London riots

[5co77ie]

[feral chile]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8687484/Ken-Livingstone-blames-Tottenham-riot-on-spending-cuts.html

There's a little excerpt. I agree with the fact that these cuts may have had an effect in this instance, but political point scoring on this is appalling.

[lost]

Otherwise the government would pay attention to the advice of economic experts, who have advised that they've embarked on a disastrous course of action.

[5co77ie]

trying not to be political:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/08/looting-fuelled-by-social-exclusion

After the riots came the looting. Across London windows were smashed, and shops emptied. On Monday experts said social exclusion and the breakdown of law and order could have spurred looters to disregard social norms.

"Many of the people involved are likely to have been from low-income, high-unemployment estates, and many, if not most, do not have much of a legitimate future," said criminologist and youth culture expert Professor John Pitts.

Unlike most people, some of those looting had no stake in conformity, he said. "Those things that normally constrain people are not there. Much of this was opportunism but in the middle of it there is a social question to be asked about young people with nothing to lose."

On much of the footage of the widespread theft after the riots, looters can be seen brazenly taking the goods they want, some without taking the precaution of covering their face. In one video shot early on Sunday morning in Wood Green, people can be seen leaving H&M with a haul of goods, with others standing around JD Sports apparently waiting for their turn to take goods.

One north London resident, who wanted to be identified only as Tiel, described a conversation: "I heard two girls arguing about which store to steal from next. 'Let's go Boots?' 'No, Body Shop.' 'Hit Body Shop after it's dead [meaning empty].'" The girl came out of Boots "nonchalantly, as if she'd done her weekly shop at 4:30am", he added. He described others, holding up clothes to themselves in the broken windows of H&M. "They were just so blasé about what they were doing."

In Wood Green about 100 youths targeted shops, including electrical stores and clothes chains such as H&M. "I've got loads of G-Star," said one teenager, emerging from a clothes shop. Other teenagers were seen with suitcases filled with stolen goods, and in the early hours of Sunday residential front gardens were used to sort and swap them.

Evidence has also been emerging that looters are attempting to sell their stolen goods. In Tottenham, just off the high street, one 20-year-old, who refused to give his name, said he had heard looters trying to get the booty off their hands as soon as possible.

"I know some were on corners trying to sell laptops from Currys for 20 quid. What you going to do with it?" he said.

Looters found ways to justify their actions, Pitts added. "They feel they can rationalise it by targeting big corporations. There is a sense that the companies have lots of money, while they have very little." Combined with a lack of intervention from police and increasing lawlessness, the combination was explosive: " [Looters] quickly see that police cannot control the situation, which leads to a sort of adrenalin-fuelled euphoria – suddenly you are in control and there is nothing anyone can do."

A generation bred on a diet of excessive consumerism and bombarded by advertising had been unleashed, he added. "Where we used to be defined by what we did, now we are defined by what we buy. These big stores are in the business of tempting [the consumer] and then suddenly these people find they can just walk into the shop and have it all."

One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said a police officer patrolling Brixton Road on Monday morning told him he thought 12-year-olds were looting.

Dr Paul Bagguley, a sociologist at the University of Leeds, said looting was a common feature of most riots but a mixture of practical reasons could have increased its extent. Rising unemployment was important not only as a catalyst of unrest, but because it meant more people were unoccupied on the streets leading to "biographical availability". "It's a straightforward argument, but powerful. Without jobs people are more likely to be hanging around the streets. Also there are simply more desirable, portable consumer goods to steal than ever before."

Looting was seen as a less risky activity than rioting: "Looting tends to involve a wider range of people – children, women, older people – because it does not involve physical violence. Riots enable people to lose their inhibitions, give them liberty to do things they wouldn't normally do."

Areeb Ullah, a Tottenham resident, said looters had disregarded the needs of the area and local people. And while large stores were targeted, some smaller shops had not escaped the looting. "The businesses around here were barely getting by anyway. A flower shop was set alight. What has that florist ever done? I saw a man in his shop just crying. This is only going to make Tottenham worse."

[LondonTom]

There is 0 f**king excuse for what has gone the last two days. Burning your own communities down? Just out and out stealing? More than usual violent muggings in hackney where people were warning them not to go out.

If its about cuts, where the f**k do they think the limited money there council is going have go now? Compleatly attacking the wrong people, the people who are also struggling to get by but working their arse off to do it!

Its not , its just scum going on the rampage once more. Most of these kids have had the exact same opportunities as me from school on wards, I can assure none of the black kids were treated any differently. Yet I've been to university and I am now in a reasonable job by buckling down a little bit, I wasn't a smart kid at school either, I was often in trouble, had dyspraxia and was picked on by a lot of the scum that are not out. Stealing Xbox's and nike trainers. Seriously f**k them and their excuses, they've had funding thrown at them for the last few years and its done nothing, they are not interested.

There is nothing clever or big about destroying peoples homes. Your neighbors home who are probably in an as bad as situation as you!

Also why do you think the public sector should be protected against the private sector? Its not a f**king war, the majority in the private sector are on just as low wages and perhaps worse off than public sectors with less safety in their jobs and f**k all pension compared to that.

[harderfaster]

So how many insurance companies are gonna go bust in the next seven days...

[brighteyes]

Well tiny changes to pensions, incredibly generous benefit packages?

Read the link, and educate yourself.

These cuts will affect public services - services that you'll use if you pay taxes, drive on the roads, use the NHS, etc. And if you think the service is inefficient and uneconomical now, how exactly is cutting the funding and the number of staff going to improve efficiency?

[pehaw]

http://louderthanwar.com/blogs/riot

[5co77ie]

So how many insurance companies are gonna go bust in the next seven days...

[5co77ie]

it's now outside the M25 and spreading

[5co77ie]

http://louderthanwar.com/blogs/riot

[Peter Dow]

[beLIEveR]

With a bit of luck "Moron" will instruct the army to start executing the bastards responsible tonight. The people responsible would be dealt with, and the Tories would never govern again.

(the first part of that comment has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that my sister lives in Enfield and is too frightened to attempt to leave the area)

[Ed209]

my beloved Camden is being smashed up now. Glad I'm not living in London anymore

[markeee]

0345: Eyewitness reports say a Tesco Express store was looted at Myrtle Street, on the fringes of Liverpool City Centre.

0344: Tommy Thompson, who works at a pub next to the Sony warehouse in Enfield, north London, that was set alight tells BBC Radio 5 Live he saw youths carrying petrol bombs at the scene. "We heard a smash at the Sony centre and I went outside to have a look. It was youths just looting and taking loads of products like Wii consoles and stuff like that. They had petrol bombs in bottles. As I went back to work to tell everyone what's going on, about five minutes after that the whole Sony centre was ablaze."

when will this all stop? is it just going to carry on spreading till it's happened almost everywhere>!?!

[ralph250]

[chappiepunk]

RIP Reeves Corner of croydon, I will forever love my bed I bought from there!

[ralph250]

my beloved Camden is being smashed up now. Glad I'm not living in London anymore

[big joe]

What a sad and disgraceful sight this all is. The streets of one of the great cities of the world taken over by scumbags. For what? For no reason other than they think they can get away with it. This is nothing whatsoever to do with cuts or anything political. Its disgusting little scrotes who have seen an opportunity to throw things at a beleaguered and outnumbered police force and set things on fire. Just imagine for a moment a world without police. My God the entire country would be in chaos.

All of these riots have things in common - males aged 15-30 with hoodies and balaclavas. This should be dealt with, in my opinion, with absolute zero tolerance. Approaching the police in an aggressive manner, looting, arson and violence of any kind by these pigs should be met with a vicious truncheon in their face. This isnt the time for kid gloves. They are horrible animals and need to be shown the police will not be bullied. Sorry if people think this sounds brutish but i cant stand scrotes. They've got it coming.

[Snufflebutt]

I see there's facebook groups trying to organise a riot in Glasgow. Strathclyde police have started visiting the homes of people organising these groups and telling them to take them down, so maybe they'll do that here. So reluctant to talk about the group on my facebook in case theres some idiots that'll think its a great idea. Should be alright here though.

[Kowalski]

Some Londoners organising a clean up.

That's more like it!

[Snufflebutt]

Diane Abbott, Labour MP, on Breakfast saying that cuts not to blame for riots. Finally a Labour MP not shamelessly using the situation to try and score some political points.

[Kowalski]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gex_ya4-Oo Edited August 9, 2011 by Kowalski

[lost]

not good

[eFestivals]

Surprised there's not a thread about this.

Years ago riots used to be about issues like racial discrimination, poll tax, Vietnam etc... but surely these are just arseholes looking for an excuse to loot. On Saturday night a charity shop got looted FFS.

yep, it's defo kids looking to loot. But I never thought they had it in 'em, and in the absence of anything else I applaud it.

After all, kids don't grow up with an aspiration of looting, so while it's purely criminal it's still the state of society which is bringing it about. If you give kids little hope of reaching more normal aspirations - and with UK-wide youth unemployment at 20% many people have that no-hope - then they'll find other ways of satisfying them.

Now, some will say that robbing is not the answer, and it's not. Some will say that 'normal' people don't go out on the rob but knuckle down to hard work, and that's true too. But it's still the case that enough people have that feeling of no-hope then some of them are going to resort to other means, and what we'll see is trouble on our streets.

We can carry on allowing the rich to get richer while marginalising huge chunks of society - and the result will be trouble on the streets - or we can create a fairer society and give all people hope of better times thru hard work.

The actions of people on the streets last night caused Dave Moron to cut short his very expensive holiday; the people on the streets last night might like one of those too. Until we're really "all in this together" then saying those words is seen as further incitement to take what you can by the only means you can.