I have only one thing to say
Put all these rioters, who prove to have caused any damage at all, away for a very long time.
And those who think 16 months is too long for 'protesting' in this way, will find it very hard to justify their argument. It is not enough on this occasion where it will be a miracle if no one has been killed in one of the fires
The anarchists have had their day and it's time to show them that the ordinary hard working person wants to live in peace without threat of harm by these bunch of losers, thieves and thugs.
And please, I do not want to listen to arguments like that of Peston and the Guardianistas. They should hang their heads in shame to suggest that this is down to a few youth clubs closing down. That discussion needs to take place outside of the context of bitter, selfish, mindless idiots.
Nor is it right to focus on the police, who I think have the patience of angels, and are brave in their duties. Let's focus on the culprits and their victims.
Time for all of us to speak out and be counted, treat the causes of violence but in the meantime punish severely those that have no place in our society. Our future generations are relying on us to leave a great legacy. This will not happen if we continue to let the liberal do gooders excuse this inexcusable behaviour.
Well done to the MPs who have spoken out already in strong terms.
Whilst I would in no way excuse mindless violence and thuggery such as that seen in Tottenham last night and tonight, and Enfield as well, I can't subscribe to the view that the police are all innocent in this.
ReplyDeleteTottenham is not an easy borough to police, and much greater social tensions abound than those faced by Ipswich. But the way the police treat the public as hostile is a view which is becoming more prevelant by the day.
Even in Suffolk, where I concede very few of our police officers are bad apples, the public are losing faith in the police because of the attitude of officers when dealing with the public.
No longer the policing of the community by the community, officers appear to be trained that the public are a hostile world, all guilty of something, and should be treated in a supercilious and curt manner, bordering on hostile. It would be one thing if this was the view of officers by some criminal element, but the person who described them to me thus was an eighty year old man with no criminal record who lives in Felixstowe.
Imagine then, if the attitude that has pervaded sleepy Suffolk, has been used by officers faced with standard criminality on the streets of North London. The attitude becomes an entrenched them and us. Made worse by the way house prices and crime levels mean that police officers rarely live in the communities they police.
This rioting will, like Broadwater Farm and other riots in history, have many and complex causes. None of which will be liked by Gordon Brown's biographer Robert Peston. It IS too simplistic to blame it on the police. But you cannot describe them as having the patience of angels. As a councillor you see a completely different side of officers and they treat you as one of them rather than one of us. Leave office and then see what their attitude is to you.
Thanks for your comment. I will try to respond to the flavour of your thoughts. I have only been a councillor for 5 years, so without giving away my age, I can confirm that I have a great deal more experience with the police outside of office than in! I have also seen them when they were on my side and when they were not, in London and in Ipswich. On all occasions except one they treated me with utmost respect. This is because I treated them with respect first, spoke to them in a calm and reasonable way.
ReplyDeleteyes I can say they have the patience of an angel, very different from saying they are angels, because you would need to walk in their shoes on these sort of nights, where a frightening bating public are targeting them, FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER. Yes in this instance, the police should have communicated more to the family of the dead man, but this was not the fault of the police on the street who are doing their job and following orders. If I was one of the police on the front line, I think my patience would run out well before midnight, never mind taking it all night long.
We must all get behind the police now. They are there trying to protect the law abiding, and this second night proves it 's nothing to do with the shooting of a man and everything to with anarchy.
These people are criminals and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching the teeth of police dogs sinking into a few of them, this morning on my tv screen.
If I have a complaint about the police in Suffolk, it is only that I think we spend a little TOO much time trying to look as if we are communicating with the residents. There needs to be a balance of knowing the police but respecting them too.
And Suffolk is nit quite so sleepy as people think. Several murders, drug dealers from London and gang culture does not equate to sleepy other than a lot kf people are not aware of what is really going on all over the country.
I agree with you when you say that the criminality we've seen on Saturday night, last night and this afternoon has no justification, and the police officers who are facing such aggression show patience and professionalism. Usually. But anyone involved with the Countryside Alliance march will tell you that police officers are capable of appalling violence and thuggery as well. As would the family of Ian Tomlinson. The breakdown of relations between the community and police is evident by the way the police are being targetted by youths across the capital. Suffolk may have its problems, but they are nothing compared with London.
ReplyDeleteOf course there will always be a minority in any profession that 'lose' it. Rarely is it unprovoked. My main point though is that we MUST talk about this outside of this appalling context and concentrate only on blaming the thugs. I really do not believe that this has anything to do with relationships with the police. This is pure greed, thuggery and any excuse to have a bit of 'fun'.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Hackney and I would love this lot to have experienced what having nothing to do really meant. In the 60's there was real poverty. My
Parents made huge sacrifices to get us out of the east of London because it was bleak. I cannot and will not excuse the behaviour of selfish criminals and I don't care if they do not feel the 'love' from the police. Who would have their job?
Only losers blame everyone and everything around them. They have a choice as to how they live their lives and the few policemen who do not always carry out their duty with patience are far outweighed by the tremendous effort of the majority. My distress at seeing the good citizens of my home town terrorised by this bunch of losers, will not abate until they are locked up. Other issues are very real but these were there decades ago but we never saw anything like this.