UK public asks: why is England burning?
by Ngan Binh
Just days after the August 6 riots, as the baffled world looks on, the British public are asking: "Why is England burning?"
An article in The Economist entitled "Anarchy in the UK", claimed that shame was foremost in most British people's minds when riots erupted in Tottenham in north London before spreading to Manchester, Birmingham and a number of other English cities. Along with shame, there was also a jolting sense of bewilderment. The law-abiding majority suddenly saw that some of their compatriots seemed happy to torch cars and buildings, loot shops and attack firemen and ambulance crews.
So why did it happened in a country that has been internationally regarded as orderly and law-abiding?
The public at large wants to know the root cause of the riots – as do politicians – in the hope of averting a similar break down in society.
Addressing MPs in the Commons on August 11, Prime Minister David Cameron said that what had taken place on the streets of London and in other cities across England was completely unacceptable.
"The whole country has been shocked by the most appalling scenes of people looting, violence, vandalising and thieving. It is criminality pure and simple. And there is absolutely no excuse for it," he said.
The prime minister blamed parents for the wayward behaviour of their children: "There is a major problem in our society with children growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong.
"This is not about poverty, it is about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to the authorities, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities," Cameron said.
The Economist dismissed claims the riots were ratially motivated, like in the 80s. It stated: "For some on the left, the real villain was the government's public-spending cuts. This view is given superficial support by the fact that the 1980s' outbreaks happened during the ‘Thatcher cuts'. It went on to say that unlike the riots in Britain in the 1980s, Los Angeles in 1992 and France in 2005, these were not overtly political or racial. And since the cuts have yet to barely bite, that explanation does not wash.
"But the right's knee-jerk response – that this is criminality, pure and simple, and that to seek a deeper explanation is to excuse the culprits – is also wrong," the article said.
"There is clearly a cadre of young people in Britain who feel they have little or no stake in the country's future or their own. The barriers that prevent most youngsters from running amok – an inherent sense of right and wrong; concern for their job and education prospects; shame – seem not to exist in the minds of the rioters. Britain needs to try to understand why that is so.
Condemned as "feral scum" – the sick of society, young people spoke out about the reasons behind the riots.
The Guardian quoted people such as Nas, 28, who took part in the riots in Brixton, south London. He said: "There are different reasons [why people rioted]. Some are doing it for the right reasons, some just for the sake of doing crime, and people have had enough. But even the people taking advantage have a reason. It's very hard to get jobs, these people are from poor areas, have nothing, they want stuff for free. Other people, like myself, have had enough of the government. It's self-explanatory – the government doesn't care about us, there are no jobs…"
Pierre Neil, 28, from southeast London, a former member of the So Solid Crew and a youth mentor, told The Guardian: "We know that the cause of the upheaval is that a young man died at the hands of the police and we haven't been able to get any truthful answers or a comprehensive statement as to what happened. The relationship between the police and the black community is obviously not good, so when anything happens with the police, the community feels they're not being co-operated with, it creates an explosion and that's what you've seen…"
On August 9, the BBC looked into the international press's reaction to the disturbances.
The Washington Post, said: "Some, including former London mayor Ken Livingstone, suggested that the Tottenham riot was an unleashing of pent-up resentment over the weak economy, high unemployment rates and historically deep budget cuts that are decreasing government funding for poor communities and grass-roots charities. He said "Young Britons are facing the bleakest future."
Meanwhile, the highly respected Financial Times wrote: "High youth unemployment is not just a North African problem. The looting that ravaged English cities last week happened in a country where one in five young people are jobless."
Cameron was quick to rule out race, poverty and spending cuts as factors, but showed signs of wanting to look deeper into the cause of the rights by acceding to the Labour Party's demands for a public inquiry.
On August 15, at a youth centre in his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire, Cameron delivered a speech describing the rioting as a "wake-up call" and said ministers would ensure policies address the causes of "broken Britain".
Setting out his central argument, Cameron said: "As we begin the necessary processes of enquiry, investigation, listening and learning, let's be clear: these riots were not about race: the perpetrators and the victims were white, black and Asian.
"These riots were not about government cuts: they were directed at high street stores, not parliament. And these riots were not about poverty: that insults the millions of people who, whatever hardship they are experiencing, would never dream of making others suffer like this. No, this was about behaviour."
Cameron said that in the past few days, a range of emotions had swept across the country – anger, fear, frustration, despair and sadness. But he said: "We need to show the world that the perpetrators of the violence we have seen on our streets are not in any way representative of our country – nor of our young people.
"We need to show them that we will address our broken society, we will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every street and in every estate. We need to show them the Britain that does not destroy but that builds; that does not give up but stands up; that does not look back, but always forwards." – VNS