PANIC

So, London burned. It was always going to happen. Nick Clegg himself predicted that if the Tories came to power there would be riots. For once he was right. However, that didn’t stop jumping into bed with David Cameron at the first opportunity.

A lot will be said about the riots. Many will dismiss them as mindless acts of violence and greed by the younger generation. In some cases this will be true, but to write the whole thing off in such a glib manner is akin to an ostrich putting its head in the sand and hoping it goes away.

What is obvious is that the country is in a mess. The riots deflected attention from the crippling economic state across Europe and the USA. They deflected attention from Hackingate and the corruptness in the media, Police and Government. These are important issues, and to a certain degree played a part in what happened in the past week.

We have a police force, especially in London, that is being subjected to serious allegations. The police, whether you like them or not, are there to keep law and order. They must be above suspicion. Currently they are not. The shooting of a man in Tottenham raises serious questions about the use of firearms, and specifically, which sectors of society they are used against. IPCC investigations now show that no shots were fired by the victim.

We have a Parliament that has seen its own members imprisoned for expenses fraud. Hardly sets the example for the rest of us does it? A Government that is hell bent on protecting its own whilst the working classes struggle to make ends meet as jobs, services and pay are slashed. I don’t know how much the riots in London will cost in compensation or insurance, but I would be interested to compare that to the amount of bonuses the bankers have been paid in the last two years.

And then we have a media, which has long been regarded with suspicion by those who understand the infotainment they provide is not worth the paper it’s written on. But now, the truth is coming out about bribing police and hacking phones.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that those who took to the streets were right to do so. I’ve no problem with direct action, but what we saw was not political in the strictest terms. A political demonstration would have hit the banks and the tax avoiders. It didn’t. These riots in the main destroyed working class residential areas, small businesses (who face a tough enough task competing with Tescos et al) and involved the indiscriminate beatings of those unfortunate to be passing by. In fact those at the forefront of this are the very people we should be trying to protect.

Am I the only one worried by noises coming out of Government? Firstly, it is not, and never can be, the job of the Government to tell the Judiciary what to do. Cameron et al call for harsh sentences. It is the job of the judges to decide what punishment, if any, is meted out. Do you not show some concern that people are being held in custody for stealing small value items? This is especially true when some who commit far more serious crimes, such as assault, are easily bailed and there are many cases of shoplifting that don’t even get to court?
Were you not concerned that the policing seemed to involve chasing groups of rioters for a few hundred yards and then stopping. The net effect was to simply allow them to continue their violence somewhere further down the road – usually ending up in residential areas. This is a complete contrast to peaceful political demonstrations when the police box you in so you cannot move.

Were you not concerned that the Police were unable to cope with this. What will it be like in years to come when the cuts have bitten and there are far fewer police on the streets?

And, are you not concerned at the knee jerk reaction to all this? An e-petition has gained more than 100000 signatures demanding that rioters lose their benefits. There is one huge assumption in that. It assumes that the rioters were all unemployed. I have not heard anyone stand up and forcibly correct this. And it needs correcting. It is quite clear from the news reports that many people involved are in employment. Are the Great British public suggesting we should have a two tier legal system where those out of work are punished twice, whilst those in work are punished just the once. Are we allowing the unemployed to be further demonised?

Cameron suggests the lack of father figures is an issue. The Tories seem once again to be blaming the ills of the country onto one of the most repressed social groups - the single mother. You’ll note he doesn’t suggest the lack of mother figure may be factor. Nor does he understand (because he is a Tory) that a great many single parent families work perfectly well and in many cases better than traditional families.

The most worrying thing is that Cameron himself seems to be supporting those individuals who decided to protect their streets. The moment you give vigilante groups the green light, you end up with a worse scenario than you started with. There are very strong suggestions that the far right EDL were behind many of these groups, and in at least one case they started to fight with the police. Some of you may have noticed that on Monday night the EDL were openly blaming Muslims for the troubles, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

As Britain clears up the mess, we are waking up to a new society. Hopefully communities will unite across ethnic lines and finally come to the conclusion that we are all in this together. Sadly for Cameron, that wont be his version of that phrase. We must avoid apportioning blame to any sector of society. The troubles were not based on race, were not based on class, were not based on social background, were not based on political ideals and were not restricted to any age group.

The blame lies solely with a society that simply doesn’t give a damn, doesn’t think for itself and refuses to question itself.