When New Labour first introduced legislation intended to deal with antisocial behaviour, it claimed to have been inspired by ‘left realist’ criminology which posits that crime is a socialist issue that had for too long been ignored by the political Left. A host of measures aimed at tackling antisocial behaviour were promoted as a means not just of protecting poor communities from undesirable behaviour but also as ‘Trojan horses’ aimed at tackling the social causes of such behaviour. However, the very notion of antisocial behaviour has placed outside of its social context, rendering the measures destined to tackle it futile. Poor communities have remained blighted by antisocial behaviour, but not just that perpetrated by the members of those same communities. Arguably, a much greater source of harm has been that caused by the antisocial activities of the powerful, whether by the State or private companies.