2011 England riots
Encyclopedia
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London borough
s and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting
and arson
.
Following a peaceful march on 6 August 2011 in relation to the police response to the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan
by Metropolitan Police Service
firearms officers
on 4 August 2011, a riot began in Tottenham
, North London
. In the following days, rioting spread to several London boroughs and districts and eventually to some other areas of England, with the most severe disturbances outside London occurring in Bristol
and cities in the Midlands and North West
of England. Related localised outbreaks also occurred in many smaller towns and cities in England.
The riots were characterised by rampant looting and arson attacks of unprecedented levels. As a result, British Prime Minister
David Cameron
returned early from his holiday in Italy and other government
and opposition leaders also ended their holidays to attend to the matter. All police leave was cancelled and Parliament
was recalled on 11 August to debate the situation.
Arrests, charges and court proceedings continue, with courts working extended hours. There were a total 3,443 crimes across London linked to the disorder.
as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated £
200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity was significantly compromised.
Police action was blamed for the initial riot, and the subsequent police reaction was criticised as being neither appropriate nor sufficiently effective. The riots have generated significant ongoing debate among political, social and academic figures about the causes and context in which they happened.
in the same region, which were unrelated to the 2011 riots.
. It is not yet known why police were attempting to arrest Duggan, but the Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC) said that the planned arrest was part of Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime within the black community
. The incident had been referred to the IPCC, which is standard practice if death or serious injury follows police contact.
After the shooting, the media widely reported that a bullet was found embedded in a police radio, implying Duggan fired on the police. Friends and relatives of Duggan are reported to have said that he was unarmed. The Guardian
later reported that initial ballistics
tests on the bullet recovered from the police radio indicate that it was a "very distinct" police issue hollow-point bullet. The IPCC later stated that a loaded Bruni BBM blank-firing pistol, converted to fire live ammunition, was recovered from the scene. It was wrapped in a sock and there was no evidence that it had been fired.
On 13 August, the Independent Police Complaints Commission
admitted that Duggan did not open fire, stating, "It seems possible that we may have verbally led journalists to [wrongly] believe that shots were exchanged". The bullet that had lodged in an officer's radio is believed to have been an overpenetration, having passed through Duggan’s body.
At lunchtime on 6 August, 7 hours before the march and subsequent riot took place, a meeting was called by police between local community leaders, councillors and members of police advisory groups. In this meeting, police were warned several times that there could possibly be another riot similar to those seen at Broadwater Farm in 1985 if local concerns regarding the death were not addressed.
and finishing at Tottenham police station. The protest was organised by friends and relatives of Duggan to demand justice for the family. Rioting occurred shortly after about 120 people marched from the Broadwater Farm estate to Tottenham Police Station via the High Road. The group of some 200 people demanded that a senior local police officer come out to speak to them. They stayed in front of the police station hours longer than they originally planned because they were not satisfied with the seniority of the officers available at the time. A younger and more aggressive crowd arrived at the scene around dusk, some carrying weapons. Further violence broke out based on an allegation that the police had attacked a 16-year-old girl.
and in Oxford Circus in the centre of London.
The morning of 8 August was quiet, but by evening areas across London were affected by widespread looting, arson and violence, with significant outbreaks in parts of Battersea, Brixton, Bromley, Camden, Chingford Mount, Croydon, Ealing, East Ham, Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham, Stratford, Waltham Forest and Woolwich. A man was found shot in Croydon, and died later in hospital. Another man who had been assaulted in Ealing died in hospital on 11 August. Localised outbreaks of copycat actions were reported outside London – notably in Birmingham, Bristol, Gloucester, Gillingham and Nottingham.
Following a greatly increased police presence, London was quiet on 9 August, but copycat actions continued in Birmingham (where, according to the police account, eleven shots were fired at police, including at a police helicopter, and petrol bombs thrown at officers) and Nottingham and spread to Leicester, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton in the Midlands
and to Bury, Liverpool, Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Sefton and Wirral in the north-west of England. On 10 August, London remained quiet while hundreds of arrests were being made by the police. Three men were killed in Birmingham in a hit-and-run incident related to the disturbances. Looting and violence continued in two locations around Manchester and Liverpool.
Throughout the rioting, many of the looters did not bother to cover their faces as they raided electrical shops, sports shops and off-licences. Some posed for pictures with stolen goods, posting them on social-networking sites.
There were reports that the BlackBerry Messenger
service was used by looters to organise their activities, and that inflammatory and inaccurate accounts of events on social media sites may have incited disturbances.
, died following a shooting in Croydon
, South London
. His family denied reports that Ellis, who had come from the Brixton area to Croydon with a group of friends, had been involved in looting.
, Birmingham, three men – Haroon Jahan, 21 and brothers Shahzad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31 – were killed in a hit-and-run incident
while attempting to protect their neighbourhood from rioters and looters. A 26 year old man, a 23 year old man and a 17 year old youth appeared in court charged with murder and were remanded in custody.
on the evening of 8 August.
Bowes was attacked by members of a mob on 8 August 2011, while attempting to extinguish a fire that had been deliberately started
in industrial bins on Spring Bridge Road. The attack inflicted severe head injuries which resulted in a coma. The assault was caught on CCTV and reportedly filmed on mobile phones by associates of the alleged assailant. The attack on Bowes was witnessed by several police officers, but due to the number of rioters they were unable to come to his aid until riot squad officers pushed back the rioters while being attacked in order to reach Bowes. A line of officers then held back the rioters as paramedics arrived. Bowes's wallet and phone had been stolen, and police faced difficulty in identifying him. He died of his injuries in St Mary's Hospital on 11 August 2011 after being removed from life support.
Many tributes were paid to Bowes, including Ealing Council who flew the Union Flag
at half-mast over its town hall and announced the launch of a relief fund in his name, and London Mayor Boris Johnson
, who described him as a hero.
A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of Bowes' murder, rioting and committing three burglaries; he was released on bail. A 16-year-old male who lives in Hounslow
was charged with murdering Bowes, violent disorder and four burglaries. He appeared at Croydon
Magistrates' Court
on 16 August 2011, where he was remanded in custody until his appearance at the Central Criminal Court
on 18 August 2011. His 31 year-old mother was charged with perverting the course of justice.
.
In Barking
, North-East London
, 20-year-old Malaysian student Mohammad Asyraf Haziq was beaten and then robbed twice by looters emptying his rucksack. Footage of the mugging was uploaded onto YouTube. He suffered a broken jaw, requiring surgery.
In Chingford
, North-East London
, three police officers were hit by a car used as a getaway vehicle by a group who looted the Aristocrat store on Chingford Mount Road. Two of the officers were seriously injured and taken to hospital.
In total, 186 police officers were injured. Five police dogs were also reported injured.
10 firefighters were injured as the London Fire Brigade
dealt with over 100 serious fires caused by the disturbances. The LFB also reported that eight of its fire engines had their windscreens smashed and that two fire car
s were attacked.
The Association of British Insurers said they expect the industry to pay out in excess of £200 million. Estimated losses in London were indicated to be in the region of £100m.
On 8 August 2011, a Sony DADC
warehouse in Enfield
at Enfield Lock
, which also acted as the primary distribution centre for independent music distributor PIAS Entertainment Group
, was destroyed by fire. Initially, because millions of items of stock were lost, including most of PIAS's inventory, it was thought that long-term damage to the British independent music industry might result. , PIAS confirmed that their operations are back to normal. On 11 August 2011, London police reported that they had arrested three teenagers in connection with the warehouse fire.
The Financial Times reported that an analysis showed that 48,000 local businesses - shops, restaurants, pubs and clubs - had suffered financial losses as a result of the looting and rioting in English streets.
Many other London buses were damaged, with broken windows etc.
On 9 August, Croydon's Tramlink
was partly shut down due to damage inflicted along its route. Transport for London
, London Overground
and London Underground
shut Barking, Peckham Rye and Harrow-on-the-Hill and Hackney Central stations. The train operating company Southern
later announced that trains were not stopping at many stations in south London. National Express Coaches stopped serving Wolverhampton and suburban stops in the Birmingham area (but not Birmingham Coach Station itself) as well as Manchester (but not Manchester Airport).
games due to be played on 9 and 10 August were postponed after requests from police due to the riots. The games at Bristol City
, Bristol Rovers
, Charlton Athletic
, Crystal Palace
and West Ham United
were all postponed. There was also uncertainty as to the Third Test cricket match
between India and England, at Edgbaston
in Birmingham, but the match was played.
The international football friendly match
between England
and the Netherlands
at Wembley Stadium
due to take place on 10 August was cancelled, as well as the international friendly between Ghana
and Nigeria
scheduled for 9 August at Vicarage Road
, Watford
.
Tottenham Hotspur
's opening game of the 2011–12 Premier League
season against Everton
on 13 August was postponed. The League Two game between Cheltenham Town
and Swindon Town
, due to be played the same day, was also initially postponed until further consultation allowed Gloucestershire Police to provide the required resources.
Labour
MP David Lammy
appealed for calm, saying that "true justice can only follow a thorough investigation of the facts" and that Tottenham had had its "heart ripped out" by the riots. He said that rioters were not representative of the local community as a whole and insisted that the Independent Police Complaints Commission
must fully establish the circumstances of Mark Duggan's death. Lammy voiced concerns that the EDL
and BNP
were playing on the London riots and people's fears to advance their political motives.
Streatham
's Labour MP Chuka Umunna
condemned the violence in Brixton and Tottenham. Umunna called for the BlackBerry Messenger
service, used by some of the rioters to coordinate their activities, to be "temporarily disabled" between 6 pm and 6 am BST
.
The use of BlackBerry Messenger has led to arrests – a Colchester
man was detained under the Serious Crimes Act for organising a water-fight through the service.
John Randall, the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip said: "It’s a small minority of people causing the trouble. The events in Ealing brought it home, it’s just down the Uxbridge Road." Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott
called for the introduction of a curfew
.
Newark
MP Patrick Mercer
, formerly a British Army colonel, called for the deployment of water cannon
. In December 2010 Theresa May
, the Home Secretary, had said that the deployment of water cannon by police forces on the British mainland was an operational decision which had been "resisted until now by senior police officers." On 9 August 2011, May rejected their use and said: "The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities." Ken Livingstone
, the former London mayor, said "The issue of water cannon would be very useful given the level of arson we are seeing here." Scotland Yard said officers did not have any water cannon and if their use was approved they would have to be brought over from Northern Ireland
.
May said: "I condemn utterly the violence in Tottenham... Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order." She returned to the UK from holiday early to meet with senior police officials on 8 August.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister's office added: "The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable. There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property."
The deputy prime minister
Nick Clegg
said that the riots were "completely unacceptable" and described the rioters as "needless and opportunistic".
London's mayor, Boris Johnson
, who cut short a holiday in Canada to return to the UK on 9 August, said: "I'm appalled at the scenes of violence and destruction in Tottenham" whilst his deputy Kit Malthouse
told a Sky News
reporter that "criminal elements were to blame for the trouble."
Prime Minister David Cameron
condemned the "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing" and told rioters "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment."
Croydon Central
MP Gavin Barwell
called the damage caused in the London Borough of Croydon "sickening".
In a strongly worded criticism of what he deems to be a misplaced "hyper-sensitivity about race", dating back to the Macpherson Report of 1999, Civitas director David Green attributed the reluctance by police to use force to a fear of disciplinary action. He said that "officers in charge of a riot think it safer to wait for orders from the top".
In a public speech on 15 August, David Cameron blamed a "broken society" in "moral collapse" – broad societal change themes common to his party's election campaign theme Broken Britain
.
The city councils of Manchester and Salford are reported to be investigating their powers for ways of evicting tenants if they, or their children, have been involved in violence or looting in their cities. The London Borough of Greenwich
also stated on its website: "We shall seek the eviction of anyone living in council property if they are found to have been engaged in criminal acts." On 13 August Wandsworth Council
served the first eviction notice, on the mother of an 18-year-old suspect.
German far-left activists suggested using the riots in England as a role model
to be applied to their political activities in Germany as well.
Commentators likened the riots to the Broadwater Farm riot
of 1985, during which a police officer, Keith Blakelock, was murdered.
The disturbances were preceded by calls for better oversight of the Metropolitan Police, repeating observations which go back to the death of Stephen Lawrence and the New Cross Fire
. In April 2011 there was a large nonviolent march to Scotland Yard
as a result of the death of Smiley Culture
. The very widespread scale of the violence prompted comparisons with the Gordon Riots
of 1780.
The Sun called the scenes "shameful" and lamented that "[w]ith the London Olympics less than a year away, our reputation is being damaged at the worst moment". It added: "This is anarchy, pure and simple. And it presents a serious threat to life and property."
The Daily Telegraph
s editorial said: "What we have experienced in London and elsewhere since Saturday night is a wholly new phenomenon: violent disorder whose sole intent is criminal... In such circumstances, there can be only one response if the law-abiding majority is to be protected: the thugs must be taught to respect the law of the land the hard way."
The Guardian
called on the public to back the police: "... Britain's 2011 riots have become a defining contest between disorder and order. In that contest, important caveats notwithstanding, there is only one right side to be on. The attacks, the destruction, the criminality and the reign of fear must be stopped. The rule of law in the cities of Britain must not only be defended against delinquent destruction. It must also be enforced."
In its 9 August leading article, The Independent
said the police's handling of Mark Duggan's death
"looks to have been poor", and that there is "context of mistrust of the police here." The paper added that "it is spurious to draw a connection between that disaffection [by the inner-city youth] and specific outbreaks of violence of the sort we have seen in recent days."
Peter Hitchens
of the Daily Mail
, disputed the idea that the events were riots on the basis that they were fundamentally apolitical. He further stated: "This is an equal-opportunity crime wave. The lawbreakers are not from any distinct ethnic group, and attempts to explain this behaviour on these ground are baseless and poisonous."
Psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple wrote an opinion piece for the New York Daily News
, in which he blamed the "sense of entitlement" that he sees as being common among Britain's youth as a cause for the riots, and said that British youth are today among "the most unpleasant and violent in the world" as a result.
Some journalists made comparisons between these riots and the 2005 riots in France
. In both cases, the unrest started with the death of a young person during a confrontation with the police. In fact, a television report by France 2
, broadcast in November 2005, showed a visit by a delegation from Évry (just outside Paris) to Tottenham
, with the report calling "Tottenham part of London 'regularly shaken by riots' in earlier decades, where 'a lot of money was invested' and 'the promotion of ethnic minorities', had been made a priority."
Writing in Pakistan's Newsline
, Mahir Ali likened the government's response to that of Margaret Thatcher
to the 1981 England riots
.
and baton rounds
, the use of which has long been resisted by senior police commanders and politicians.
Pauline Pearce, a 45 year old woman from Hackney, was filmed close to the rioting, furiously chastising looters over their criminal and selfish behaviour. She is seen holding a walking stick and gesturing. The resulting Heroine of Hackney video subsequently went viral
. Its rapid spread was helped by tweeting from famous people such as newspaper editor Piers Morgan
and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
. Pearce was hailed as a heroine for helping to ease tensions in Hackney; her influence was acknowledged by politicians and the national press. MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, Meg Hillier
, has invited Pearce to the Houses of Parliament. Speaking to The Australian
newspaper, Pearce described the looting and vandalism as being "heart-breaking" and also contrasted people's relative poverty with expenditure for the Olympic Games
. Pearce has since been featured in The Spectator
, dismissing David Starkey
's view that hip-hop culture was partly to blame for the riots. In September 2011, she was awarded the Team London Award at the annual Peace Awards by Boris Johnson
.
On Amazon
, sales of baseball bat
s and truncheons
increased significantly overnight. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh stated: "We are already seeing a community kickback. People are angry. This is their neighbourhoods that are at stake."
Three men killed in a hit-and-run incident in Birmingham, Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali, and Abdul Musavir Tariq, were described as heroes for dying while attempting to defend their neighbourhood. Tariq Jahan, the father of 21 year-old victim Haroon Jahan, gave a speech appealing for calm, social unity and an end to the violence, hours after his son's death. Jahan was hailed as a hero and a patriot for helping to ease tensions in Birmingham; his influence was acknowledged by politicians and the national press, receiving an award at the 2011 Pride of Britain Awards
. Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan
said of him: "Uncomplaining, in control of his emotions, Tariq Jahan reminds us of what it means to be British." The Financial Times described Jahan as eloquent and inspiring, and said "His selfless intervention contrasted with the rapacious self-interest of the looters, and was a timely reminder of the obligations of community."
Tens of thousands of users of social networking sites coordinated clean-up operations of their local shopping areas and streets. Social media
sites Twitter and Facebook were also used for reporting information on the riots and to co-ordinate a voluntary citizens' operation to clear up riot-hit areas. In Clapham Junction, dozens of volunteers carrying brooms turned out to assist with clean-up efforts. On Facebook, over 900,000 people joined a group entitled 'Supporting the Met Police against the London rioters'.
Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney, the city centre spokesperson for Manchester City Council
, said: "The true Mancunian civic spirit has been shown in Manchester today." Staff from city centre businesses and Manchester Metropolitan University joined the volunteers, as food outlets gave out free drinks and snacks. There were several fundraising initiatives to help independent business owners re-build their businessess and livelihoods.
A petition was submitted to the UK government proposing that any convicted rioters have their benefit payments cut. This petition has been signed by over 200,000 people.
A petition on the UK government website demanding convicted rioters to be banished to the Outer Hebrides
of Scotland was set up in the summer of 2011. The reaction caused a public outcry in Scotland and eventually Westminster offered an apology to Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil.
, Kurdish, Pakistani and Turkish communities chased down masked youths in several areas of North
and East London
, including Green Street
, Hackney
, Haringey
, and Tower Hamlets. Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan praised the British Muslim community for their brave and responsible reactions to the crisis.
On 9 August, vigilantes included locals in Enfield
which included several members of the English Defence League
, locals and supporters of Millwall F.C.
in Eltham, and the Sikh communities
in Southall
, East Ham
, Ilford
, and Romford
.
Sangat TV
and Sikh Channel
urged their viewers to protect Sikh temples after a report that one was attacked in Birmingham. On the night of 9–10 August 2011, following violence, arson and rioting in London, members of the Sikh community in Southall volunteered to stand guard at various city Gurdwara
s, with as many as 200 to 300 Sikhs from different age groups gathered in various Gurudwaras across Southall to safeguard their places of worship from rioters. The Sikhs drew praise from Prime Minister David Cameron for this action.
On 10 August in Eltham, police clashed with a bottle-throwing crowd of about 200 vigilantes, including many English Defence League
members. It was reported that that 50 EDL members joined forces with locals to patrol the streets. That same day, a senior police officer said that some vigilante groups were hampering police operations in London. 90 EDL members also joined vigilantes in Enfield.
suggested that race relations in Britain have deteriorated since the riots and that prejudice towards ethnic minorities is on the rise. Groups such as the EDL
and the BNP
were said to be exploiting the situation. After the hit-and-run incident in Birmingham, in which three Asian men were killed by a black driver, racial tensions between blacks and Asians in Birmingham increased; hostilities were diffused by the public appeals for an end to violence by Tariq Jahan, father of one of the victims.
The effects of black culture
were discussed by historian David Starkey
in the 12 August edition of the BBC's Newsnight
TV programme. Starkey singled out the influence of black gangster and rap culture
on youths of all races, contrasting contemporary youth patois with the speech patterns of black Tottenham MP David Lammy
, who, Starkey asserted, "sounded white". The author Dreda Say Mitchell
countered his argument by saying that there is no one single "black culture".
Some commentators remarked on the apparently high proportion of black people involved in the riots and took the view that there was a disproportionately high number of rioters who were black, compared to the overall demographics of the United Kingdom. In October 2011 a report was published by the Ministry of Justice
providing demographic statistics of the people charged over participation the riots. Overall, 46% of people brought before a courtroom were black, disproportionate to the average UK population; however the figures revealed varying demographics in different areas when compared to local populations. For example in Haringey
, the figures revealed that 55% of defendants in court over riot-related charges were black, compared to a 17% black population; but in Salford
, 94% of rioters in court were white, compared to an 88% white population. Additionally, looters from 44 foreign countries were jailed, with Jamaicans representing the largest group but also including Somalians, Poles, Colombians, Iraqis, Congolese, Vietnamese and Zimbabweans.
The Ministry of Justice report also noted that rioters brought before the courts were disproportionately male (90%) and young (26% were aged 10-17, 27% were aged 18-20 and only 5% were aged over 40).
of the Metropolitan Police Service, with detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command
, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch, and police support staff. The Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Steve Kavanagh, stated that the number of officers deployed tripled between 6 and 7 August.
The BBC reported that West Midlands riot police officers were issued with plastic bullets to use against looters, but that none were fired. Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that police in London were considering using baton rounds against rioters, not previously used by mainland police in public order operations (though they were first approved for use in England and Wales in 2001).
The Metropolitan Police Service
has assigned 450 detectives to hunt for rioters and looters. The list of photographed looters has been made available on their website. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan of Greater Manchester Police
criticised "unprecedented" criminality. On 10 August, he warned: "Hundreds and hundreds of people, we have your image, we have your face, we have your acts of wanton criminality on film."
Research In Motion
(RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry, are reported to have contacted the police to offer help in investigating the use of their system for the organisation of riots.
According to The Independent, the costs to the Metropolitan Police of policing the disorder and disturbances in London are expected to exceed £34 million. This could be more than their total bill for the policing of all major public disorder events in the year from April 2010 to March 2011.
figures show that of the 1,566 people that have appeared before magistrates on charges connected with the disorder, that 1,027 had been in London, 190 in Greater Manchester, 132 in the West Midlands, 67 in Merseyside and 64 in Nottingham.
Sentences of four years in a Young Offender Institution were given to two men who promoted riots via Facebook
. The proposed events in Northwich
and Warrington
were not attended by any other people. These sentences were affirmed on appeal by the Court of Appeal. Giving the judgment of the court, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
, Lord Judge, sitting with Sir John Thomas and Lord Justice Leveson
, stated that there is "an overwhelming obligation on sentencing courts to do what they can to ensure the protection of the public", that "the imposition of severe sentences, intended to provide both punishment and deterrence, must follow" and that "[t]hose who deliberately participate in disturbances of this magnitude, causing injury and damage and fear to even the most stout-hearted of citizens, and who individually commit further crimes during the course of the riots are committing aggravated crimes". The appeals were dismissed.
A woman who had not taken part in the riots received five months for receiving a pair of stolen shorts. The sentence was later reduced on appeal. Manchester police used Twitter to celebrate the five month sentence; they later apologised and removed the tweet. A teenager was freed when prosecutors found evidence he had been wrongly charged with arson. While in prison, his own flat was burned down. The detaining of under-18s without criminal record
s was criticised by UNICEF in October 2011 for possibly breaching the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
.
, gang culture and criminal opportunism. The House of Commons Home Affairs select committee will begin examining the police response to the riots in late 2011. The leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband
, has called for a public inquiry into the wider causes of the riots and has stated that his party will set up such an inquiry if the coalition fails to do so. The UK was shaken by worst riots in decades.
A YouGov
poll was carried out on the 8–9 August 2011 for The Sun asking what those surveyed believed to be the main cause of the riots. In it, 42% of those polled thought "criminal behaviour" to be the main cause, whilst 26% thought "gang culture" was, 8% thought "government cuts" were, 5% thought "unemployment" was, 5% thought "racial tensions" was and 3% thought "poor policing" was. In a ComRes
poll for the Sunday Mirror and Independent On Sunday, in which the question was "do you agree or disagree with these statements about the recent riots?", 90% of those polled agreed that the "Police should be allowed use to water cannon to disperse rioters", 90% agreed that "There is no excuse whatsoever for the violent rioting and looting over the last few days", 61% agreed that "Government ministers failed to return to their desks quickly enough from holidays" and 50% agreed that "The Government's response to the economic crisis (e.g. cuts to services, unemployment, reduced education funding) is helping fuel the rioters".
has argued that the tactical use of frequent "Stop and search", particularly of young black men, has caused resentment of the police in the black community.
According to David Lammy
, the MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures".
writing in The Independent
blames social exclusion
and social deprivation
.
In a House of Commons debate on the riots Home Secretary Theresa May
stated that the riots were symptomatic of a "wider malaise" including worklessness, illiteracy, and drug abuse but also stated that "Everybody, no matter what their background or circumstances, has the freedom to choose between right and wrong".
Former Labour
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
writing in The Observer, stated that the riots were not caused by a broken society, but due to a group of young, alienated, disaffected youth who are outside the social mainstream and who live in a culture at odds with any canons of proper behaviour, he said that this is found in virtually every developed nation.
Various journalists have identified poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor
as causative factors.
Max Hastings
has blamed a culture of welfare dependence.
A journalist on Al Jazeera suggested a similarity to the disenfranchisement behind the Arab Spring
revolutionary wave
of 2011. Links were made to high youth unemployment and general disenfranchisement.
A study by the The Financial Times
published in September 2011 found a strong link between rioting and deprivation.
has also been cited as a cause. Ken Livingstone, the Labour Candidate for Mayor of London in 2012 has argued that the "The economic stagnation and cuts being imposed by the Tory government inevitably create social division." Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister
and leader of the Liberal Democrats political party
, made it clear that the government's planned cuts to police budgets will go ahead.
The local government budget had been cut in the past year so Haringey Council, which includes Tottenham
and Tottenham Hale
, decided to close eight of its 13 youth clubs in 2011, rather than save money through increased efficiency or make cuts in other areas.
Scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance
, removing of funding for courses where the student already has an equal or lower level qualification and trebling of university tuition fees, combined with high youth unemployment has placed the British youth 'between a rock and a hard place' alienating and angering the youth population. Proponents of this argument say that Scottish youth did not riot partly because Scottish students do not have to pay tuition fees.
Cuts in public services
Youth clubs and the like closing.
MP has said that Tottenham has the highest unemployment rate in London and the eighth highest in the United Kingdom. The number of people chasing every one job vacancy in Haringey has been put at 23 and 54 in separate reports, and fears had spread of disorder after youth club closures in recent months.
Low economic growth and highest unemployment rate in decades.
discussion on 12 August, historian David Starkey
blamed black gangster culture, saying that it had influenced youths of all races.
Theresa May
said: I think this is about sheer criminality. That is what we have seen on the streets. The violence we've seen, the looting we've seen, the thuggery we've seen - this is sheer criminality, and let's make no bones about it. Paul Hobbs, London correspondent for One News (New Zealand) said that looters are not politically motivated and called the riots "recreational violence". A Manchester rioter said to a BBC correspondent: Every time I go into town I just think how the shops got smashed up in 2011 by all of us, I just laugh about it every time I go back in now."
The BBC reported that the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police had stated that he thought that the motivation for rioters targeting the city centre was not anger, but greed.
suggested that moral decay is just as bad at the top of society as it is at the bottom, with the rich and powerful generating anger among the British population. He cited the MPs' expenses scandal
, bankers' bonuses
, and the phone hacking scandal as setting poor examples.
, the Lord Chancellor
and Secretary of State for Justice, writing in The Guardian, described the riots in part as "an outburst of outrageous behaviour by the criminal classes". He drew attention to the statistic that almost three-quarters of the adults who had been charged with offences related to the disorder already had a criminal record. Clarke characterised this as the legacy of "a broken penal system", one that did not have a good record for preventing reoffending. He stated he is proposing radical new measures intended to focus on robust punishment and on delivering reductions in reoffending.
London borough
The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...
s and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
and arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
.
Following a peaceful march on 6 August 2011 in relation to the police response to the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan
Death of Mark Duggan
Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black man, was shot on 4 August 2011 by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, London, England, following a surveillance operation, on suspicion of a planned revenge attack following the fatal stabbing of his cousin. He died from a gunshot wound to the chest...
by Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
firearms officers
Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the majority of police officers do not carry firearms, except in special circumstances. This originates from the formation of the Metropolitan Police Service in the 19th century, when police were not armed, partly to counter public fears and objections concerning armed...
on 4 August 2011, a riot began in Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. In the following days, rioting spread to several London boroughs and districts and eventually to some other areas of England, with the most severe disturbances outside London occurring in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and cities in the Midlands and North West
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
of England. Related localised outbreaks also occurred in many smaller towns and cities in England.
The riots were characterised by rampant looting and arson attacks of unprecedented levels. As a result, British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
returned early from his holiday in Italy and other government
Government of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...
and opposition leaders also ended their holidays to attend to the matter. All police leave was cancelled and Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
was recalled on 11 August to debate the situation.
Arrests, charges and court proceedings continue, with courts working extended hours. There were a total 3,443 crimes across London linked to the disorder.
as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity was significantly compromised.
Police action was blamed for the initial riot, and the subsequent police reaction was criticised as being neither appropriate nor sufficiently effective. The riots have generated significant ongoing debate among political, social and academic figures about the causes and context in which they happened.
Background to the initial disturbances in London
The riots occurred about 26 years after Broadwater Farm riotBroadwater Farm riot
The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm area of Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985.The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day from a stroke during a police search of her...
in the same region, which were unrelated to the 2011 riots.
Police shooting of Mark Duggan
On 4 August 2011, a police officer shot and killed 29-year-old Mark Duggan during an attempt to arrest him, on the Ferry Lane bridge, next to Tottenham Hale stationTottenham Hale station
Tottenham Hale, is a National Rail and London Underground Victoria Line station in Tottenham, north London. It is on Hale Road near the Tottenham Hale one-way gyratory system...
. It is not yet known why police were attempting to arrest Duggan, but the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
(IPCC) said that the planned arrest was part of Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime within the black community
Black British
Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
. The incident had been referred to the IPCC, which is standard practice if death or serious injury follows police contact.
After the shooting, the media widely reported that a bullet was found embedded in a police radio, implying Duggan fired on the police. Friends and relatives of Duggan are reported to have said that he was unarmed. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
later reported that initial ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
tests on the bullet recovered from the police radio indicate that it was a "very distinct" police issue hollow-point bullet. The IPCC later stated that a loaded Bruni BBM blank-firing pistol, converted to fire live ammunition, was recovered from the scene. It was wrapped in a sock and there was no evidence that it had been fired.
On 13 August, the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
admitted that Duggan did not open fire, stating, "It seems possible that we may have verbally led journalists to [wrongly] believe that shots were exchanged". The bullet that had lodged in an officer's radio is believed to have been an overpenetration, having passed through Duggan’s body.
At lunchtime on 6 August, 7 hours before the march and subsequent riot took place, a meeting was called by police between local community leaders, councillors and members of police advisory groups. In this meeting, police were warned several times that there could possibly be another riot similar to those seen at Broadwater Farm in 1985 if local concerns regarding the death were not addressed.
Protest march
On 6 August a protest was held, initially peacefully, beginning at Broadwater FarmBroadwater Farm
Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate , an experiment in high-density social housing built in the late 1960s...
and finishing at Tottenham police station. The protest was organised by friends and relatives of Duggan to demand justice for the family. Rioting occurred shortly after about 120 people marched from the Broadwater Farm estate to Tottenham Police Station via the High Road. The group of some 200 people demanded that a senior local police officer come out to speak to them. They stayed in front of the police station hours longer than they originally planned because they were not satisfied with the seniority of the officers available at the time. A younger and more aggressive crowd arrived at the scene around dusk, some carrying weapons. Further violence broke out based on an allegation that the police had attacked a 16-year-old girl.
Riots
The 6 August peaceful march in Tottenham was followed by rioting and looting, first in Tottenham and later in Tottenham Hale retail park. The spread of news and rumours about the previous evening's disturbances in Tottenham sparked riots during the night of 7 August in the London districts of Brixton, Enfield, Islington and Wood GreenWood Green
Wood Green is a district in north London, England, located in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated north of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London.-History:...
and in Oxford Circus in the centre of London.
The morning of 8 August was quiet, but by evening areas across London were affected by widespread looting, arson and violence, with significant outbreaks in parts of Battersea, Brixton, Bromley, Camden, Chingford Mount, Croydon, Ealing, East Ham, Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham, Stratford, Waltham Forest and Woolwich. A man was found shot in Croydon, and died later in hospital. Another man who had been assaulted in Ealing died in hospital on 11 August. Localised outbreaks of copycat actions were reported outside London – notably in Birmingham, Bristol, Gloucester, Gillingham and Nottingham.
Following a greatly increased police presence, London was quiet on 9 August, but copycat actions continued in Birmingham (where, according to the police account, eleven shots were fired at police, including at a police helicopter, and petrol bombs thrown at officers) and Nottingham and spread to Leicester, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and to Bury, Liverpool, Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Sefton and Wirral in the north-west of England. On 10 August, London remained quiet while hundreds of arrests were being made by the police. Three men were killed in Birmingham in a hit-and-run incident related to the disturbances. Looting and violence continued in two locations around Manchester and Liverpool.
Throughout the rioting, many of the looters did not bother to cover their faces as they raided electrical shops, sports shops and off-licences. Some posed for pictures with stolen goods, posting them on social-networking sites.
There were reports that the BlackBerry Messenger
Blackberry Messenger
BlackBerry Messenger is a proprietary Internet-based instant messenger application included on BlackBerry devices which allows messaging between BlackBerry users.It was developed by Research In Motion , maker of the BlackBerry device...
service was used by looters to organise their activities, and that inflammatory and inaccurate accounts of events on social media sites may have incited disturbances.
Effects
Trevor Ellis
26-year-old Trevor Ellis, of Brixton HillBrixton Hill
Brixton Hill is the name given to a 1 km section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. It slopes downhill towards central London.Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road...
, died following a shooting in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. His family denied reports that Ellis, who had come from the Brixton area to Croydon with a group of friends, had been involved in looting.
Haroon Jahan, Shahzad Ali and Abdul Musavir
On 10 August, in Winson GreenWinson Green
Winson Green is a loosely-defined inner-city area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. It is part of the ward of Soho.It is the location of HM Prison Birmingham and City Hospital .The area has a very multi-racial population, with large Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities.R&B singer...
, Birmingham, three men – Haroon Jahan, 21 and brothers Shahzad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31 – were killed in a hit-and-run incident
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
while attempting to protect their neighbourhood from rioters and looters. A 26 year old man, a 23 year old man and a 17 year old youth appeared in court charged with murder and were remanded in custody.
Richard Mannington Bowes
A 68-year-old man, Richard Mannington Bowes, died on 11 August after he was attacked while attempting to stamp out a litter-bin fire in EalingEaling
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
on the evening of 8 August.
Bowes was attacked by members of a mob on 8 August 2011, while attempting to extinguish a fire that had been deliberately started
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
in industrial bins on Spring Bridge Road. The attack inflicted severe head injuries which resulted in a coma. The assault was caught on CCTV and reportedly filmed on mobile phones by associates of the alleged assailant. The attack on Bowes was witnessed by several police officers, but due to the number of rioters they were unable to come to his aid until riot squad officers pushed back the rioters while being attacked in order to reach Bowes. A line of officers then held back the rioters as paramedics arrived. Bowes's wallet and phone had been stolen, and police faced difficulty in identifying him. He died of his injuries in St Mary's Hospital on 11 August 2011 after being removed from life support.
Many tributes were paid to Bowes, including Ealing Council who flew the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
at half-mast over its town hall and announced the launch of a relief fund in his name, and London Mayor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, who described him as a hero.
A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of Bowes' murder, rioting and committing three burglaries; he was released on bail. A 16-year-old male who lives in Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
was charged with murdering Bowes, violent disorder and four burglaries. He appeared at Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
on 16 August 2011, where he was remanded in custody until his appearance at the Central Criminal Court
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
on 18 August 2011. His 31 year-old mother was charged with perverting the course of justice.
Injuries
In London, between Monday afternoon and the early hours of Tuesday, 14 people were injured by rioters. These included a 75-year-old woman who suffered a broken hip in HackneyLondon Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
.
In Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
, North-East London
North East (London sub region)
The North East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and the City of London. The sub region was established in 2008 and replaced the larger East sub region that had been...
, 20-year-old Malaysian student Mohammad Asyraf Haziq was beaten and then robbed twice by looters emptying his rucksack. Footage of the mugging was uploaded onto YouTube. He suffered a broken jaw, requiring surgery.
In Chingford
Chingford
Chingford is a district of north east London, bordering on Enfield and Edmonton to the west, Woodford to the east, Walthamstow and Stratford to the south and Essex to the north. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross and forms part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest...
, North-East London
North East (London sub region)
The North East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and the City of London. The sub region was established in 2008 and replaced the larger East sub region that had been...
, three police officers were hit by a car used as a getaway vehicle by a group who looted the Aristocrat store on Chingford Mount Road. Two of the officers were seriously injured and taken to hospital.
In total, 186 police officers were injured. Five police dogs were also reported injured.
10 firefighters were injured as the London Fire Brigade
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire...
dealt with over 100 serious fires caused by the disturbances. The LFB also reported that eight of its fire engines had their windscreens smashed and that two fire car
Fire chief's vehicle
A fire chief's vehicle, also called a "chief unit" or a "fire chief's car", "Fly Car", "Fly Vehicle", a "fire car", or sometimes even called a "Buggy" , is a car, truck, or SUV that is used by a fire chief at fire scenes...
s were attacked.
Property and business damage
Vehicles, homes and shops were attacked and set alight. At least 100 homes were destroyed in the arson and looting. Shopkeepers estimated the damages in their Tottenham Hale and Tottenham branches at several million pounds. The riots caused the irretrievable loss of heritage architecture. It was estimated that retailers lost at least 30,000 trading hours.The Association of British Insurers said they expect the industry to pay out in excess of £200 million. Estimated losses in London were indicated to be in the region of £100m.
On 8 August 2011, a Sony DADC
Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation
Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation is a manufacturer of Compact Discs, DVDs, UMDs, and Blu-ray Discs. The company has many plants worldwide...
warehouse in Enfield
London Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...
at Enfield Lock
Enfield Lock
Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, to the River Lee Navigation, including the Enfield Island Village. The locality gains its name from the lock on the...
, which also acted as the primary distribution centre for independent music distributor PIAS Entertainment Group
PIAS Entertainment Group
PIAS is an international licensing, distribution, sales and marketing company for premium music, film and comedy.Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the group also has significant operations in the UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Ireland....
, was destroyed by fire. Initially, because millions of items of stock were lost, including most of PIAS's inventory, it was thought that long-term damage to the British independent music industry might result. , PIAS confirmed that their operations are back to normal. On 11 August 2011, London police reported that they had arrested three teenagers in connection with the warehouse fire.
The Financial Times reported that an analysis showed that 48,000 local businesses - shops, restaurants, pubs and clubs - had suffered financial losses as a result of the looting and rioting in English streets.
Transport
Four London buses were set on fire during the riots.- Evening of 6 August: Arriva London North DAF DB250L/Alexander ALX400 double decker DLA284 (Y484 UGC) was destroyed on Tottenham High Road.
- Evening of 8 August: Abellio London Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX400 double decker 9755 (YN51 KVM) was destroyed at Reeves Corner, Croydon.
- Late afternoon of 8 August: Go Ahead London Central Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2 double decker WVL302 was set alight in Peckham, but not destroyed.
- Late afternoon of 8 August: First Capital Dennis Dart SLF/Caetano Nimbus single decker DMC41496 (LK03 NMF) was set alight at Dalston, but not destroyed.
Many other London buses were damaged, with broken windows etc.
On 9 August, Croydon's Tramlink
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
was partly shut down due to damage inflicted along its route. Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
, London Overground
London Overground
London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
and London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
shut Barking, Peckham Rye and Harrow-on-the-Hill and Hackney Central stations. The train operating company Southern
Southern (train operating company)
Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...
later announced that trains were not stopping at many stations in south London. National Express Coaches stopped serving Wolverhampton and suburban stops in the Birmingham area (but not Birmingham Coach Station itself) as well as Manchester (but not Manchester Airport).
Sporting fixtures
Five Football League CupFootball League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
games due to be played on 9 and 10 August were postponed after requests from police due to the riots. The games at Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...
, Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
, Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
and West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
were all postponed. There was also uncertainty as to the Third Test cricket match
Indian cricket team in England in 2011
The Indian cricket team toured England from 21 July to 16 September 2011. The test match series of this tour was known as Pataudi Trophy 2011 and the ODI series of the tour was known as NatWest Series 2011. The tour consisted of one Twenty20 International , five One Day Internationals and four...
between India and England, at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
in Birmingham, but the match was played.
The international football friendly match
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
between England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
due to take place on 10 August was cancelled, as well as the international friendly between Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
and Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...
scheduled for 9 August at Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road, a stadium in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, is the home of the football club Watford and their tenants, the Saracens rugby union club. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 17,477.-History:...
, Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
's opening game of the 2011–12 Premier League
2011–12 Premier League
The 2011–12 Premier League is the twentieth season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The 2011–12 fixtures were announced on 17 June 2011 at 9:00 BST. The season began on 13 August 2011 and is due to end on 13 May 2012...
season against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
on 13 August was postponed. The League Two game between Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town F.C.
Cheltenham Town Football Club is an English football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded in 1887, the team has played at four different grounds, namely Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field and now the Abbey Business Stadium, although it is more...
and Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
, due to be played the same day, was also initially postponed until further consultation allowed Gloucestershire Police to provide the required resources.
Reactions
Political
Following the initial disorder in Tottenham, the constituencyTottenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Tottenham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
appealed for calm, saying that "true justice can only follow a thorough investigation of the facts" and that Tottenham had had its "heart ripped out" by the riots. He said that rioters were not representative of the local community as a whole and insisted that the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
must fully establish the circumstances of Mark Duggan's death. Lammy voiced concerns that the EDL
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
and BNP
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
were playing on the London riots and people's fears to advance their political motives.
Streatham
Streatham (UK Parliament constituency)
Streatham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
's Labour MP Chuka Umunna
Chuka Umunna
Chuka Harrison Umunna is a British Labour Party politician and employment lawyer. He has been the Member of Parliament for Streatham since 2010. After less than 18 months in Parliament, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Business Secretary by Labour Leader Ed Miliband on 7 October 2011...
condemned the violence in Brixton and Tottenham. Umunna called for the BlackBerry Messenger
Blackberry Messenger
BlackBerry Messenger is a proprietary Internet-based instant messenger application included on BlackBerry devices which allows messaging between BlackBerry users.It was developed by Research In Motion , maker of the BlackBerry device...
service, used by some of the rioters to coordinate their activities, to be "temporarily disabled" between 6 pm and 6 am BST
British Summer Time
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in the following places:* the Canary Islands* Portugal * Ireland...
.
The use of BlackBerry Messenger has led to arrests – a Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
man was detained under the Serious Crimes Act for organising a water-fight through the service.
John Randall, the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip said: "It’s a small minority of people causing the trouble. The events in Ealing brought it home, it’s just down the Uxbridge Road." Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
called for the introduction of a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
.
Newark
Newark (UK Parliament constituency)
Newark is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885, it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
MP Patrick Mercer
Patrick Mercer
Patrick John Mercer OBE is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, representing the constituency of Newark in Parliament. He is a frequent commentator on defence and security issues having served as infantry officer in the British Army and held the position of Shadow Minister for...
, formerly a British Army colonel, called for the deployment of water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
. In December 2010 Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
, the Home Secretary, had said that the deployment of water cannon by police forces on the British mainland was an operational decision which had been "resisted until now by senior police officers." On 9 August 2011, May rejected their use and said: "The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities." Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, the former London mayor, said "The issue of water cannon would be very useful given the level of arson we are seeing here." Scotland Yard said officers did not have any water cannon and if their use was approved they would have to be brought over from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
May said: "I condemn utterly the violence in Tottenham... Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order." She returned to the UK from holiday early to meet with senior police officials on 8 August.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister's office added: "The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable. There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property."
The deputy prime minister
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
said that the riots were "completely unacceptable" and described the rioters as "needless and opportunistic".
London's mayor, Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, who cut short a holiday in Canada to return to the UK on 9 August, said: "I'm appalled at the scenes of violence and destruction in Tottenham" whilst his deputy Kit Malthouse
Kit Malthouse
Kit Malthouse is Deputy Mayor of London with responsibility for the Metropolitan Police. A politician, businessman and occasional writer, he is a Conservative and a member of the London Assembly representing the West Central constituency, which encompasses the City of Westminster, the London...
told a Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
reporter that "criminal elements were to blame for the trouble."
Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
condemned the "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing" and told rioters "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment."
Croydon Central
Croydon Central (UK Parliament constituency)
The comparison is with the notional 2005 result for the new boundaries which made Croydon Central a Labour defence.-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...
MP Gavin Barwell
Gavin Barwell
Gavin Laurence Barwell is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Croydon Central since the 2010 general election.He is also the Head Governor of Trinity School in Croydon.-Education:...
called the damage caused in the London Borough of Croydon "sickening".
In a strongly worded criticism of what he deems to be a misplaced "hyper-sensitivity about race", dating back to the Macpherson Report of 1999, Civitas director David Green attributed the reluctance by police to use force to a fear of disciplinary action. He said that "officers in charge of a riot think it safer to wait for orders from the top".
In a public speech on 15 August, David Cameron blamed a "broken society" in "moral collapse" – broad societal change themes common to his party's election campaign theme Broken Britain
Broken Britain
Broken Britain is a term which has been used in The Sun newspaper, and by the Conservative Party to describe a perceived widespread state of social decay in Britain...
.
The city councils of Manchester and Salford are reported to be investigating their powers for ways of evicting tenants if they, or their children, have been involved in violence or looting in their cities. The London Borough of Greenwich
London Borough of Greenwich
The London Borough of Greenwich is an Inner London borough in south-east London, England. Taking its name from the historic town of Greenwich, the present borough was formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich with part of the Metropolitan...
also stated on its website: "We shall seek the eviction of anyone living in council property if they are found to have been engaged in criminal acts." On 13 August Wandsworth Council
London Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
served the first eviction notice, on the mother of an 18-year-old suspect.
International
Several countries issued warnings advising caution to travellers visiting Britain during the riots.German far-left activists suggested using the riots in England as a role model
Role model
The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others".The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students...
to be applied to their political activities in Germany as well.
Press
The riots were described by one journalist as "the worst disturbances of their kind since the 1995 Brixton riots".Commentators likened the riots to the Broadwater Farm riot
Broadwater Farm riot
The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm area of Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985.The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day from a stroke during a police search of her...
of 1985, during which a police officer, Keith Blakelock, was murdered.
The disturbances were preceded by calls for better oversight of the Metropolitan Police, repeating observations which go back to the death of Stephen Lawrence and the New Cross Fire
New Cross Fire
The New Cross Fire was a devastating house fire which killed 13 young black people during a birthday party in New Cross, southeast London on Sunday 18 January 1981...
. In April 2011 there was a large nonviolent march to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
as a result of the death of Smiley Culture
Smiley Culture
David Victor Emmanuel , better known as Smiley Culture, was a British reggae singer and deejay known for his 'fast chat' style. During a relatively brief period of fame and success, he produced two of the most critically acclaimed reggae singles of the 1980s...
. The very widespread scale of the violence prompted comparisons with the Gordon Riots
Gordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists Act 1778.The Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England; the 1778 act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and...
of 1780.
The Sun called the scenes "shameful" and lamented that "[w]ith the London Olympics less than a year away, our reputation is being damaged at the worst moment". It added: "This is anarchy, pure and simple. And it presents a serious threat to life and property."
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
s editorial said: "What we have experienced in London and elsewhere since Saturday night is a wholly new phenomenon: violent disorder whose sole intent is criminal... In such circumstances, there can be only one response if the law-abiding majority is to be protected: the thugs must be taught to respect the law of the land the hard way."
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called on the public to back the police: "... Britain's 2011 riots have become a defining contest between disorder and order. In that contest, important caveats notwithstanding, there is only one right side to be on. The attacks, the destruction, the criminality and the reign of fear must be stopped. The rule of law in the cities of Britain must not only be defended against delinquent destruction. It must also be enforced."
In its 9 August leading article, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
said the police's handling of Mark Duggan's death
Death of Mark Duggan
Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black man, was shot on 4 August 2011 by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, London, England, following a surveillance operation, on suspicion of a planned revenge attack following the fatal stabbing of his cousin. He died from a gunshot wound to the chest...
"looks to have been poor", and that there is "context of mistrust of the police here." The paper added that "it is spurious to draw a connection between that disaffection [by the inner-city youth] and specific outbreaks of violence of the sort we have seen in recent days."
Peter Hitchens
Peter Hitchens
Peter Jonathan Hitchens is an award-winning British columnist and author, noted for his traditionalist conservative stance. He has published five books, including The Abolition of Britain, A Brief History of Crime, The Broken Compass and most recently The Rage Against God. Hitchens writes for...
of the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, disputed the idea that the events were riots on the basis that they were fundamentally apolitical. He further stated: "This is an equal-opportunity crime wave. The lawbreakers are not from any distinct ethnic group, and attempts to explain this behaviour on these ground are baseless and poisonous."
Psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple wrote an opinion piece for the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, in which he blamed the "sense of entitlement" that he sees as being common among Britain's youth as a cause for the riots, and said that British youth are today among "the most unpleasant and violent in the world" as a result.
Some journalists made comparisons between these riots and the 2005 riots in France
2005 civil unrest in France
The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...
. In both cases, the unrest started with the death of a young person during a confrontation with the police. In fact, a television report by France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
, broadcast in November 2005, showed a visit by a delegation from Évry (just outside Paris) to Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, with the report calling "Tottenham part of London 'regularly shaken by riots' in earlier decades, where 'a lot of money was invested' and 'the promotion of ethnic minorities', had been made a priority."
Writing in Pakistan's Newsline
Newsline (magazine)
Newsline is a monthly English current affairs magazine published from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was started in July 1989.- See also :* Herald Magazine* Teenager Magazine-External links:**...
, Mahir Ali likened the government's response to that of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
to the 1981 England riots
1981 England riots
In 1981, the United Kingdom suffered serious riots across many major cities in England. They were perceived as race riots between communities, in all cases the main motives for the riots were related to racial tension and inner-city deprivation. The riots were caused by a distrust of the police...
.
Public
Many people called for the government to urge the police to deploy anti-riot methods often used outside Britain, such as water cannonWater cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
and baton rounds
Plastic bullet
A plastic bullet or plastic baton round is a non-lethal projectile fired from a specialised gun. Although designed as a non-lethal weapon they have still caused several deaths. They are generally used for riot control...
, the use of which has long been resisted by senior police commanders and politicians.
Pauline Pearce, a 45 year old woman from Hackney, was filmed close to the rioting, furiously chastising looters over their criminal and selfish behaviour. She is seen holding a walking stick and gesturing. The resulting Heroine of Hackney video subsequently went viral
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
. Its rapid spread was helped by tweeting from famous people such as newspaper editor Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
. Pearce was hailed as a heroine for helping to ease tensions in Hackney; her influence was acknowledged by politicians and the national press. MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, Meg Hillier
Meg Hillier
Margaret Olivia Hillier is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005, and was a junior Minister in HM Government from 2007 to 2010...
, has invited Pearce to the Houses of Parliament. Speaking to The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
newspaper, Pearce described the looting and vandalism as being "heart-breaking" and also contrasted people's relative poverty with expenditure for the Olympic Games
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. Pearce has since been featured in The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, dismissing David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
's view that hip-hop culture was partly to blame for the riots. In September 2011, she was awarded the Team London Award at the annual Peace Awards by Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
.
On Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, sales of baseball bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
s and truncheons
Baton (law enforcement)
A truncheon or baton is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal...
increased significantly overnight. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh stated: "We are already seeing a community kickback. People are angry. This is their neighbourhoods that are at stake."
Three men killed in a hit-and-run incident in Birmingham, Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali, and Abdul Musavir Tariq, were described as heroes for dying while attempting to defend their neighbourhood. Tariq Jahan, the father of 21 year-old victim Haroon Jahan, gave a speech appealing for calm, social unity and an end to the violence, hours after his son's death. Jahan was hailed as a hero and a patriot for helping to ease tensions in Birmingham; his influence was acknowledged by politicians and the national press, receiving an award at the 2011 Pride of Britain Awards
Pride of Britain Awards
The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual event in the United Kingdom, honouring ordinary people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challenging situations....
. Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
said of him: "Uncomplaining, in control of his emotions, Tariq Jahan reminds us of what it means to be British." The Financial Times described Jahan as eloquent and inspiring, and said "His selfless intervention contrasted with the rapacious self-interest of the looters, and was a timely reminder of the obligations of community."
Tens of thousands of users of social networking sites coordinated clean-up operations of their local shopping areas and streets. Social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
sites Twitter and Facebook were also used for reporting information on the riots and to co-ordinate a voluntary citizens' operation to clear up riot-hit areas. In Clapham Junction, dozens of volunteers carrying brooms turned out to assist with clean-up efforts. On Facebook, over 900,000 people joined a group entitled 'Supporting the Met Police against the London rioters'.
Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney, the city centre spokesperson for Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
, said: "The true Mancunian civic spirit has been shown in Manchester today." Staff from city centre businesses and Manchester Metropolitan University joined the volunteers, as food outlets gave out free drinks and snacks. There were several fundraising initiatives to help independent business owners re-build their businessess and livelihoods.
A petition was submitted to the UK government proposing that any convicted rioters have their benefit payments cut. This petition has been signed by over 200,000 people.
A petition on the UK government website demanding convicted rioters to be banished to the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
of Scotland was set up in the summer of 2011. The reaction caused a public outcry in Scotland and eventually Westminster offered an apology to Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil.
Vigilantism
On 8 and 9 August, people from BangladeshiBritish Bangladeshi
A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
, Kurdish, Pakistani and Turkish communities chased down masked youths in several areas of North
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
and East London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, including Green Street
Green Street, London
Green Street is a road in the London Borough of Newham, England. There is an official website for this road.The southern portion is the location of the Boleyn Ground, home to West Ham United...
, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, Haringey
London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs...
, and Tower Hamlets. Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan praised the British Muslim community for their brave and responsible reactions to the crisis.
On 9 August, vigilantes included locals in Enfield
London Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...
which included several members of the English Defence League
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
, locals and supporters of Millwall F.C.
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
in Eltham, and the Sikh communities
Sikhism in the United Kingdom
Sikhism was recorded as the religion of 336,179 people in the United Kingdom at the 2001 Census. While England is home to the majority of Sikhs in the UK, small communities also exist in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
in Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
, East Ham
East Ham
East Ham is a suburban district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Newham. It is a built-up district located 8 miles east-northeast of Charing Cross...
, Ilford
Ilford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
, and Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
.
Sangat TV
Sangat Tv
Sangat Television is a Sikh lifestyle channel produced and wholly owned by Sangat Trust, a UK charity. The station commenced broadcasting on 1 September 2010, as part of a a two-week test phase.-Description:...
and Sikh Channel
Sikh Channel
The Sikh Channel is a United Kingdom-based, free-to-air, Sikhi-focused satellite television channel. It broadcasts across Europe on satellite television and is also streamed live on the internet. The Sikh Channel began to broadcast on 13 April 2009 on Sky Digital channel 840, replacing Brit Hits...
urged their viewers to protect Sikh temples after a report that one was attacked in Birmingham. On the night of 9–10 August 2011, following violence, arson and rioting in London, members of the Sikh community in Southall volunteered to stand guard at various city Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
s, with as many as 200 to 300 Sikhs from different age groups gathered in various Gurudwaras across Southall to safeguard their places of worship from rioters. The Sikhs drew praise from Prime Minister David Cameron for this action.
On 10 August in Eltham, police clashed with a bottle-throwing crowd of about 200 vigilantes, including many English Defence League
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
members. It was reported that that 50 EDL members joined forces with locals to patrol the streets. That same day, a senior police officer said that some vigilante groups were hampering police operations in London. 90 EDL members also joined vigilantes in Enfield.
Race relations
Research conducted by the University of NottinghamUniversity of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
suggested that race relations in Britain have deteriorated since the riots and that prejudice towards ethnic minorities is on the rise. Groups such as the EDL
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
and the BNP
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
were said to be exploiting the situation. After the hit-and-run incident in Birmingham, in which three Asian men were killed by a black driver, racial tensions between blacks and Asians in Birmingham increased; hostilities were diffused by the public appeals for an end to violence by Tariq Jahan, father of one of the victims.
The effects of black culture
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
were discussed by historian David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
in the 12 August edition of the BBC's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
TV programme. Starkey singled out the influence of black gangster and rap culture
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
on youths of all races, contrasting contemporary youth patois with the speech patterns of black Tottenham MP David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
, who, Starkey asserted, "sounded white". The author Dreda Say Mitchell
Dreda Say Mitchell
Dreda Say Mitchell is a British crime novelist. She won the Crime Writers' Association's John Creasey Award for best first novel in 2004 with Running Hot....
countered his argument by saying that there is no one single "black culture".
Some commentators remarked on the apparently high proportion of black people involved in the riots and took the view that there was a disproportionately high number of rioters who were black, compared to the overall demographics of the United Kingdom. In October 2011 a report was published by the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...
providing demographic statistics of the people charged over participation the riots. Overall, 46% of people brought before a courtroom were black, disproportionate to the average UK population; however the figures revealed varying demographics in different areas when compared to local populations. For example in Haringey
London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs...
, the figures revealed that 55% of defendants in court over riot-related charges were black, compared to a 17% black population; but in Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
, 94% of rioters in court were white, compared to an 88% white population. Additionally, looters from 44 foreign countries were jailed, with Jamaicans representing the largest group but also including Somalians, Poles, Colombians, Iraqis, Congolese, Vietnamese and Zimbabweans.
The Ministry of Justice report also noted that rioters brought before the courts were disproportionately male (90%) and young (26% were aged 10-17, 27% were aged 18-20 and only 5% were aged over 40).
Operations
The Metropolitan Police Service launched Operation Withern, an investigation into the events leading up to and during the riots. The operation was led by Detective Superintendent John SweeneyJohn Sweeney (police officer)
John Sweeney is a Detective Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police Service. As of 2011, he is leading Operation Withern, the investigation into the 2011 London riots.He had previously led the reinvestigation of the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock....
of the Metropolitan Police Service, with detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command
Homicide and Serious Crime Command
The Homicide and Serious Crime Command is an Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police responsible for the investigation of homicide and other serious crimes in London...
, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch, and police support staff. The Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Steve Kavanagh, stated that the number of officers deployed tripled between 6 and 7 August.
The BBC reported that West Midlands riot police officers were issued with plastic bullets to use against looters, but that none were fired. Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that police in London were considering using baton rounds against rioters, not previously used by mainland police in public order operations (though they were first approved for use in England and Wales in 2001).
The Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
has assigned 450 detectives to hunt for rioters and looters. The list of photographed looters has been made available on their website. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan of Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
criticised "unprecedented" criminality. On 10 August, he warned: "Hundreds and hundreds of people, we have your image, we have your face, we have your acts of wanton criminality on film."
Research In Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
(RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry, are reported to have contacted the police to offer help in investigating the use of their system for the organisation of riots.
According to The Independent, the costs to the Metropolitan Police of policing the disorder and disturbances in London are expected to exceed £34 million. This could be more than their total bill for the policing of all major public disorder events in the year from April 2010 to March 2011.
Arrests and charges
, about 3100 people had been arrested, of whom more than 1100 had appeared in court. As of 25 August the BBC report that more than 2,000 people have been arrested connected with the disorder in London.Sentencing guidelines
It was reported in mid-August that some courts were advised by senior justice clerks to deal harshly with offences committed during the disturbances. The advice was said to tell the courts that they could ignore existing sentencing guidelines and hand down heavy sentences. David Cameron defended the courts for handing out tough sentences, while some Liberal Democrat MPs and civil rights groups criticised some sentences being handed down. Groups of lawyers complained that Crown Prosecutors were opposing bail in more cases than usual.Trials and sentencing
, the BBC report that official Ministry of JusticeMinistry of Justice (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...
figures show that of the 1,566 people that have appeared before magistrates on charges connected with the disorder, that 1,027 had been in London, 190 in Greater Manchester, 132 in the West Midlands, 67 in Merseyside and 64 in Nottingham.
Sentences of four years in a Young Offender Institution were given to two men who promoted riots via Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The proposed events in Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
and Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
were not attended by any other people. These sentences were affirmed on appeal by the Court of Appeal. Giving the judgment of the court, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
, Lord Judge, sitting with Sir John Thomas and Lord Justice Leveson
Brian Leveson
Brian Henry Leveson QC , previously styled as the Honourable Mr Justice Leveson, now styled as the Right Honourable Lord Justice Leveson, is an English Judge, a Lord Justice of Appeal for England and Wales and, since 2010, head of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.It was announced on 13...
, stated that there is "an overwhelming obligation on sentencing courts to do what they can to ensure the protection of the public", that "the imposition of severe sentences, intended to provide both punishment and deterrence, must follow" and that "[t]hose who deliberately participate in disturbances of this magnitude, causing injury and damage and fear to even the most stout-hearted of citizens, and who individually commit further crimes during the course of the riots are committing aggravated crimes". The appeals were dismissed.
A woman who had not taken part in the riots received five months for receiving a pair of stolen shorts. The sentence was later reduced on appeal. Manchester police used Twitter to celebrate the five month sentence; they later apologised and removed the tweet. A teenager was freed when prosecutors found evidence he had been wrongly charged with arson. While in prison, his own flat was burned down. The detaining of under-18s without criminal record
Criminal record
A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
s was criticised by UNICEF in October 2011 for possibly breaching the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
.
Suggested contributory factors
The causes of the 2011 England riots both immediate and long term have been the subject of media and academic debate. Several speculations have emerged as to what the likely contributory factors might be for the riots; from socio-economic causes focusing on unemployment and spending cuts, as well as social mediaSocial media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
, gang culture and criminal opportunism. The House of Commons Home Affairs select committee will begin examining the police response to the riots in late 2011. The leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...
, has called for a public inquiry into the wider causes of the riots and has stated that his party will set up such an inquiry if the coalition fails to do so. The UK was shaken by worst riots in decades.
A YouGov
YouGov
YouGov, formerly known as PollingPoint in the United States, is an international internet-based market research firm launched in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare, now Chief Executive Officer, and Nadhim Zahawi...
poll was carried out on the 8–9 August 2011 for The Sun asking what those surveyed believed to be the main cause of the riots. In it, 42% of those polled thought "criminal behaviour" to be the main cause, whilst 26% thought "gang culture" was, 8% thought "government cuts" were, 5% thought "unemployment" was, 5% thought "racial tensions" was and 3% thought "poor policing" was. In a ComRes
ComRes
ComRes is a polling and research consultancy with British origins. The company has its registered company headquarters in London, United Kingdom and also has offices in Brussels, Edinburgh and Cardiff...
poll for the Sunday Mirror and Independent On Sunday, in which the question was "do you agree or disagree with these statements about the recent riots?", 90% of those polled agreed that the "Police should be allowed use to water cannon to disperse rioters", 90% agreed that "There is no excuse whatsoever for the violent rioting and looting over the last few days", 61% agreed that "Government ministers failed to return to their desks quickly enough from holidays" and 50% agreed that "The Government's response to the economic crisis (e.g. cuts to services, unemployment, reduced education funding) is helping fuel the rioters".
Poor relations with police
The riots in Tottenham after the death of Mark Duggan were initially blamed on poor relations between the police and the black community. Professor Gus John from the University of LondonUniversity of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
has argued that the tactical use of frequent "Stop and search", particularly of young black men, has caused resentment of the police in the black community.
According to David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
, the MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures".
Social exclusion
Camila BatmanghelidjhCamila Batmanghelidjh
Camila Batmanghelidjh is a British businesswoman, charity leader and author of Iranian and Belgian origin. She has been living in England since the age of 11 and founded two charities - the place2b and Kids Company where she and her team care for 14,000 vulnerable children and young people in London...
writing in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
blames social exclusion
Social exclusion
Social exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which...
and social deprivation
Social deprivation
Social deprivation is the reduction or prevention of culturally normal interaction between an individual and the rest of society. This social deprivation is included in a broad network of correlated factors that contribute to social exclusion; these factors include mental illness, poverty, poor...
.
In a House of Commons debate on the riots Home Secretary Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
stated that the riots were symptomatic of a "wider malaise" including worklessness, illiteracy, and drug abuse but also stated that "Everybody, no matter what their background or circumstances, has the freedom to choose between right and wrong".
Former Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
writing in The Observer, stated that the riots were not caused by a broken society, but due to a group of young, alienated, disaffected youth who are outside the social mainstream and who live in a culture at odds with any canons of proper behaviour, he said that this is found in virtually every developed nation.
Various journalists have identified poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
as causative factors.
Max Hastings
Max Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. He is the son of Macdonald Hastings, the noted British journalist and war correspondent and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.-Life and career:Hastings was educated at Charterhouse...
has blamed a culture of welfare dependence.
A journalist on Al Jazeera suggested a similarity to the disenfranchisement behind the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
revolutionary wave
Revolutionary wave
A revolutionary wave is a series of revolutions occurring in various locations in a similar time period. In many cases, an initial revolution inspires other "affiliate revolutions" with similar aims....
of 2011. Links were made to high youth unemployment and general disenfranchisement.
A study by the The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
published in September 2011 found a strong link between rioting and deprivation.
Family breakdown
Christina Odone writing in the Daily Telegraph links the riots to a lack of male role models and argues that "Like the overwhelming majority of youth offenders behind bars, these gang members have one thing in common: no father at home." This has been linked further with England's having the "worst record in family breakdown in Europe".Government cuts
The spending cuts of the coalition government in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...
has also been cited as a cause. Ken Livingstone, the Labour Candidate for Mayor of London in 2012 has argued that the "The economic stagnation and cuts being imposed by the Tory government inevitably create social division." Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
and leader of the Liberal Democrats political party
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, made it clear that the government's planned cuts to police budgets will go ahead.
The local government budget had been cut in the past year so Haringey Council, which includes Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
and Tottenham Hale
Tottenham Hale
Tottenham Hale is a district in the London Borough of Haringey. From 1850-1965, it was part of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham, in Middlesex.-Etymology:...
, decided to close eight of its 13 youth clubs in 2011, rather than save money through increased efficiency or make cuts in other areas.
Scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance
Education Maintenance Allowance
Education Maintenance Allowance is a financial scheme applicable to students and those undertaking unpaid work-based learning in the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland aged between sixteen and nineteen whose parents have a certain level of taxable income...
, removing of funding for courses where the student already has an equal or lower level qualification and trebling of university tuition fees, combined with high youth unemployment has placed the British youth 'between a rock and a hard place' alienating and angering the youth population. Proponents of this argument say that Scottish youth did not riot partly because Scottish students do not have to pay tuition fees.
Cuts in public services
Youth clubs and the like closing.
Unemployment
David LammyDavid Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
MP has said that Tottenham has the highest unemployment rate in London and the eighth highest in the United Kingdom. The number of people chasing every one job vacancy in Haringey has been put at 23 and 54 in separate reports, and fears had spread of disorder after youth club closures in recent months.
Low economic growth and highest unemployment rate in decades.
Gang culture
In a NewsnightNewsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
discussion on 12 August, historian David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
blamed black gangster culture, saying that it had influenced youths of all races.
Criminal opportunism
During riots, on 9 August 2011, UK Home SecretaryHome Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
said: I think this is about sheer criminality. That is what we have seen on the streets. The violence we've seen, the looting we've seen, the thuggery we've seen - this is sheer criminality, and let's make no bones about it. Paul Hobbs, London correspondent for One News (New Zealand) said that looters are not politically motivated and called the riots "recreational violence". A Manchester rioter said to a BBC correspondent: Every time I go into town I just think how the shops got smashed up in 2011 by all of us, I just laugh about it every time I go back in now."
The BBC reported that the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police had stated that he thought that the motivation for rioters targeting the city centre was not anger, but greed.
Moral decay at the top
Daily Telegraph columnist Peter ObornePeter Oborne
Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at Sherborne School and The University of Cambridge. He is a Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph columnist, author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class, and, with Frances Weaver, the...
suggested that moral decay is just as bad at the top of society as it is at the bottom, with the rich and powerful generating anger among the British population. He cited the MPs' expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, bankers' bonuses
Bankers' bonuses
Bankers' bonuses are traditionally paid or awarded to some workers in the finance industry at the end of the bank's financial year. They are intended to reward employee behavior during that year that has increased the profits of the bank or some relevant part of its business , as shown by the annual...
, and the phone hacking scandal as setting poor examples.
Failure of the penal system
Kenneth ClarkeKenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...
, the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
and Secretary of State for Justice, writing in The Guardian, described the riots in part as "an outburst of outrageous behaviour by the criminal classes". He drew attention to the statistic that almost three-quarters of the adults who had been charged with offences related to the disorder already had a criminal record. Clarke characterised this as the legacy of "a broken penal system", one that did not have a good record for preventing reoffending. He stated he is proposing radical new measures intended to focus on robust punishment and on delivering reductions in reoffending.
See also
- Crisis situations and protests in Europe since 2000Crisis situations and protests in Europe since 2000List of crises situations and major protests in countries of Europe since year 2000.- 2011 :*2011 England riots in August*2011 Kosovo border clashes from July onwards, involving Kosovan Police and KFOR against Kosovan Serb demonstrators*2011 E...
- Broken BritainBroken BritainBroken Britain is a term which has been used in The Sun newspaper, and by the Conservative Party to describe a perceived widespread state of social decay in Britain...
- The Guns of BrixtonThe Guns of Brixton"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, south London...
External links
- Documentary on riots on Al Jazeera's People and Power
- Timeline and map of violence from the BBC
- Coverage at the Daily Telegraph
- Coverage at the Guardian
- Coverage at the Independent
- Videos of the riot cleanup
- U.K. Citizen Isobel Wiles' Commentary from abroad
- Tottenham MP David Lammy speaking on the aftermath of the riots