DAVID ADAMS looks at some of the issues that need to be considered in the aftermath of this week’s riots in England…
It’s a sad day to be living in London. The sounds of sirens can usually be heard from our home in the city’s south-west but today they, like the subdued conversations taking place in the suburb’s main street, speak of something else. Of a city under attack by some of its own.
“While there’s been various pundits appearing on television throughout the day trying to explain the reason for this sudden outbreak of violence and looting that London and other cities in the UK have witnessed, nothing can justify the wanton violence, theft and destruction that’s happened here.” |
London’s residents are waiting with bated breath, watching as shopkeepers close their shops early and take what security measures they can – pulling down shutters, boarding up windows and hiring security guards, to see what tonight will bring.
While there’s been various pundits appearing on television throughout the day trying to explain the reason for this sudden outbreak of violence and looting that London and other cities in the UK have witnessed, nothing can justify the wanton violence, theft and destruction that’s happened here.
I believe in the right to protest, I believe in the right of people to speak out when they feel oppressed; when they feel that wrong has been done to them. But what has been witnessed here is, in the words of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, “pure criminality”. Nothing more and nothing less. Those who act in such a way yet claim to be trying to delivering a message to authorities, to the government, to whoever, have lost all credibility. Nothing can excuse such behaviour.
It’s a scary time to be a Londoner but it’s also been heartening to see the response of so many who turned up to today in some of the devastated communities to lend a helping hand to the clean-up effort. And to all those people who have turned up to work today, determined to get on with life as usual in the face of fear.
Is this a wake-up call for Britain? That, and what the longer-term ramifications of the events of the past few days will be remains to be seen as does a sober examination of what it was that led to such an outbreak in the first place. In the meantime, the priority for the government and authorities – and rightly so – needs to be the safety of those under its care.
