HIS Opposition counterpart and some sectors of the media have poured scorn on Home Secretary Jack Straw's call for people not to walk on by when they see others committing crime or behaving anti-socially and to have a word with them instead.

For their it's-easy-for-him-to-talk reaction draws on the example Mr Straw provided of his own intervention when, less than a fortnight ago, he confronted a youth who was spitting on people from a railway station bridge in his Blackburn constituency - because, at the time, his armed bodyguard was in the background.

This is a bit of a cheap shot by his detractors since Mr Straw already has an impressive record of bravely tackling criminals - including a mugger, a burglar and a man involved in an assault - even when he had no such back-up protection.

But though Mr Straw is right to urge society not to tolerate crime or bad behaviour, the hopes of his own ideal and example being widely adopted are, alas, slim. That is because many people, though they would agree that it would be correct for them to intervene, would consider it foolhardy if they actually did.

It is a common fear and, perversely, one that helps crime and social nuisance to thrive.

Much of it is down to society itself having embraced individualism and allowed itself to become so brutalised - even to the extent that foul language and bad manners are virtually endemic across the whole strata - that respect for others has diminished so much that, too often, violence occurs.

Another perception is that when offenders are caught, there is a slap-on-the-wrist response from the courts that does little to deter the growth of violence and, consequently, the fear of it.

But if Mr Straw may only be able to scratch at the problem of modern society's uncouth and selfish attitudes, in the case of fit and proper punishment for crime, particularly the violent sort, he does have an influence. And if people perceive violence being positively deterred by the courts, they may, in turn - albeit, the long term - agree that it is not only right to intervene, but safe to do so, too.

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