Respect agenda

The Respect agenda was launched in September 2005 by Tony Blair, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Tony Blair described it as being about "putting the law-abiding majority back in charge of their communities".[1] Its aim was to help central government, local agencies, local communities, and citizens to tackle anti-social behaviour collaboratively and more effectively.[2]

In a speech in January 2006, Tony Blair acknowledged that Respect owed much to the work of sociologist Richard Sennett, particularly his 2003 book Respect: The Formation of Character in a World of Inequality.[3][4]

In late December 2007, shortly after Gordon Brown succeeded Blair as prime minister, it was reported that the government had effectively ended the Respect programme by closing down the Respect Task Force and moving its head to another job inside the Cabinet Office.[5] However, much of the Respect Agenda was incorporated into a Youth Taskforce Action Plan in the Department for Children, Schools and Families.[2]

  1. ^ Hennessy, Patrick (13 August 2011). "UK riots: how Britain copied US crime fighters". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  2. ^ a b Andrew Millie, ed. (2009), Securing Respect: Behavioural Expectations and Anti-Social Behaviour in the UK, Policy Press, ISBN 978-1-84742-093-0
  3. ^ Richard Sennett (2003), Respect: The Formation of Character in a World of Inequality, ISBN 0-393-05126-9
  4. ^ "Blair 'respect' speech in full". BBC News. 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  5. ^ Wintour, Patrick (2007-12-24). "Blair's Respect agenda ditched, claim Tories". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-06-10.