Over the last few nights, many riots have occurred in British cities. The riots were disgraceful and all the people responsible for them deserve to be brought to justice. Shops have been looted, windows have been smashed and buildings burnt to the ground; these are truly disgraceful acts and display the worst of humanity creating anarchy on the streets of the UK. Now there are many reasons why such people would resort to such criminality and looting and over the next coming days politicians from the left and the right will try to bring some clarity and understanding to the causes behind the riots. However it is worth saying that regardless of the causes that may have led up to the disturbances they in no way justifies them whatsoever.
There are many explanations going round as to why people can act in such a vile and unlawful manner. One train of thought advocated by the Prime Minister today was that there was a lack discipline and family responsibility from the households of the youngsters committing the acts of crime. Another thought was advocated by the former Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone who associated the austerity cuts, the scrapping of EMA and the rise in tuition fees with the recent violence. On the one hand, David Cameron might be partially right when he says that these youngsters lack a sense of family discipline; however I don't think this is the beginning and the end of the reasons behind the rioting, since many adults also took part. Nor do I take the view that the rioting comes as a as a response to any particular policy enacted by any particular government. It is more likely to be the case that these people riot because for successive generations their communities have lacked sufficient hope and opportunity. Although, some of the people involved would have just been taken advantage of an opportunity and the only issue behind their motives was criminal greed.
In the 1980s, Britain saw similar inner-city riots and although the reasons behind the 1980s riots were different from the reasons behind the riots of 2011 there remains a significant group of people who are devoid of having any aspiration, hope or opportunity. Some may refer to this group of people as "the underclass." The underclass are those people who spend their days in relative squalor, living off the proceeds of benefits and who have fallen out our society and out of what our society deems to be acceptible. It's the same people who are often referred to in the media as being "dole spongers" and "chavs." For over 30 years these people have been neglected by successive governments from across the political spectrum, who focus on the most desirable constituency of support and representation that of Middle England. If we are to ensure that these riots never happen again, governments will have to open a strong dialogue with community leaders and young people will need community role models who they can aspire to be like. Governments will have to acknowledge that Britain doesn't start and end with Middle England and that at all times governments will have to address the grievances within the poorest communities of the UK. Whether this is ensuring that a sufficient number of people get a good education or that a sufficient number of jobs are available or that there is a strong dialogue between members of our communities and local government.
Now no matter what the grievances of people are it is never a justification to commit acts of criminality. But if we are to ensure that Britain's streets remain safe in the future we will have to tackle the root causes that leave many members of the so-called underclass in a situation where they deem it acceptable to rob, loot and destroy. If politicians from all parties forget this constituency of the British people (no matter how undesirable it may be) and just focus on Middle England; we will see similar acts of criminality and destruction in the decades to come.
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