Have Grievance: Will Travel

 

Prolonged civil unrest in several U.K. cities

This past week I have seen fleeting shots on my Ipad, of criminally-inclined mobs attacking the police, people’s homes, gardens, cars, supermarkets, municipal areas and town centres. The sustained devastation left in their wake is often dealt with on the following day as far as is humanly possible, by concerned citizens who live in the areas, or houses attacked. They are furious at the unprovoked and mindless destruction wreaked on their neighbourhood, and their complete incomprehension of it all is plain to see. It is always accompanied by the refrain that the destructors were not local but had travelled to enable them to form a part of a mob bent on causing mayhem.

'Tommy Robinson' aka Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon
Fled Britain in June, just before his court case was due. 
Despite claims of bankruptcy, now in 5 star hotel in Cyprus
from where he is orchestrating riots in UK.
Reinstated on to Twitter/X by Elon Musk.
1.2 billion accessed his Twitter account during August.

But why? These mini-riots are not brief sudden flare-ups in a drunken town centre on a Saturday night. The gathering is planned; it is sustained; publicity for it is repeated night after night on Social Media, over a week or more; support is initially sought through incitement on Social Media where feelings of resentment and grievance are stoked with misinformation and apparently irresistible invitations to join in the ‘fun’. The participants make the effort to travel to what is an exciting event offering an unrivalled, illegal opportunity to nurture grievances, attack the police and indulge in racism.

Confrontation

Police responses have been robust in the face of crowds, intent upon municipal destruction but particularly keen to attack them, with many police and their dogs injured and hospitalised. The other particular butt of violence has been Muslims, brown people, their homes and cars, with rioters in at least one city setting up ‘race’ check points for vehicles with only whites allowed to pass. This is appalling to bleeding heart liberals like yours truly, but     but that this breakdown may start to be considered the normal development in reaction to societal problems, is                                                                               incredibly worrying.                                                                                                          

Police and rioters in action

It is relatively straightforward to identify possible causes but rather harder to design systems to start to rectify and re-balance. Certainly, these far right riots are an indication of a deep malaise in our society [though not a sign we are heading for a civil war as suggested by Elon Musk on Twitter/X] Democratic electoral reform such as Proportional Representation [See blog of July 11] would go some distance towards beginning the move of the population to viewing Parliament as a legitimate and representative chamber in which to discuss and resolve national difficulties. But the road to building a more cohesive society; addressing economic and social inequalities; redesigning national education to enhance the lives of all children; will be long and tortuous. Although the unrest is fomented by fake news, it has, nonetheless, a deep sense of real resentment au fond.

Boarding up against further expected violence.
London 6/08/2024

In the meantime intentionally harsh sentences are beginning to be used as a deterrent. As the mobs seem to include a worrying proportion of very young people, the real threat of prison/ confinement may well influence teenagers acting thoughtlessly as they join in the crowd-thrill of aping racists and criminals. I should add, in a politically-incorrect footnote, that the societal breakdown causes as listed by Tommy Robinson, closely mirror my suggestions above. 

Tik Tok