Now that everything has more or less calmed down, the time for analysis of the events of the past few days has come. Ken Livingstone came under a lot of fire for his brazen campaigning on Newsnight, which was, admittedly, remarkably ill judged. However, his analysis of the situation was, in places, spot on, albeit made at the wrong time. But David Cameron's parliamentary speech today was even more spectacularly ill judged.
This is not about poverty, it's about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities
This is, of course, absolutely true. The riots of the past 4 days have moved as far away from the death of Mark Duggan as is possible. There has been no political motivation behind the actions of looters and thieves, as evidenced by the lack of any real standoffs with the police. David Cameron is right to condemn the violence - but what else is he saying? Absolutely nothing. To echo his own 'hug a hoodie' speech, simply writing off the events of the past week as violence achieves absolutely nothing unless the root causes of the unrest are understood. Attempting to pin the blame on Government cuts whilst the riots are still going on was a ridiculous move by Ken Livingstone; the political analysis rightfully should have waited until the dust had cleared. Today's recall of Parliament would have the perfect opportunity for the PM to provide this, but instead, he adamantly refuses to accept any responsibility for the social culture he so enthusiastically condemns. Make no mistake, the issues that brought about this rioting are political, but are not the fault of any specific Government. These social issues have been brewing for decades, and successive Parliaments, of all different parties, have done nothing to address them.
The streets have not been assailed by 'mindless' violence, as many politicians have been quick to say. There has been violence, yes, but one needs only to look at the specific shops that have been affected to understand where it springs from. Sportswear shops, phone shops, luxury electronic shops - these are all the places where the disillusioned hope to gain a better life, a better social status. Stealing on the scale seen this week is, quite simply, inexcusable, but one must question why exactly the people involved in it felt no fear at all of the police. This article from the New Statesman puts forward an interestingly left wing analysis, offering the explanation that Capitalism is to blame for it all. Its a good read, but perhaps not the most solid of truths. A much more likely explanation is that the rioters simply didn't feel a part of the society that they were destroying. This would explain their apparent lack of remorse or guilt at smashing up the very streets that they would wake up to the next day. The social inequalities entrenched in our modern society have led to the 'culture' that David Cameron so righteously brandished as an explanation today. Yes, there is a culture that lacks responsibility and is only concerned about individual rights. Yes, the lack of respect for authority was a major factor in the riots. But does this sound familiar at all? Does this not sound like the reciprocal of the Conservative ideology that Cameron now fronts? It would be wrong to paint the Coalition Government as the sole perpetrators of the decades of building tensions. But in a time when the global outlook is more gloomy as ever, the Government is aiming to make the cut youth services, make the poor poorer, and letting banks and businesses get away with everything, it's no surprise that the relationship between the state and the people are more strained than ever.
The time for downright condemnation has passed. The talk of water cannon and rubber bullets only risks inflaming the situation more. It's now time for the Government to understand and analyse. And as for cutting police numbers? Good luck with that.
