London Riots 2011

"As we sweep away the mistakes made in the selfish, nocturnal darkness we must ensure that, amidst the broken glass and sadness, we don't sweep away the youth lost amongst the shards in the shadows cast by the new dawn."

I think Russell Brand got it right when he wrote his piece on the London riots following the devastation that unfolded last weekend. Anger in the hours and days after the riots has led to quick, ill-thought decision making from the highest authorities which are likely to, in the long run, exacerbate the situation. It's not just the government that's worrying me - it's a large section of the public too.

The main problem? Make knee-jerk decisions, and instead of calm rational solutions you get a climate for revenge and punishment. Justice against those who have committed crimes such as shoplifting and vandalism? Fair enough. But evicting rioters - and their families who may have played no part in the riots? I can't help but wonder what this is intended to achieve, other than a bit of Tory-style vengeance. To quote Brand again: "I remember David Cameron saying “hug a hoodie” but I haven’t seen him doing it, why would he? Hoodies don’t vote, they’ve realised it’s pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the “we don’t give a toss about you party." At first I questioned why someone would cause so much damage to the place in which they live, but the answer is simply that these kids feel so disconnected and alienated from their own community that they have no reason not to kick off. Turning to destructive violence on your own doorstep because you don't feel part of the community you live in is something I can barely get my head around, purely because I've never experienced it. It's both a dangerous and a very sad thing which needs addressing rationally, without pre-existing prejudice and snobbish reactionary punishments getting in the way of useful, proactive solutions to stop this kind of thing happening again.

Not that I am undermining the events which initially unfolded in London, but it probably hit home for me when the riots - although nowhere near the scale of those seen in London - moved to Liverpool and Manchester, as these are two places close to both my heart, and home. I was seeing places I knew and loved vandalised and set fire to and the emotional attachment I had for these locations meant I wanted to punish anyone who caused damage to them and maybe even get revenge, purely because I was angry and caught up in the moment.  But once the initial emotions blew over and I had a clearer head, I could take a rational approach to the riots - form my own proper opinion which I did not have immediately, and something which I think the government sacrificed in order to run out immediate (and hasty) solutions to keep the demanding public happy. To me it's like shouting something obscene at someone in the heat of an argument which you later regret and apologise for ever saying, apart from the government isn't apologising, probably because they can't see (or don't want to see) the real underlying problems here, and how they might be making things ten times worse.

Aside from watching the riot coverage on the news, I got a lot of my information (and other people's opinions) via Twitter, and some of the things people said really worried me. Watching Question Time, a man proposed that we just evict all of those guilty and stop their benefits. Many people have jumped on the bandwagon and agreed with this - not just the usual folk but people I really would not have expected, just showing that the riots have truly brought out the inner Daily Mail reader in many. One council has already started handing out eviction notices to one family whose son was involved in the riots. I tweeted a comment, voicing my despondency on the short-sighted way in which the authorities seemed to be going about things.

The thing which alarmed me is that the majority of those who re-tweeted actually did so because they agreed with what I'd said - the ridiculous idea that we simply ignore the problem, pretend the lowest classes aren't there and push them further away from any kind of connection with society. My ludicrous suggestion ridden with hyperbole was seen as a good idea by people. Are they being serious? Are these the same people who vote for the use of rubber bullets and for a police force in which every possible act of violence is met with more violence? The kind of easily influenced people who echo narrow-minded right wing ideals from those who say we should "just shoot them all", and who then argue with anyone who doesn't agree for "taking the side of the rioters" and "letting the country down"? The point is that to me, we are simply making a class which is already almost totally invisible even more so. We are, essentially, shoving them in a box and shielding them from public view, and why? Probably because addressing the problem of deprivation in such areas is a long-term solution which requires money, time and dedication, and I can't really imagine the government being too keen on that. Everyone wants to wash their hands of not just those involved in the riots, but everyone in those areas, and if the riots have shown us anything it's that you can't keep ignoring a problem forever.

It just really does seem that we have a government who merely focuses on trying to fix things in the aftermath of a disaster, instead of nipping the problem at the bud, long before it can develop into such. The kind of government who keeps "fixing" British society by putting a dab of glue here, a bit of tape there. Putting a plaster over the deep raging wound in our society so they, and we, can't see it. Ta-daa! All fixed!...although that's not quite how it works, is it?

The shooting in Tottenham was a mere spark to light a backlog of suppression and frustration held in the areas affected, and it doesn't seem that an awful lot of time has been spent trying to put two and two together. This is truly a forgotten class, described as the "ignored underclass" by many, and in the phrase that has echoed around a lot lately, maybe they did just have nothing to lose. This was not just about getting a new pair of Nikes and anyone who thinks that must be incredibly short-sighted. Yes, many rioters did loot shops, but the key point here is to look into why they looted shops - maybe because they wanted things they could never otherwise afford - and have never been given the opportunity to afford -- and maybe because they really do feel that they are "owed" things by the government. In no way do I think this gives a reason to loot and set fire to independent businesses or any business for that matter, let me reiterate this, but ultimately what else could they have done? It was already said by one of the rioters that they'd gone on a peaceful march to Scotland Yard and had been ignored, and so is it any wonder violence emerged? Maybe they rioted not because they thought they could get away with it, but because they had, and have, no opportunities or jobs to lose, and are stuck in the rut of society with no real way to get out. In a tragic way, maybe this was their time to really say "we are fed up and we are doing something about it". I do not advocate the ways in which they went about it, but how else would such an ignored part of society get proper media attention? Beyond the argument that it was just mindless violence and thugs jumping on a bandwagon, let's say that the government have finally been alerted to the fact that these people really are angry, and need to be heard.They have the opportunity now to address the closure of youth centres, the lack of opportunities for young people and the fact that one in two kids in Tottenham live below the poverty line.

If you evict people from their houses and cut benefits, alongside denying them the right to a roof over their head, surely you are also just creating a bigger opportunity for more riots and outbreaks of violence, along with crime. Not only could further alienation of this forgotten class lead to more vandalism, but if you further oppress a group of people, surely they are just going to get more angry and lose more faith in the government and other sections of society? It's well known that a Conservative government is always going to exclude the lower classes and favour the wealthy but there's only so long you can quarantine them off before things start to heat up. I've seen people argue that there are homeless people or families who would better benefit from the housing belonging to these rioters, but to say that a roof over your head is a privilege and not a right? That's a really unsettling thing to hear.

I suppose you would expect the perfect government to care for their citizens, rather than scornfully dismiss what was arguably an accident waiting to happen without bothering to take a step back and see the bigger picture. The burning down of innocent victims homes and family businesses is incredibly sad, but instead of sitting around and shouting at those who took to the streets, surely the government should be trying to find out why - and I mean properly trying to find out why they did, because it may well have had something to do with them. Many people view the youths involved in the riots as a lost cause but if you don't extinguish the flames of a fire properly then the fire will spread. What is making rioters homeless and cutting benefits going to do? Increase the numbers of girls becoming sex-workers to make a living? Increase hostility? Up crime rates? Most likely. What is the plan of action, to disown a whole group of people and dismiss them, and dismiss their children, and their grandchildren? You can treat the symptoms of a disease or you can try and cure the disease, or even prevent the disease from developing in the first place. Before these are properly addressed you are simply aggravating the major underlying social problems, or pushing them on to the next government. The UK does after all have one of the worst wealth-gaps in the developed world. You can call me naive for expecting such things from our government but there's only so long ignoring this will work for, and maybe the time to address it has finally come.