The London riots - any thoughts/explanations etc?

[Maurice E]

Tonight, the riots in London seem to have gone from pretty serious to extremely serious.
Any thoughts on what's now fuelling the whole thing? The initial catalyst seems to have been a fatal shooting by the police.
The prime minister has cut short his holiday and his currently flying home, and a COBRA meeting has been convened for tomorrow morning (COBRA meetings are usually reserved for major terrorist incidents and other events of similar national concern).
The people taking part ('youths' from run-down areas, or perhaps too much of a simplification?) are seeing that the police are not able to cope with the scale of the rioting. All they need to do is go to their town centre, smash a few windows and grab thousands of pounds worth of stuff. So, the whole thing appears to be snowballing now to some relatively posh bits of London (Clapham Junction, Ealing) and even other cities (well, Birmingham at least). They are having the chance to take part in an event of national significance, and make a few thousand pounds at the same time.
There doesn't seem to be any ideology involved. They're not targeting the banks or Government headquarters.
Worrying stuff. How will it end?

 

[Bluebirds]

Tonight, the riots in London seem to have gone from pretty serious to extremely serious.
Any thoughts on what's now fuelling the whole thing? The initial catalyst seems to have been a fatal shooting by the police.
The prime minister has cut short his holiday and his currently flying home, and a COBRA meeting has been convened for tomorrow morning (COBRA meetings are usually reserved for major terrorist incidents and other events of similar national concern).
The people taking part ('youths' from run-down areas, or perhaps too much of a simplification?) are seeing that the police are not able to cope with the scale of the rioting. All they need to do is go to their town centre, smash a few windows and grab thousands of pounds worth of stuff. So, the whole thing appears to be snowballing now to some relatively posh bits of London (Clapham Junction, Ealing) and even other cities (well, Birmingham at least). They are having the chance to take part in an event of national significance, and make a few thousand pounds at the same time.
There doesn't seem to be any ideology involved. They're not targeting the banks or Government headquarters.
Worrying stuff. How will it end?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ms...056305&spn=0.39294,0.630341&z=10&source=embed

What is going on??? Kids, disaffected youth, Thatcher's invention of the non-working class come home to roost?

I'm here all night, on the nightshift so will be watching. police are seriously losing control by the sounds and looks of things though

 

[Bluebirds]

Or as someone else put it;

These aren't riots; these are people from a certain segment of society who have been allowed by government, the police and the media to become increasingly lawless without any consequences, and now they are testing how far they can go. And the police and the government have basically sent the message that these kids can do what they like.

 

[troubleluvsme]

Or as someone else put it;

These aren't riots; these are people from a certain segment of society who have been allowed by government, the police and the media to become increasingly lawless without any consequences, and now they are testing how far they can go. And the police and the government have basically sent the message that these kids can do what they like.

The beauty of Multiculturalism.

 

[Black Cloud]

It's because the police killed Radio Raheem and Sal didn't pay Mookie.

 

[peptastic]

The first riot started as a protest against the Duggan guy being shot by police. It appears people were inspired by a youtube video on twitter of a teenage girl being kicked by police for one of the other riots? This is what I gathered from reading the guardian. Mistrust of authority and loads of anger.

People are arguing for and against Torrie policies causing this. I think it's not so cut and dry as that. It's pretty much sucking for lots of people on both sides of the pond.

I work for law enforcement. Most officers are good guys but yes there are a lot of bad ones.
But they always have enquiries when an officer has to kill in the line of duty. Our jail officers have to be investigated any time they use force.
How do they deal with this in England?

I thought of both 'panic' and the '80s in Australia where cops and criminals were killing each other.

Four officers were found guilty of wrongfully killing a teenager in Lousiana from the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Surely if they wanted an inquiry into the death of Duggan there was a better way to seek justice without destroying neighbourhoods.
This seems more like revenge and opportunity.
When that pastor threatened to burn the Quran last year where I live they staffed all the deputies and officers to ensure no one else took advantage of the officers being busy at the church. [Of course he burned it later. Only one person got arrested. We were slow at the jail that night. ]

 

[Bluebirds]

These riots are unprecedented for the UK;

I'm working nightshift and people are going to be shocked when they wake up in the morning and the full extent of the damage is assessed.

Form East London to West London from North to South the city is ablaze, shops looted

We also have serious problems in Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol and maybe Manchester and Leeds too

I hate to use the expression feral youth but unfolding events are absolute mayhem:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150333636850851

For some light relief (literally)

Imodium - Hilarious Funny Clip - London Riots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8khAmxCARyA

 

[mattisek]

We probably see the biggest riots in Western Europe in the last 50 years or so. It's frightening especially as a lot of kids and teenagers are actively involved.

As a Berliner I'm fully aware that we have had a long history of violence on May Day in certain parts of the town. Despite me not agreeing on the use of violence they were at least politically motivated in the beginning. Now I think it has changed a lot. Certain groups just "enjoy" the fun to have a fight with police. They love to destroy other peoples`property and to steal some valuables. And parts of the police also enjoy the fight with protesters. Dealing with criminal law a lot I have come to the conclusion that the "ordinary" police officer and the "ordinary" violent protester have a lot in common.

That may also apply to London and other British cites as far as the recent events are concerned.

 

[Oh my god. it's Robby!]

I hate to say it, but the first thing I thought of when I heard there were riots in London was:
"Oh my god, what did Morrissey do now?"

 

[Kilt Uncle]

Nice to see those English bastards getting up off their arses for once...

 

[[email protected]]

Or as someone else put it;

These aren't riots; these are people from a certain segment of society who have been allowed by government, the police and the media to become increasingly lawless without any consequences, and now they are testing how far they can go. And the police and the government have basically sent the message that these kids can do what they like.

Thank you Bluebirds!! that Excellent post saved me a lot of typing of my opinions/thoughts on the situation!! this is not "Rioting" or about political un-rest...it is just out and out thieving for the sake of it...what hurts me though, is that the stupid bastards can't see that is their OWN communities that they are destroying....if it were indeed "Anti Government", why is Downing street still ( as yet, anyway) untouched??....Lawless scum...Some people can happily hate the Police force as much as they want, but this is what happens without them there to protect decent businesses and citizens....stay safe tonight England/Britain....they mostly come out at night....arm yourselves, and protect what belongs to you....this just MAY get even worse.....

 

[Dave2006]

It won't make the headlines, but it is sad to see the Sony distribution centre sent up in flames http://www.metro.co.uk/music/871819...-fire-leads-to-fears-for-british-indie-labels not only is it Sony's only distribution centre in the UK, but it is widely used by independent record labels such as Rough Truade to get their stock out across the country - kind of like The Cartel for the 21st Century

Dave

 

[Death Disco]

Bad parenting, poor role-models and people being too "politically correct" to criticise them for the last 20 years. A quick glance at the photos in the papers today shows most of the rioters are black. There are serious issues in the black communities in this country that need addressing but everyone is too scared of being called racist to do anything about it. They need people in their own community to step up and explain that Black culture and identity has little to do with acting like you're in the f***ing Wu Tang Clan. Mix that in with the lazy English bastard Jeremy Kyle type white scum in the same areas and you are "axking" for trouble.

 

[Jackie London]

We left the office early today so everyone would be able to get home safe. This is madness, I live very close to where some of the riots are. Thank god it's very unlikely to spread to where we live since there are no real shops etc. right here. To be honest I haven't really understood how bad it is until now and now I'm starting to feel a bit worried.

The reason they are doing this is simply because they can. They don't have anything better to do. If they really had thought it through they wouldn't be smashing local shops in Peckham - they would attack the offices in Canary Wharf!

 

[Death Disco]

We left the office early today so everyone would be able to get home safe. This is madness, I live very close to where some of the riots are. Thank god it's very unlikely to spread to where we live since there are no real shops etc. right here. To be honest I haven't really understood how bad it is until now and now I'm starting to feel a bit worried.

The reason they are doing this is simply because they can. They don't have anything better to do. If they really had thought it through they wouldn't be smashing local shops in Peckham - they would attack the offices in Canary Wharf!

Bullshit. What kind of logic is that. "I'm bored with my laptop, iPhone, BlackBerry, PS3, 500 TV channels and Internet... and the cinema, the gym, the sports centre, the park, the hundreds of youth projects up and down the country... think I'll go steal a few TVs and ruin some peoples' lives!"
They're scum, raised by scum, who live amongst scum and they're all too f***ing thick to realise the extent to which they have become laughable little chav caricatures.

 

[The Seeker of Good Songs]

Sony warehouse torched in London riots; Beggars, 4AD, Rough Trade records burn

The ongoing rioting in London struck a potentially devastating blow to the U.K.’s independent record labels last night when a 200,000-square-foot Sony DADC warehouse went up in flames, destroying countless records and CDs distributed by the PIAS Group on behalf of scores of indie labels including such famed imprints as Beggars Banquet, 4AD, Mute and Rough Trade. Those larger independent labels won’t be as badly hurt, Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills tells Music Week, because they keep stock at other locations around Europe. But dozens of smaller labels — see a full list here — may have had their entire physical inventory wiped out in the blaze, which resulted in no injuries
Industry analyst Paul Scaife tells The Guardian that the Sony fire could crush smaller labels: “Physical retail is still absolutely crucial to many in the independent sector and if — as seems quite likely — several smaller labels aren’t covered by insurers, this could be the difference between survival and going out of business.”
Reissue imprint Beggars Archive this morning posted on its blog that “all our U.K. stock is gone,” but that the label is “remanufacturing as rapidly as possible” and moving stock from Europe to cover. The label says the fire will impact catalog availability, “but fortunately the This Mortal Coil boxes and Throwing Muses sets are still in transit, so we haven’t lost those.”
In response to the fire, the U.K.’s Association of Independent Music is calling on fans to buy downloads from U.K. digital retailers: “This way, the labels will be able to remanufacture their CDs and vinyl more quickly, to resupply the record shops who are also affected by the riots.”


from: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2011/08/09/sony-pias-warehouse-burned-london-riots/

 

[Mars_Rover]

Stay safe, Jackie & all the other Solo peeps affected by this thuggery. It's very worrying.

It was so sad to see on the news this morning a London couple who looked like they were terrified to leave their homes. The man's eyes were darting around like he was prey. And the footage of the young boy who was injured, it looked like the guys who surrounded him were helping him & then they robbed him. Makes you sick.

 

[helen661]

The thugs are out in Manchester too, Miss Selfridges on Market Street is on fire

 

[Jackie London]

Bullshit. What kind of logic is that. "I'm bored with my laptop, iPhone, BlackBerry, PS3, 500 TV channels and Internet... and the cinema, the gym, the sports centre, the park, the hundreds of youth projects up and down the country... think I'll go steal a few TVs and ruin some peoples' lives!"
They're scum, raised by scum, who live amongst scum and they're all too f***ing thick to realise the extent to which they have become laughable little chav caricatures.

I don't mean don't have anything better to do as in nothing better to do at the moment. They simply don't have a reason to not do it. They have no reason to feel that they need to behave, need to be decent people. The reason for them feeling that way can be discussed. But look at them, look at the pics published of some of the kids. How old can some of them be? 13? 14? It's very easy to feel that they are scums who choose to be like that, emotionally it's easy to feel that they should be stoned to death. But when I was 14 I was still very much a child, I never did anything like that but I did things, simply because I didn't know better. I didn't really understand the consequenses of my actions.

 

[Death Disco]

I don't mean don't have anything better to do as in nothing better to do at the moment. They simply don't have a reason to not do it. They have no reason to feel that they need to behave, need to be decent people. The reason for them feeling that way can be discussed. But look at them, look at the pics published of some of the kids. How old can some of them be? 13? 14? It's very easy to feel that they are scums who choose to be like that, emotionally it's easy to feel that they should be stoned to death. But when I was 14 I was still very much a child, I never did anything like that but I did things, simply because I didn't know better. I didn't really understand the consequenses of my actions.

Fair enough, but that kind of points back to me post earlier in this thread - it's down to poor parenting and lack of decent role-models in the black community especially. And no-one but them can sort that out.