallows were on hand. It worked, for as Dr Johnson observed, what the hooligans’ superiors termed insolence in peacetime became courage in war. Like today’s hooligans, the roughnecks of Regency Britain looked down on foreigners and were unperturbed by swarms of Frenchmen shouting “Vive L’Empereur”. As Wellington knew, their blend of stubborn defiance and ferocity would see Johnnie Crapaud off.

In these politically correct times, it is conveniently forgotten that the Empire was conquered by working-class rowdies commanded by aristocrats. Street fighters from the slums were no more frightened of Zulu warriors than they were of policemen.