UK Riots: A Sign of Things to Come?

Phone hacking - what's that? A story that I thought would have control over the headlines for weeks to come has been quickly snuffed and set aside as the UK was rudely thrust into the new age of the recession. Rupert Murdoch is probably breathing a massive sigh of relief. A protest over the shooting last Thursday of Mark Duggan by police officers in Tottenham quickly escalated into a violent frenzy on the streets of Tottenham on Sunday. Like wildfire, the riots spread across multiple boroughs of London the following night (Brixton, Croydon, Islington - the list goes on), and before long news was filtering to the watching world that cities including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Liverpool and Manchester had become victims of mob rule as well.

The police, who for so long had been on the back foot during the initial riots to the chagrin of many innocent victims of wanton violence and destruction, finally managed to gather themselves together and present a stronger front overnight. The sluggish response from the police and the damage that could have been prevented had they deployed more robustly is a monster of their own making, sadly - in the past year, the police managed peaceful protests (anti-cuts protests in particular) as though they were gatherings of criminals, punishing those (including hordes of younger students and children) who had come to London to exercise their freedom of speech and take part in democracy. By fearing to use harsher methods against the rioters for fear of a public backlash, they again assessed the situation incorrectly, and again suffered for it as criminals roamed free to destroy and loot at will all through the night, and the public feared for their safety and livelihoods.

For a while it seemed as though nowhere in the country was safe - twitter was aflood with rumours of gatherings, arson and lootings. Each community was a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode at any point. Almost every city and large town appeared to be making preparations for a potential conflict with the rioters, including my home town of Stafford (a mere stone's throw from Wolverhampton) where many businesses were closing up earlier and tightening security procedures and the police were deployed in greater numbers. 

Sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure that this wasn't some kind of crazy dream - scenes of carnage the likes I have never seen before in my lifetime were unfolding on streets that I have walked many times, and it shocked me to the core. On Monday and Tuesday nights, I was simply transfixed to the television, unable to take my eyes away from the burning buildings in Croydon, Manchester, and elsewhere. I have been outraged - why would people do this to their own country? Many people were afraid to go out onto the streets for fear of violence (regardless of their proximity to the main trouble spots), my own girlfriend was fearful of going to her workplace in the city of Peterborough in case anything happened to kick off there. I received messages of support from friends all over the world, including one girl in Taiwan who was watching the images of London burning on Taiwanese news networks and was concerned for my welfare. Not that anyone would need to fear for me in Bourne, a town so small that a riot here refers to any time when there is more than five people walking down the main street at the same time.

As of today, the worst appears, for now, to be over. There have been touching scenes of communities gathering together to protect and clean the place up - makes you wonder why the community never worked together in any capacity during times of peace. But as communities in Birmingham mourn the hit-and-run victims of Tuesday night, and businesses and residents across all of the cities affected sort through the burnt-out husks of their former property, many questions still lie unanswered. Why, precisely, did the riots spread so quickly and across so many areas? What is the actual make-up of the mobs? Why were they rioting? What is the correct way to deal with the offenders? And how do we stop anything like this happening again? At the moment, open discussion of the reasons that may have caused many teenagers and young adults to take to the streets in rage appears to be met with the opinion that you condone the riots - just see the BBC's Fiona Armstrong interviewing the West Indian writer Darcus Howe. When Howe made any efforts to illustrate the frustration felt by his own young children by the discrimination they face by the authorities, Armstrong was quick to suggest that Howe was supportive of the riots, and even outrageously suggested that Howe used to be a rioter himself. Needless to say, this comment was met with derision and criticism from Darcus Howe, and rightly so. It is against the very foundations of the BBC to report in a way that anyone who makes an attempt to analyse the riots is an enemy - open, honest reporting that can listen and scrutinise logically is what we expect, not some crazy descent into the hysteria of the moment. Needless to say, the BBC apologised for the disgraceful interview. 

Whilst it is right and justified to punish those responsible for the carnage that has been wrought upon our society, this stigma around discussing where our government and culture has let these young people down needs to be lifted. Even the the initial comments by representatives of the government such as London Mayor Boris Johnson appear to be vague about the core reasons why young people would be find themselves in a position that smashing up their local off-license and burning down the pub sounds like a good Monday evening had. Instead, they were just acts of wanton criminality and the products of sick minds. But what about the lack (and continuing deprivation) of jobs, facilities, educational options, escape routes from the deprived boroughs that they may end up playing out their entire lives in? It doesn't excuse the behaviour of the rioters, but it is the background for the discontent, the lack of respect, and the boredom and malaise that causes these people to lash out against their own communities. A small number of people (including deputy prime minister Nick Clegg during his 2010 election campaign, of all people) suggested that riots on the streets of the UK were an inevitability if the axe was taken to public spending and support for low-income families. After all, these elements of society are the most vulnerable to public spending cuts; take away too much and they feel it the hardest. Whilst top-level MPs decry the violence and promise that they will not let their children grow up in a world where the streets are not safe, they are blissfully ignorant of the fact that their children will be growing up in cushy households, with one or more parents to call their own, with enough money to have everything they ever want - holidays, gadgets, friends - never having to rub shoulders with the underclasses in the deprived areas of Wolverhampton, Liverpool, London and every other city in the UK that blew apart this week, should they so wish. They live in a bubble, completely divorced from all reality, unable to understand how the rich-poor divide is viewed from the poorer side of the coin. And so their reactions and responses may risk inflaming the situation even more, creating further tensions that may grind on for years to come.

Right now I am watching the debate in the House of Commons. All MPs have been recalled from their holidays (makes you wonder why they're all allowed to leave the country at the same time - seems very impractical) to attend and discuss where to take the fightback from the riots from here. There have been many suggestions, some of which are well thought out, others not so much. David Cameron opened by pledging that the police will now have the power to demand the removal of face masks if they have enough reason to suspect that the wearer is about to engage in criminal behaviour. The sentiment is there, but you can see how this will impinge the rights of innocent people and create further racial tension on the streets of the UK, as innocent men are stopped and treated as guilty parties more and more. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are now working with the government to interfere with the communications of suspected criminals - again, another tactic that can spread quite easily into the lives of innocent citizens. The wedge will be driven deeper into our society until opportunities are created to help communities, not pacify them.

Only now in the Commons debate has the Prime Minister suggested that discourse needs to be open about understanding the cultural and socioeconomic roots to the disturbances that have shaken our country. But at least last night the streets were calmer. There was also an episode of Grand Designs on Channel 4. In it, a retired couple had over £1 million to spend on renovating a dream house in the south of France. It made me wonder - how many people in the communities of Tottenham, Brixton, East Ham and other areas will ever have the chance to live out their dream lives in safety, security and comfort? Think on it. And be prepared for more.