Britain's rioters: young, poor and disillusioned

[Jolie Rouge]

By MEERA SELVA - PAISLEY DODDS - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 16 mins ago

LONDON (AP) — Each of the young rioters who clogged Britain's courthouses painted a bleak picture of a lost generation: a 15-year-old Ukrainian whose mother died, a 17-year-old who followed his cousin into the mayhem, an 11-year-old arrested for stealing a garbage can.

Britain is bitterly divided on the reasons behind the riots. Some blame the unrest on opportunistic criminality, while others say conflicting economic policies and punishing government spending cuts have deepened inequalities in the country's most deprived areas.

Many of the youths themselves struggle to find any plausible answer, but a widespread sense of alienation emerges from their tales. "Nobody is doing nothing for us — not the politicians, not the cops, no one," a 19-year-old who lives near Tottenham, the blighted London neighborhood where the riots started. He only gave his nickname, "Freddy," because he took part in the looting and was scared of facing prosecution; he was not among the youths in court.

Britain has one of the highest violent crime rates in the EU. Roughly 18 percent of youths between 16 and 24 are jobless and nearly half of all black youths are out of work.

As the government battles colossal government debt with harsh welfare cuts that promise to make the futures of these youths even bleaker, some experts say it's narrow-minded to believe the riots have only been a random outburst of violence unrelated to the current economic crisis. "There's a fundamental disconnect with a particular section of young Britain and sections of the political establishment," said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at University of Nottingham. "The argument that this doesn't have anything to do with expenditure cuts or economics doesn't stand up to the evidence. If that's true, then what we have here are hundreds of young, crazed kids simply acting irrationally. I don't think that's the case."

Nearly 1,200 people have been arrested since the riots erupted Saturday, mostly poor youths from a broad section of Britain's many races and ethnicities.

Courts have been running nearly 24 hours a day to hear all the cases since the rioting began. Most cases are heard in a blink of an eye and only give a snapshot of some of the youngsters' lives. Many of the defendants haven't had a chance to talk at length with their attorneys, and most can't be named because they are minors.

An 11-year-old boy from Romford, Essex, was among one of the youngest to appear in court on Wednesday. Wearing a blue Adidas tracksuit, the youngster spoke only to confirm his name, age and date of birth. The boy pleaded guilty to burglary, after stealing a waste bin worth 50 pounds. A charge of violent disorder was dropped.

Attorneys for some of the defendants said their clients were good kids who have caring families but got caught up in the violence.

Daniel Cavaglieri, one of the lawyers for a 17-year-old who appeared at Highbury Magistrates Court, said the youth was studying mechanics and trying to finish school. He was accused of following his older cousin to loot a clothing shop, and charged with intent to steal. "His mother is furious he was out and about at that time. She genuinely thought he was at a friend's house," Cavaglieri told the court. "He's going to be grounded."

Another defendant, a 15-year-old immigrant from Ukraine, pleaded not guilty to using or threatening unlawful violence. He already has a criminal record for theft, and police said he threw stones and other missiles in the thick of Tuesday's rioting in London's Hackney area. Prosecutors said the boy is an only child who lives with his widowed father. He came to Britain from Germany three years ago after leaving Ukraine when his mother died.

It's unclear what role racial tensions have played in the riots, if any.

In Tottenham, most residents are white but blacks from Africa or the Caribbean account for around a quarter of the ethnic mix. It's also home to Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Asian immigrants. The rage has appeared to cut across ethnic lines, with poverty as the main common denominator. But there's a history of racial tension in many of these neighborhoods, and the riots themselves were triggered by the fatal police shooting of a black man in Tottenham.

In 1985, the neighborhood was home to the Broadwater Farm riot, an event seared in the memories of many of the rioters' parents. Back then, violence exploded area when a black woman died from a stroke during a police search. The area remains a hotbed of ethnic tension: In the past year, police have logged some 100 racist or religion based hate crimes.

Other social problems afflict the places where rioting erupted: high teen pregnancy rates, gun crime and drug trafficking.

Under the Labour-led government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, authorities tried to penalize badly behaved youth with Anti-Social Behavior Orders, or ASBOs. The orders have since become badges of honor for many of Britain's youth.

In 2008, there were more than 1 million reported cases of violent crimes in England and Wales alone. By comparison, there were 331,778 reported incidents in France and some 210,885 incidents in Germany. Violent crime carried out by children and teenagers is also among the highest in Europe. "There's income inequality, extremely high levels of unemployment between 16 and 24-year-olds and huge parts of this population not in education or training," Goodwin said. "There's a general malaise amongst a particular generation."

Britain's Conservative-led government is implementing painful austerity measures in an attempt to get the country's finances in order. Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged 80 billion pounds ($129 billion) of spending cuts and 30 billion pounds in extra taxes to trim Britain's huge deficit, swollen after the government spent billions bailing out foundering banks.

The plans to cut services from welfare to education sparked violent protests last year, as students took to the streets to demonstrate against the tripling of university fees. The government is also cutting civil service jobs and benefits, raising the state pension age from 65 to 66, hiking the amount public sector employees contribute to pensions and reducing their retirement payouts.

The austerity measures will also slash housing benefit payments used to subsidize rents for the low-paid, threatening to price tens of thousands of poor families out of their homes and force them toward the fringes of the country's capital.

Economists at the Centre for Economic Policy Research say such cuts promise more unrest. Most of Britain's deepest cuts haven't even come yet. "There's usually something that sparks these things off," said Hans-Joachim Voth, a research fellow at the center. "The question is why is it that in 90 percent of these cases that nothing happens? Why is it that some places just end up like a tinder box?"

http://news.yahoo.com/britains-rioters-young-poor-disillusioned-192716141.html

[Jolie Rouge]

http://news.yahoo.com/britains-rioters-young-poor-disillusioned-192716141.html

comments


"Nobody is doing nothing for us"

???? How about maybe doing something for yourselves.

~~~

They have Blackberries, not regular cell phones. They have Nike shoes, not PayLess sneakers. They have Abercrombie and Fitch hoodies, not K-Mart sweatshirts... And they just burned down EVERY PLACE they could have gotten jobs at...

Dress 'em in PINK. Chain them together in 4's. Take away their fancy cellular devices and put them to work cleaning up the mess they made. OH! And stencil "Puff Girl" on the back of their jumpsuits. Freakin' spoiled rotten ANIMALS-- humiliate the HELL out of them.

~~~

If someone is trying to make me feel sorry for these filthy little thugs it did not work. There is no excuse for people acting this way all they did was to make things worse for other people maybe if they go to prison they will be fed and clothed for free which is what they seem to want

~~~

I am from England snd I can tell you thats these idiots rioting are worthless scum. They are uneducated because they skip school, They are jobless because they don't want to go to college or go to work to earn some money. I was brought up in a low income area and I worked for everything I have now. Nobody handed me anything on a plate and I did not expect them to. These kids feel they should be given everything from cash to a house. They are just lazy little s***s. There are jobs out there, it may not be 500 pounds per week working in a office it might just be 150/200 p/w working at Mcdonalds but its a start. These kids just go around the streets stealing all the time and its been going on for years.

~~~

I have been poor, homeless, disillusioned, cold, sick and hungry also, even to the point of wanting to take my own life, but I got a job instead of seeking public assistance. Now I have money in the bank........ not much, but enough to pay the bills and send my daughter to college.

~~~

Anyone see the interview with the two female rioters/looters. What did they steal? Money? Food? No! They stole WINE! That tells me all I need to know about these "poor, disillusioned" youths.

~~~

"good kids with caring familys but got caugut up in the violence." Bull Sh**. That is like saying they got caught up in a gang rape. If they don't know the difference between right and wrong they have no business out in public unsupervised

[gmyers]

I bet a lot of the rioters just want to loot and steal what they can. They showed a young man that was hurt on the news and while one was supposedly helping him another was going through the backpack on his back and stole his wallet and then just walked away.

[Jolie Rouge]

London Riots: How Some Residents Burned Their Own Community
By WILLIAM LEE ADAMS / CROYDON | Time.com – 1 hr 0 mins ago

It took 140 years to build up the House of Reeves furniture store, but only a few hours to destroy it. On Aug. 9, the morning after arsonists left the Croydon landmark in ruins, its owner put on a brave face for reporters. "It's been there since 1867, survived two wars, a depression. Yet the community seems to have burned it down," Maurice Reeves told news crews. "I'm 80 years old. It was my wedding anniversary yesterday. I don't know how I'm here today, but I am." On Aug. 10, Reeves paced around the wreckage - red bricks charred black, wooden planks split like toothpicks - but kept his eyes glued to the asphalt. Then, when a yellow bulldozer emblazoned with the word "Demolition" pulled up, Reeves walked away.

For a town recovering from the worst violence since bombs rained down during World War II, the destruction of the House of Reeves symbolizes the mindless thuggery that engulfed Croydon as well as cities and towns across England. Millions watched the Croydon blaze grow larger on live television; police couldn't ensure that the mob wouldn't attack the fire crews, so the firefighters were delayed and arrived too late to save the store. Rumors spread from neighbor to neighbor that the rioters had torched the building to distract authorities from the looting taking place in the town's shopping district. For two decades, Kim Watkinson, a secretary, worked six doors down from the furniture store. She locked herself in her house that evening. "I was watching TV and thinking, If the wind changes, my office will be burned to ashes."

She can count herself among the lucky ones. The fire stopped well short of her office and the nearby Croydon Parish Church. But elsewhere, vandals set homes alight, leaving 28 people homeless. In the town's busiest shopping district, hooligans - many of them young women - ransacked a computer store and torched cars. Sociologists have theorized that social exclusion fueled their rampage, and some Labour politicians have pointed the finger at spending cuts. But the onlookers surveying the damage at the House of Reeves attribute the destruction to something sinister in the looters themselves. "My 9-year-old granddaughter said, 'Granny, what possesses these people to do things like this?' " Marilyn, a 60-year-old resident remembers. "I said to her, 'They're savages.' There's no other word."

As Maurice Reeves surveyed the damage one final time ahead of the demolition, the streets leading to the wreckage seemed unusually quiet. Locals say the gaggle of teenagers and 20-somethings that usually loiters on the street corners and near fried-chicken shops has thinned in the wake of the riots. "It's quite noticeable," says Francis, who doesn't want to give her last name for fear of reprisals. "They'll keep their heads down for a couple of days, and then they'll come out with their new trainers and new phones, won't they?"

It's more of a statement than a question, and underscores the skepticism many have about the police's ability to control the country's youth. "The police were absolutely useless," says Malcolm Carter, a street sweeper who has spent much of the past two days cleaning up the mess. "Two hundred kids ruled the police in Croydon. The police are scared of them." Sure, 16,000 police swelled the streets of London on Aug. 9 - up from 6,000 the previous night. And it's now clear that the show of force helped reinstate a degree of calm. But when police ranks inevitably thin, vigilantes may need to keep the peace using chains and cricket bats. On the two nights after the fire, up to 50 men assembled at a pub in Croydon at sunset to prepare for the worst. "If they come down here, they'll be at them," Carter says. "They're going to do what the police won't and take the law into their own hands." (See "How to Stop the U.K. Riots: 8 Answers from an Expert.")

The majority of residents endorse less-extreme solutions. Some suggested pelting rioters with paintballs so they could later be identified. Others want a curfew in place that would discourage onlookers from taking photos of the chaos - and help police identify the true threats. Joanne, 47, who sells flowers at the Surrey Street Market, believes the police have done well with limited resources but says the time has come to "batter them all out of the way." "I think they should bring the army in," she says, passing lavender thistle to a customer. "They should bring in plastic bullets too."

Worryingly, the rioters have their supporters. On a small alley off Croydon High Street, not far from a ransacked electronics shop, the hum of Jamaican music leads to a Bob Marley tribute store. A shopkeeper inside says he sympathizes with those lashing out at the government officials and bankers who "are earning more money and buying bigger yachts" while the underclasses struggle to get by. "David Cameron and these bankers, they are devil worshippers. Money is their god," he says. "There will be more riots. You remember the French Revolution? The Russian Revolution? People killed all their leaders. That's going to happen here."

http://news.yahoo.com/riots-london-community-consumed-itself-070607087.html

comments

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

~~


"The police were absolutely useless..."

of course they were, if they did what they should do, the people would be screaming police brutality. these people have got to be put away or thrown out of England, let's see if they can riot like this where they come from - bloody ignorant fools!!!

~~~

Liberal policies are raising such thugs in the US. Instead of learning to support themselves and earning their own keep, they believe that they are entitled to the property of others.

~~~

If these idiots are so disenfranchised with the government, why don't they attack there? No, they are thugs who are attacking their own neighborhoods and small businesses, not high end luxury stores and wealthy homes. This is just BS and an excuse for criminals to steal, vandalize, commit arson and terrorize their own communities where people can't or won't fight back. They aren't marching on Parliament. We’ve seen this before in LA. It’s an EXCUSE to be stupid and violent. This is no way changes anything with the government, it just harms the citizens.

~~~

Remember the riots in Watts? Do you recall what stopped them cold? The Post Office declared a moratorium on the delivery of welfare checks until the safety of mail carriers could once again be assured.

!!!

This is what happens when a liberal government takes guns away from law abiding citizens....the police won't protect you and you can't defend yourself. Thank our founding fathers for the 2nd Amendment. This anarchy is very likely surface in America. Stay armed folks.

!!!

Wait until OUR spending cuts take effect. The U.S. will make the UK riots look like a folk dance.

[pepperpot]

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.


Sounds like an Obama plan.

[Jolie Rouge]

London riots cast pall over Olympics
By Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports Aug 10, 8:23 pm EDT

The wave of riots and public disorder sweeping the United Kingdom has prompted Olympic organizing chiefs to seek increased security measures ahead of next summer’s London Games. Following the fatal shooting by police of a man in the North London suburb of Tottenham last Thursday, a surge of criminality has spread to the rest of the capital and other major cities, with shops being looted, cars burned, people beaten and houses ransacked. Vandals left graffiti on an Olympic countdown clock in Trafalgar Square.

The shocking scenes have caused a drastic rethink on Olympic policing, with a source revealing to Yahoo! Sports that officials from Games organizing committee LOCOG will meet with police bosses once the current carnage dies down.

Original plans that would have seen around 9,000 police officers on the streets of London during the Olympics may be scrapped, and figures closer to the 16,000 brought in under this week’s emergency measures are now likely. Olympic planning had previously run smoothly and on budget, yet the spread of violence to the London borough of Hackney, just a brick’s throw from the central hub of the Games, has led to concern and uncertainty less than 12 months from the lighting of the flame.

London has never witnessed anarchic scenes of this kind at any time in its recent history, with the most worrying aspect being the way the discord spread so rapidly and brutally. Just a few months on from the joyous celebrations which marked the Royal Wedding of Prince William and his new bride the Duchess of Cambridge, the historic grace of one of the world’s proudest cities has been shattered in front of the very eyes of its citizens.

Horrific tales that point to a true breakdown in society have been regaled: passers-by ordered to strip naked while having their clothing stolen by muggers, the victim of a beating being robbed by tormentors who he believed were helping him to his feet. After Prime Minister David Cameron returned early from an Italian vacation to order police onto the streets, details emerged which showed that a school worker, a postman and an 11-year-boy were among those arrested for looting.

Normally, sports may be the furthest thing from most minds at times like this. However, it is the way they have been affected in this sports-obsessed nation that has truly brought home the extent of the crisis. The England soccer team saw its international fixture against the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday canceled as a direct result of the riots, while the squad issued a mass appeal for calm. With the English Premier League season due to commence on Saturday, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty hanging over the opening weekend’s games. Three EPL matches are scheduled for London, with capital-based clubs Tottenham, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers (QPR) all due to play at home.

Talks with police will continue and a decision on most matches is expected on Thursday. “We are in ongoing discussions with our London-based clubs [and] the Metropolitan Police … in regard to the coming weekend’s fixtures,” said a joint statement of the EPL and the Football League, which governs the three divisions below it. Tottenham’s White Hart Lane stadium is less than a mile from where the initial rioting began on Saturday, two days after local man Mark Duggan was shot and killed, and its box office was damaged in the ensuing fracas. Of all EPL games, it is Tottenham’s clash with Everton which is the most likely to be called off, with even the team’s own players urging a postponement.

“It would be preferable to postpone the match for the sake of fans’ safety,” said Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul.

“The chaos present there is unbelievable,” added midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart.

Following a night of riots, a sign hangs at Wembley Stadium stating the England vs. Netherlands game has been called off. However, such a stance is not shared by everyone. Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula One motorsport and co-owner of QPR, insisted that shutting down soccer, even temporarily, would mean that the miscreants had won. “It would send a terrible message to the rest of the world,” said Ecclestone. “You imagine if this happened when the Olympic Games started. It would be terrible.”

Several leading English sports figures have spoken up and urged for normality to be restored. Midfielder Steven Gerrard issued a statement pleading for no violence in his home city of Liverpool, which has fought hard to rise above social problems in recent years. “What’s all this in aid of?” England soccer captain Rio Ferdinand wrote on Twitter, while suggesting that bringing in the army could be a way of controlling the violence. “Innocent people’s homes and livelihoods have gone up in smoke. Why?”

Trouble also flared up in other major cities, although England’s cricket international against India in Birmingham was allowed to take place.

Greater caution has been necessary in London though, some of it with an inherently Olympic theme. A pre-Games beach volleyball tournament at the iconic Horse Guards Parade was concluded early so that fans could get home more safely. There is also a pre-Olympic cycling race scheduled to take place around the streets of London this weekend, which looks almost certain to be called off.

The IOC has reinforced its faith in the British police authorities but there is no doubt that LOCOG will want to act quickly to give further reassurances. However, the tricky part might be in striking a balance between the need for a strong security presence while averting overt and obtrusive measures when the world comes to visit. If, indeed, they do come to visit.

As world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe told the Daily Mail: “In less than a year we welcome the world, and right now they don’t want to come.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ro-london_2012_olympics_riots-081011

[Jolie Rouge]

London riots: Could they happen in the U.S.?
The Week – Fri, Aug 12, 2011

As Britain grapples with days of violent looting, Americans worry that riot fever could soon cross the pond

Riots, irrational violence, and hedonistic looting devastated London for the better part of a week, slapping Britons awake to disturbing truths about what many consider a historically civil society. Now, many Americans are wondering if the same thing could happen on this side of the Atlantic. Are such fears founded?

No. Americans would never stand for this: A culture and history of self-reliance would lead ordinary Americans to take matters into their own hands, says Tim Stanley at Britain's Telegraph. Remember when Koreans shot looters during the L.A. riots in 1992? Plus, political leaders like Jesse Jackson would "brave the violence and make a plea for reconciliation." Bill Clinton would cry and hug someone. And a top Republican would insist on "martial law and the summary execution of everyone wearing a hoodie." Seriously though, the riots would quickly subside because "Americans vocalize their issues and their ideas about resolving them."
"London riots: Americans would have known how to respond to the violence and looting"

Actually, we're "a spark away" from explosive riots: The London riots are eerily similar to those in Los Angeles in 1992, says Bill Boyarsky at Truthdig. And the conditions appear right for the same thing to happen again. In both cases, community anger boiled up after a racially-tinged episode, and evolved to encompass widespread frustration over a poor economy and socioeconomic disparities. Similar conditions in the U.S. today are causing social tensions "just below the surface in poor minority neighborhoods," just waiting to be "ignited by a spark."
"America is a spark away from riots of its own"

Indeed, we've already seen troubling previews : In the past few months, relatively small youth mobs "wreaked havoc" in cities like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, says Kevin Dolak at ABC News. These incidents indicate that "unrest could spread to America." In Milwaukee alone, a group of 1,000 youths used social networks to organize the disruption of the Wisconsin state fair. And with a "bleak economic outlook" and "deep distrust of the government" growing, watch out.
"Riot fear: Could U.K.-style destruction happen in America?"

http://news.yahoo.com/london-riots-could-happen-u-145100125.html

comments

Does anyone remember Watts? This has already happened in the U.S.

~~~

Not only can they come here, they have already begun on a smaller scale. The media chooses to not cover it. There was rioting in the US about the same time, at the Wisconsin State Fair.

~~~

We have a shrinking middle class and a widening gap between rich and poor. At the same time we see our elected representatives are increasingly reluctant to compromise on 'principle.' Fewer and fewer people are buying in to the idea that we are all Americans and have a vested interest in maintaining social order. Hostility toward authorities in general and distrust of the criminal justice system in particular are both growing at an uncomfortable pace. The idea of rioting just to "show the police that we can do anything we want" is one that many would find understandable. I don't think you can make that feeling go away by sending in SWAT teams. If you think that it 'can't happen here' perhaps you should re-examine the changes that have been taking place over the last few decades.

~~~

"Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Washington D.C. It is hard to think of a major U.S. city where the ubiquitous "flash mob" has not made its mark in recent months. Predictably and painfully, almost all major media outlets have been silent, and when they do make mention of the "mobs", are careful to omit relevant information that they deem "sensitive". This relevant information is the race of the attackers." - These stories are available as proof that the US is in the early stages of London type rioting if one is interested in being informed.

~~~

Most of these rioters were young people out for a bad time; most of this had nothing to do with lack of jobs and opportunity; they just wanted to loot and destroy.

~~

America had numerous race riots in the 60s' so why wouldn't it happen again

~~

One thing rioters need to keep in mind Americans have the right in 99% of the states to use deadly force to protect their family and property. I would not want to shoot anyone but in a them or me situation it will be them. So don't run my car off the road and don't try kicking my door down.

~~~

This already happened here, at the Wisconsin State fair. But national liberal media don't report those types of things, because they suppress anything that could cause 'racial tensions'. Same reason they keep trying to avoid talking about the London rioters mostly being bIack and they are quick to show footage of white rioters, even though the vast majority of the rioters in London are bIack.

[Jolie Rouge]

Cameron: Riot-hit UK must reverse 'moral collapse'
By DAVID STRINGER - AP,SHAWN POGATCHNIK - AP – 37 mins ago

LONDON (AP) — Britain must confront a culture of laziness, irresponsibility and selfishness which fueled four days of riots that left five dead, thousands facing criminal charges and hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) of damage, Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged Monday.

As rival political leaders staked out their response to England's unrest, Cameron pledged to deliver a raft of new policies by October aimed at reversing the "slow-motion moral collapse" which he blames for fostering the disorder. "This has been a wake-up call for our country. Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face," Cameron told an audience at a youth center in Witney, his Parliamentary district in southern England. "Just as people last week wanted criminals robustly confronted on our street, so they want to see these social problems taken on and defeated."

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said Monday that he was already examining whether those involved in the riots should have their welfare payments cut, while London mayor Boris Johnson said young people convicted over the disorder would lose their right to use public transport for free.

Cameron pledged to end a culture of timidity in discussing family breakdown or poor parenting, or in criticizing those who fail to set a good example to their children or community. "We have been too unwilling for too long to talk about what is right and what is wrong," Cameron said. "We have too often avoided saying what needs to be said, about everything from marriage to welfare to common courtesy."

In a rival speech, main opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband criticized Cameron's response as overly simplistic, and demanded that lawmakers focus on delivering better opportunities for disaffected young people. "The usual politicians' instinct — announce a raft of new legislation, appoint a new adviser, wheel out your old prejudices and shallow answers — will not meet the public's demand," said Miliband.

He spoke at his former high school in Camden, north London, half a block from the scene of intense rioting Aug. 8, when shops were trashed and police came under attack. "Are issues like education and skills, youth services, youth unemployment important for diverting people away from gangs, criminality, the wrong path? Yes, they matter," Miliband said.

The differing approaches to Britain's most serious riots in a generation are likely to dominate the country's annual political conventions, which begin next month. Miliband has called for a full public inquiry into the roots of the riots, while Cameron insists his government is able to adequately examine the issue. Cameron insists that racial tensions, poverty and the government's austerity program — much of which is yet to bite — were not the primary motivations for the riots across London and other major cities.

Instead, Cameron pointed to gang-related crime, and a widespread failure from Britain's leaders to address deep rooted social issues — including through the country's generous welfare system. "Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged — sometimes even incentivized — by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally demoralized," Cameron said.

He pledged that the government would intervene to help 120,000 of the country's most troubled families before the 2015 national election.

Standing before a backdrop of graffiti, Cameron said Britain's damaged society had for too long been one which "incites laziness, that excuses bad behavior, that erodes self-discipline, that discourages hard work."

Both he and Miliband agreed that, following recklessness by bankers, the lawmakers' expense check scandal, and media phone hacking saga, all sectors of society had a share of the blame. "Moral decline and bad behavior is not limited to a few of the poorest parts of our society. In the highest offices, the plushest boardrooms, the most influential jobs, we need to think about the example we are setting," Cameron said.

Young people who watched Cameron make his speech appeared unimpressed with his plans. "He should stop blaming it on everyone else, he should stop living in la-la land," said 17-year-old Jake Parkinson. "If he was doing his job right, this wouldn't be happening."

As police continued to hunt those involved in last week's riots, detectives said they had uncovered a cache of weapons and hidden loot buried in flower beds in Camden. Knives, a hammer, metal bars and two cash registers from a looted cycle store were found after officers combed the area with metal detectors.

A-33-year-old man, Gordon Edward Thompson, was remanded into custody at Croydon Magistrates Court charged with setting fire to a department store that had been in business since 1867 and run by five generations of the same family.

Cameron spoke with the store owner Maurice Reeves, and said Monday he had described "a hundred years of hard work, burned to the ground in a few hours."

In Birmingham, where hundreds of Asian, black and white locals held a peace rally on Sunday, two men and a teenage boy appeared in court Monday charged with murdering three Pakistani men run over and killed during last week's riots. Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died Wednesday after a car struck them at high speed as they guarded shops in west Birmingham, 120 miles (190 kilometers) northwest of London.

The attack raised fears of gang warfare between the area's South Asian and Caribbean gangs because residents identified the car-borne assailants as black. But public appeals for no retaliation, particularly from one victim's father, Tariq Jahan, have helped keep passions at bay.

England's gang-fueled rioting began in London Aug. 6 and spread to several other English cities. Police were criticized for responding too slowly, particularly in London, but eventually deployed huge numbers of officers at riot zones to quell the mayhem.

The Association of British Insurers has estimated the cost from wrecked and stolen property at 200 million pounds ($326 million) but expects the total to rise. Police were on Monday questioning two men over the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man during riots in Croydon, south London. Officers were also interviewing a 16-year-old boy arrested Sunday night on suspicion of fatally beating a 68-year-old man who had tried to put out a fire set by rioters in Ealing, west London.

Across the country, about 1,400 people have been charged so far with riot-related offenses and thousands have been arrested. Several courts opened Sunday for the first time in modern history to try to reduce the backlog of cases.

London's police said in the capital alone, a total of 1,593 people had been arrested and 926 charged with offenses.

http://news.yahoo.com/cameron-riot-hit-uk-must-reverse-moral-collapse-231015878.html