201108909 London’s Burning
Roger N. Taber
I feel a need to comment on rioting in London and elsewhere in the UK. TV images being flashed across the world will doubtless give a poor if misleading impression of the UK. Yes, we have our problems, but what country hasn’t? At the same time, there is no excuse for arson, looting and mindless violence, much of it masterminded and orchestrated by sheer criminal elements.
Readers from around the world have been in touch asking what the hell is going on here. I hope today’s post will the put recent rioting across London and the UK in a context of sorts. Yes, it is only my personal take on events, but it is one that I know is shared by many people across a whole range of age, colour, creed, sex and sexuality.
Trouble flared in Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey after a 29year-old man, presumably a suspect, was shot dead by police last Thursday. No one has any details and this had been a cause of great distress to his family who are well known in the area. A peaceful protest vigil held outside Tottenham police station by the dead man’s family and friends on Saturday night was hijacked by troublemakers from all over London. Consequently, fierce rioting broke out on Saturday night. Apparently, many people, especially young people, have been ‘organising’ potential riots via Twitter, Facebook and their mobile phones.
To be honest, it was almost inevitable although there is absolutely no excuse for it. The media keep referring to copycat criminality and that is true, but...why?
Youth unemployment here in the UK is high and rising while Youth Clubs and other activity venues for young people have been closed due to cutbacks in spending (not just recently, but over a period of some years). Many young people genuinely believe they have little or no chance of getting a job and feel on the scrap heap even in their teens. Nor is there any shortage of die-hard criminal elements waiting to take advantage of the situation, inflame general unrest, encourage looting, and whatever.
The vast majority of our young people are a decent lot, but those who feel disillusioned with modern society are not only a growing and (very) significant minority, but also very vulnerable.
It doesn’t help that multiculturalism in the UK is an appalling failure. Many among the latter waves of immigrants especially (during the past ten years or so) have brought their historical prejudices with them while successive governments have done nothing to actively address this. I know I should not generalise, but... in many areas, many (by no means all, but too many) Indians have a problem with Pakistanis, and vice versa; the same applies to the poor relationship between many African-Caribbean and Asian people, and vice versa; East Africans and West Africans are traditionally opposed to one another...and so it goes on. Yet, there are many areas in the UK in which all these opposing groups have been housed close together!!
Nor should we forget that many people from ethnic minority backgrounds have a problem with white people. (In the years leading up to my retirement, I encountered a LOT of racism from ethnic minorities while working with the public.) It doesn’t help if you’re gay, given that various cultural prejudices against gay people are very deeply rooted.
I fear things will get worse before they get any better. Even once the police manage to bring the current waves of unrest under control, the UK will remain a powder keg waiting to explode until the politicians get real about the underlying causes behind it. If you ask me, our politicians have not had their fingers on society’s pulse for some years.
While tensions are often blamed on poor relations between communities and the police, often justifiably so, I dare say the police, too, could use a more positive sense of direction from blinkered politicians.
There is no excuse for what is happening here in London and elsewhere in the UK right now, but there are underlying causes enough; it really isn’t good enough for our politicians to continue deflecting blame away from themselves with a load of bullshit rhetoric.
