London riots: Will this be our Future, Huge Austerity Cuts, Unemployment, Food Riots, Tax Rebellion ?

 

 

Great Depression, Anarchy, Burning Cities in America?   Expect rioting like London has now in America in the near future if Lawmakers can't figure out the formula to create new jobs and revenue for our Treasury. Simply put, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” Last Friday Standard & Poors (S&P) dropped the U.S. Credit Rating from AAA to AA+, and stating its reasons in pertinent part: “The political brinksmanship of recent months,” the company said, “highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.” S&P also pointed to political reluctance to make cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and Republicans’ refusal even to consider increasing revenues by, for instance, ending the Bush tax cuts. Read full S&P Overview of Downgrade.   Will Afghanistan & Iraqi War Veterans have to March on Washington, D.C., to get their Disability Compensation & other Benefits like World War One "Bonus Marchers" had to do just to get a $500 Bonus they were promised? On Monday, August 08, 2011, the Dow Jones Industrials (DJI) dropped 5.55% or 634.76 points to 10,809.  It was the first time the DJI was below 11,000 since November or December of 2008. As previously stated in a recent story, the Bush 43 tax cuts for the Rich are still in place and yet we have “real unemployment” of over 15% or over 24-Million unemployed. Increases of around 125,000 jobs a month are needed to keep the unemployment rate steady, while about 200,000 a month would bring it down a percentage point over a year. Only 117,000 jobs were created last month. So until the Treasury gets more Revenue from payroll taxes, we need let the tax cuts for the Rich expire and raise taxes for Millionaires and Billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes, which they are not doing at this time due to loop holes created for them in the tax code system. So just cutting the Budget, especially the entitlement programs without a formula to raise Revenues will not stimulate the economy into recovery, especially in creating more jobs so Americans can pay their bills, buy food for themselves and their families, not be evicted or foreclosed on, and so that consumers can spend more money to help further stimulate the economy. Until One of the most famous phtotos of Hippies in a Peaceful Demonstration for Social Change placing flowers in the rifle muzzles of Members of the National Guard. Maybe these kind of Demonstrations need repeating for the changes we need now? Failure to do the above and more, will just cause more unemployment and a Great Depression, Anarchy, and Burning Cities! and more crime because people are not going to let themselves or their spouses or children go hungry, and homeless if possible, so they will go out and commit crimes to get the money they need.   The cost of this type of crime monetarily and in human suffering or death thatjk the cost more than paying entitlements in most cases. Additionally, the Recession has made the racial wealth gap extremely worse which also causes more crime to be committed. Recession worsens racial wealth Whether we the United States falls into a Great Depression fermenting Anarchy, Riots, Looting and other Violence in America in the near future like London and other Nations are experiencing, depends upon whether Lawmakers can figure out the formula for the necessary Tax Hikes of the Rich and America’s Private Industries to create new jobs, more consumer spending, all of which create the Revenue we desperately need for our Treasury. Left-wing cynics blame the Tory cuts for orgy of violence: MPs and activists line up to make excuses for thugs Left-wing politicians have cynically sought to make political capital out of the riots, blaming government cuts for the orgy of violence. Labour MPs and activists lined up to make excuses for the thugs, spouting claims that disadvantaged youth had no option but to smash up high streets. Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, suggested the Government’s austerity drive was to blame. Blame: Left-wing politicians have been accused of cynically trying to make political capital out of the riots, blaming government for the riots Labour MPs and activists have claimed that the people involved in riots have been pushed to take this violent action On Twitter, he said: ‘The Tories are back alright. Why is it the Tories never take responsibility for the consequences of their party’s disastrous policies. #tottenham’ Minutes earlier he had endorsed the comment of another Twitter user who said: ‘Riots. Protests. Cuts. Unemployment. Disaffected Youth. Strikes. Recession. Police Brutality.’ Swift to jump on the bandwagon was Lee Jasper, a former adviser on policing to Ken Livingstone when he was Mayor of London. He blamed the ‘economic violence’ of the government for the riots and expressed no sympathy for businesses that were smashed up. He claimed some were attacked because they do not help create projects for under-privileged youths and was quoted as asking: ‘When did Curry’s build a school?’ In another interview, Mr Jasper appeared to blame the police for the  violence, saying the authorities had failed to take account of the level of suspicion among people in Tottenham when it responded to the death of alleged drug dealer Mark Duggan. Mr Jasper was following the example of his former boss. Mr Livingstone said that the austerity drive had created a ‘social division’ which was forcing the police into conflict with communities. He said: ‘The economic stagnation and cuts being imposed by the Tory government inevitably create social division. ‘As when Margaret Thatcher imposed such policies during her recessions this creates the threat of people losing control, acting in completely unacceptable ways that threaten everyone, and culminating in events of the type we saw in Tottenham.’ Angry: Conservative MP Mike Freer (pictured) says 'If Labour politicians want to ride on the back of the rioters in order to obtain some spurious political advantage they should be ashamed of themselves.' Mr Livingstone and his acolytes came under fire from furious Tories, who pointed out that he of all people should know that vast investment has been piled into Tottenham, Hackney and Lewisham over the last three decades. Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said: ‘It’s complete nonsense. These riots are about vandalism. If Labour politicians want to ride on the back of the rioters in order to obtain some spurious political advantage they should be ashamed of themselves. To the best of my knowledge, we talked about cuts but most of them have not bitten yet. If Labour politicians really believe that, let’s have a list of cuts that they think justified people turning to violence. Even the local MP David Lammy has rejected that approach.’ Mark Field, MP for the City and Westminster, added: ‘Of all people, Ken Livingstone should know how much Hackney and Lewisham have changed beyond all recognition over the last 30 years. ‘This is opportunistic criminality. The events in Tottenham need investigating but these copycat riots in Lewisham and Brixton are nothing to do with the cuts. ‘It is reprehensible to make any such parallel.’ Black London Labour MPs including Mr Lammy, Diane Abbott and Chuka Umunna distanced themselves from attempts to blame the cuts. Miss Abbott said: ‘Cuts don’t turn you into a thief. What we saw was people thieving for hours. Mr Umunna said the violence in London was ‘totally opportunistic and utterly unacceptable’. He added: ‘I think we have got to be very careful about seeking to draw general conclusions from a series of  events around London to make some kind of historical judgment about what is going on. Police officers in riot gear block a road near a burning car on a street in Hackney as youths hurl missiles at officers Looters raid the Orange phone shop in New Street Birmingham in copy-cat riots which have sprung up in the city Other areas of the capital were braced for violence this afternoon with workers barricading their shops in Stratford and Islington. Barriers were erected outside Westfield Shopping Centre and Kilburn High Street was closed off. Police were also on the streets in Harlesden. In Hackney, youths set fire to cars, rubbish bins and were spotted looting shops and setting off fireworks in the direction of police. At least 30 riot vans were spotted in the area with three helicopters. In Lewisham cars were set alight and several bins near the Town Hall, while in Peckham a bus was set alight by arsonists. Buses were re-routed away from Peckham and Lewisham whilst the violence was brought under control. Similar scenes emerged in Deptford, with one building set alight. Commenters in Hackney earlier this afternoon said the thugs had looted Ladbrokes and JD Sports shop and other eye-witnesses suggested that the police were trying to prevent rioters from trashing Hackney’s Town Hall. Meanwhile, a man was seen on a tube train dressed in black and carrying a copper rod as he headed into the riots. The roots of the burning and looting in North London at the weekend can be traced back not to Broadwater Farm 1985 but to the Great Ikea Riot of 2005. Six years ago a 7,000-strong mob went berserk at the opening of a new furniture warehouse in Edmonton. Five people were taken to hospital, including a woman who was stabbed in a fight over a cut-price sofa. Police and security guards fought running battles with bargain hunters and the North Circular Road was brought to a standstill. Riots: But the police have questions to answer too Shoppers desperate for discount bed frames, on sale for as little as £30, tried to smash their way in to the store when the doors were barred after just half an hour. One member of staff had his jaw broken and paramedics feared for their lives. Ikea admitted that it was probably a mistake to offer such low introductory prices and to open the warehouse at midnight. But that doesn’t explain why customers ‘behaved like animals’, according to eye-witnesses. They scrapped like alley cats over soft furnishings even as the casualties were being stretchered off to ambulances. One scared shopper said: ‘It’s just furniture. It’s not worth dying over.’ Edmonton is a couple of miles north of Tottenham as the Molotov Cocktail flies, so it was no surprise when the looting spread there on Sunday. Some of the survivors of the Great Ikea Riot were almost certainly filling their boots on Tottenham High Road and at nearby Wood Green Shopping City, where thieves formed orderly queues to ‘liberate’ everything from flat-screen TVs to trainers. More from Richard Littlejohn... RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Vote online? Be careful what you click for... 04/08/11 RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Kelly Brook and the jihad seekers' allowance 01/08/11 Hacking? They can all go to hell in a handcart! 15/07/11 If Max Clifford deserves £1m, what price the Dowler family? 11/07/11 RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Callous judges have sentenced Elaine to life without dignity 07/07/11 RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Happy families? No, another miscarriage of justice 04/07/11 RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Winter of discontent? More like a summer of selfishness 30/06/11 RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: It's Rumpy Pumpy's Flying Circus! 28/06/11 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE One photograph showed a woman casually trying on a pair of stolen shoes in front of a smashed store front. This wasn’t a spontaneous uprising of dissent from the downtrodden masses, it was shopping with violence. Enfield isn’t a deprived inner-city ghetto, it’s a peaceful middle-class suburb. The disturbances there weren’t a protest against police brutality. A few hooligans figured the police would be so busy down the road in Tottenham that it was the perfect opportunity to rob the local Vodafone dealer. Just as some of those who took part in the Great Ikea Riot had come from as far afield as Birmingham, so agitators and opportunists from all over London and beyond flocked to Tottenham and surrounding suburbs at the weekend. Rioters were alerted to the potential for violence against the police via anti-social network messages from some of the leading lights in the Stop The Cuts mayhem in Central London earlier this year — including wheelchair warrior Jody McIntyre, who tweeted to his 9,000 followers: ‘Be inspired by the scenes in #tottenham and rise up in your neighbourhood = the way we can beat the feds.’ Let’s hope the police round up these electronic ringleaders and charge them with incitement. The only real link to the Broadwater Farm riot was location, location, location. Relations between the police and the ‘community’ have improved beyond recognition since 1985. Don’t take my word for it, listen to the local MP David Lammy who has lived in Tottenham all his life. Millions of pounds have been pumped into inner city estates in the wake of the disturbances of the early to mid 1980s, not just in Tottenham, but also Brixton and other notorious concrete jungles across London. In the case of Broadwater Farm, it would probably have been better to raze the place to the ground and start over again. Under siege: People have been burned out of their homes and small businesses The most frightening side-effect of the new ‘softly, softly’ policing approach is that the control of such estates has been surrendered to lawless gangs led by the likes of Mark Duggan, whose shooting by police sparked the peaceful demonstration which escalated into mob violence. Reliable locals attest that, despite the Guardian’s doting portrait of him as a respectable pillar of the community, Duggan was involved in drug dealing and gun crime. Impressionable ‘youths’ looked up to him as an ‘elder’. Only on our inner city estates can a 29-year-old gangster be considered an ‘elder’, a term usually associated with a wise old man. Mind you, there are probably a few 29-year-old grandfathers around these days, so anyone over 30 counts as ancient in some communities. The police have questions to answer, not just in relation to the death of Mark Duggan but also why they stood aside and allowed the wholesale looting in Wood Green and at the Tottenham retail park. Rebel without a cause: Most of the protestors are motivated by greed It would be premature to prejudge the outcome of the official inquiry into the shooting, but it is worth pointing out that it involved officers who work out of a specialist unit at Scotland Yard, not the local nick at Tottenham. And it is also worth noting that young, predominantly black, men are shot dead in turf wars every week across London without it turning into an excuse for setting fire to Carpetright and robbing Foot Locker. The usual suspects have been bleating about police brutality and ‘racism’ being the prime causes of the unrest. But if there is racism in Tottenham, it’s not white on black. The racial tensions involve hostility between Jamaicans, Nigerians, Cypriots, Albanians, Kurds and a host of Eastern European newcomers. Looters: This wasn't a protest - it was shopping with violence Emptied out: Looters' thirst to take anything they could get their hands on was extraordinary There’s resentment among the ‘youths’ against those who are perceived to have got on in life. Look no further than the Tweet from one of the looters which read: ‘F*** the electronics, them Turkish jewellers needed to get robbed.’ Unemployment is a problem, largely because so many of the poor, misunderstood ‘youths’ prefer to live on benefits and the proceeds of gang crime rather than seek gainful employment. While they are posing for ‘gangsta’ photos on Facebook, most of the low-paid, but essential, jobs are filled by hard-working recent arrivals. Study the shop signs in Tottenham High Road and see how many are written in Polish. One of the convenience stores looted was advertising Bulgarian food. These are the people who have been burned out of their homes and small businesses. There were two dozen flats above the carpet warehouse which went up in flames. Mark Duggan: Gang chiefs like him took over in estates abandoned by police The tragedy is not that the rioters have fouled their own nest, they have destroyed the hopes of so many decent people who have devoted their lives to building a real community in Tottenham. Politicians have been content to throw money at these inner city areas without ever addressing the underlying problems, while fiddling around with their own fashionable obsessions. One of the most ludicrous images from Saturday night was the photo of a double-decker bus in flames alongside a notice reading: ‘Low Emissions Zone.’ Just as prison warders turn a blind eye to prisoners smoking dope in the belief that it keeps them docile, so the police routinely ignore criminality in pursuit of a quiet life. There has been much hand-wringing and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the past couple of days, most of it utter garbage. One thing is certain: this wasn’t about poverty, not in the material sense. If there’s poverty, it’s spiritual poverty, moral poverty and poverty of ambition. In countries where there’s real deprivation, they have food riots. Here we have flat-screen TV riots. The other certainty is that this has nothing to do with the riots at Broadwater Farm 26 years ago. This wasn’t a political protest, or a demonstration against oppression, it was a grotesque manifestation of our shallow, instant gratification, I-want-it-and-I-want-it-now consumerist society, coupled with an extreme explosion of the kind of casual violence which scars our town  and city centres across Britain every weekend. There was more trouble in Brixton and last night the madness kicked off in Hackney and Peckham, as large areas of London went into lockdown. At the time of the Broadwater Farm riots, there were copycat incidents, too. I remember driving past a skirmish outside Huckleberry’s hamburger bar opposite Turnpike Lane Tube station, which was later labelled the ‘Wood Green riot’. But it had nothing on this latest burning and looting. We used to joke: Red sky at night, Tottenham’s alight. Now it’s not so funny. The titans of Broadwater Farm — Barmy Bernie Grant, Dolly Kiffin et al — have either died or are but a distant memory. All bar one, that is. Right on cue Red Ken popped up to blame the weekend’s riots on Tory spending ‘cuts’. There speaks the true voice of a man forever stuck in 1985. Looters raid two shops in Hackney, east London tonight. They are seen forcing their way into buildings making off with goods with smashed glass all over the pavement

While the media seems focused on portraying the rioters as a bunch of drunk hoodlums who have nothing else to do, it is obvious to the citizens of the area that the growing tensions with the police would lead to this kind of outburst. Here’s an interview describing the “other side of the story” (I don’t think that the BBC was expecting this kind of response). Order Out of Chaos That being said, the London riots might be exactly what the ruling class needed to further a few agendas. The elite’s motto is Ordo Ad Chao, meaning Order Out of Chaos. Time and time again, chaotic situations have been “allowed” – if not totally engineered – by the elite in order to create fear and panic within the general population. The distraught masses then beg the elite for an intervention and a prompt solution. The result of these interventions is almost unequivocally the same: the introduction of rules and regulations disadvantaging the average citizen while giving more (undemocratic) powers to the elite. The new policies would not normally be accepted by the general population, but due to the panic generated by the crisis, the policies are not only accepted but welcomed with open arms. The Great Depression of 1929 allowing the Rockefellers and the Morgans to hijack the banking system, 9/11 clearing the way for the PATRIOT act,  the bailout “crisis” that handed $700 billion of tax-payer money directly to a few favored companies … the same pattern repeats itself continually. Create a crisis, make it last long enough to get the population worried and introduce the solution that was, in fact, part of the agenda all along. And the population falls for it, every single time. Using mass media, it is easy to create widespread panic. Simply interrupting a TV show with “Breaking News” featuring a red banner at the bottom of the screen and bold letters is enough to raise the collective heartbeat of a nation, and to make it aware of a situation in a matter of minutes. In the days that follow, all media outlets constantly remind the population of this particular situation. The constant hammering makes the situation almost seem as unbearable by the population who hear about it continuously on TV and read about it in the newspapers and the internet. After a while, the average citizen will want just one thing: the awful, nauseating feeling created by the situation to go away, whatever that takes. After the problem has dragged long enough, the media present one or several solutions. Not fully understanding this solution, but tired and annoyed, most people think: “Well, if that’s what it takes for them to shut up about this and move on to something else, then I’m all for it.” Did the elite allow the London riots to last long enough to create a sentiment of panic? There are already sources stating that the police were ordered to stand by as the riots took place (according an article from the Daily Mail entitled Why police were so soft on London looters: They ‘were ordered to stand and observe’ as capital burned (but in Manchester they were hunting looters within hours). Furthermore, we are already seeing in the media the emergence of a specific agenda and a call to the adoption of specific policies that, predictably, go against the interests of the general public. The Blackberry Riots – The Underlying Agenda After a single day or rioting, an obvious agenda emerged in the media and a specific culprit was singled out by the authorities: the privacy of mobile messaging. The same way a picture of bin Laden appeared on TV screens only a few minutes after 9/11, mobile instant messaging was outed as the main cause of the London riots. Several media outlets have even dubbed these events “the Blackberry Riots”. The media, being the right hand of power, steered the attention of the public towards a specific agenda. According to news sources, the London riots were mainly orchestrated using Blackberry’s instant messenger service (known as BBM), which is a (relatively) private service as the communications are encrypted. Here’s a typical article pointing out Blackberry, this one is from Reuters: The BlackBerry riots MP calls for BBM suspension to calm UK riots A lawmaker called on Tuesday for BlackBerry’s instant messaging service to be suspended after rioters used it to mobilize in London and other British cities. David Lammy, Member of Parliament for Tottenham, where London’s worst riots for decades began on Saturday, appealed on Twitter and on BBC radio for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion to suspend BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). “This is one of the reasons why unsophisticated criminals are outfoxing an otherwise sophisticated police force,” he tweeted. “BBM is different as it is encrypted and police can’t access it.” The riots, in which shops are being looted and cars and buildings set ablaze, spread to Britain’s second-largest city Birmingham and other centres. Politicians and police are blaming the violence on criminals and hooligans but some commentators and local residents say its roots lie in anger over economic hardship in a city where the prospects for many youths are dim. Many of the rioters favour BlackBerry Messenger over Twitter and other social media because its messages are encrypted and private, but the service is widely used and messages can easily be sent to groups. Research In Motion said in a statement on Monday: “As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials.” The company declined to say whether it was handing over chat logs or user details to police. Research In Motion’s Inside BlackBerry blog was hacked on Tuesday by a group going by the name of Teampoison. The group posted a warning to the company not to cooperate with police. “You Will tNOTt assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all,” the statement said. “If you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we tWILLt make this information public and pass it onto rioters,” it said. YOUNGER CLIENTELE Sameet Kanade, analyst at Northern Securities in Toronto, said: “RIM will need the directive of the UK authorities and the cooperation of the carriers. Lawful intercept is the only valid legal reason that a carrier and handset vendor can intervene. “In terms of actual mechanism, RIM has always claimed that it is unable to de-encrypt/decipher messages routed through the BES or BIS servers. It may be able to disable the routing of messages at best, from what I understand.“ Geoff Blaber, analyst with UK telecoms research firm CCS Insight, said: “One option would be to switch it off. But BBM is highly popular and has got a big installed base in the UK.“ BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM as it is popularly known, has driven sales to new audiences for RIM in recent years as it expanded from its base as a tool for executives to a more consumer and younger clientele. It has more than 45 million active users worldwide, 70 percent of whom use it daily, sending billions of messages in total every month. Users with data plans can instantly pass text messages, pictures and other files without incurring charges from their network carrier. RIM has got into hot water in the past on the one hand for cooperating with governments seen as repressive, and on the other for not cooperating enough with the security needs of authorities in some countries. Its encrypted services, which it moves over its own servers via telecom carriers, have been blamed for aiding militant attacks in India and for allowing unrelated men and women to communicate in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In August last year, a source close to talks between RIM and Saudi authorities said the Canadian company had agreed to hand over information that would allow monitoring of BBM. A deal was also reached in the UAE, averting a threatened ban on all BlackBerry services. The company says it cooperates with authorities around the world with a consistent standard. RIM has been relatively willing to provide authorities with access to its consumer services, such as BBM, but says it has no way of allowing monitoring of its enterprise email. In the case of India, RIM gave the authorities access to BlackBerry Messenger services but said it did not have the technical capabilities to provide interception of corporate emails on the popular device. India has demanded access to all BlackBerry services as part of efforts to fight militancy and security threats over the Internet and through telephone communications In London, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh of the Metropolitan police said on Tuesday: “Police have got extensive monitoring of this BlackBerry messaging model and actually a lot of people who are seeing these Blackberry messages are forwarding them to the police.“ Police did not immediately respond to a request for more details of how they were monitoring message traffic. - Source After a few days of repetition, the population is convinced: The riots are not the results of inequalities or police brutality; they are the result of too much privacy in mobile communications. This cancer must be stopped. The police, or whomever else that wants to, must be able to monitor all of our communication, at all times, or our cities will burn. This is the message that is being hammered to the public. Do all of the rioters own a Blackberry? I would not think so, but that is not important. The agenda was already set. Singled out and facing bad publicity, RIM (the company that created the Blackberry) was pressured to violate the privacy of its subscribers and to divulge their personal information. Normally, this would have caused outrage, but now, due to the riots, the the general population believes that it that it is necessary to stop these riots and to prevent other ones from taking place. The media’s focus on RIM, and the resulting pressure to hand over sensible information to the authorities, lead to the hacking of Blackberry’s official site on August 9th by a group who opposing this sharing of information. Police advised businesses across the capital to close as the violence also spread to Peckham, Deptford and Lewisham in South London. More than 300 officers from 12 outside forces were brought in to help the Met deal with riots. But areas of the capital were left entirely unprotected. In affluent Clapham, a 200-strong mob tore along the high street while one witness said: ‘There isn’t a single officer here.’ Metropolitan Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said Scotland Yard was on high alert and said the looting was ‘disgusting behaviour, ripping apart people’s livelihoods and businesses’. He said a third more officers were on the ground than Sunday night, which was three times more than Saturday when the riots started. WHERE THE VIOLENCE HAPPENED HACKNEY Masked rioters on BMX bicycles armed with batons attacked a crowded London bus during the evening rush-hour, chasing terrified commuters as they tried to escape The thugs forced the driver to stop the double-decker by pelting it with champagne bottles stolen from a nearby Tesco A thug used an axe to break into a Tesco supermarket. More than 30 gang members then streamed in, stealing bottles of alcohol which they used as missiles in later attacks CROYDON Fire destroyed a landmark furniture store. Black smoke could be seen across South London as House of Reeves, on Reeves Corner, was razed Gangs of youths, some armed with knives, fought with police as supermarkets and other businesses were attacked Looters raided a branch of Argos, smashing the rear doors and making off with satnavs, CD players and camcorders PECKHAM A woman and small child were taken by ambulance to hospital with burns and breathing difficulties after a shop below their flat was set ablaze Hundreds of teenagers had earlier smashed up a bus before setting it on fire. Wheelie bins were also set alight and placed in the middle of the road A line of police stood helpless a quarter of a mile away in Rye Lane BIRMINGHAM Shop windows were smashed in Birmingham as large crowds gathered following rumours of  copycat riots Police established an exclusion zone up to half a mile around the city’s famous Bullring shopping centre. McDonald’s, Jessops and LA fitness were targeted, with bins thrown through the windows Disturbances were also reported in EALING, FULHAM, LEWISHAM, CLAPHAM, OXFORD CIRCUS, WALTHAM FOREST, WALTHAMSTOW ISLINGTON, PONDERS END, CAMDEN, KENSINGTON AND KING'S ROAD About 1,700 extra police officers have been brought in from neighbouring forces to help contain the trouble, including officers from Thames Valley Police, Kent, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Sussex. Commander Christine Jones, said: 'The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery. The Met will ensure that those responsible will face the consequences of their actions and be arrested.' So far, 225 people have been arrested and 36 people have been charged. Croydon pub landlord Alan McCabe told BBC he was furious about the fires raging in Croydon. 'I have never seen such a disregard for human life. I hope they rot in hell. 'The grief they have caused people, the fear they have put in people's hearts, decent people who have done nothing to anyone.' The owner of Reeves furniture store, burned to the ground in the violence, told Sky News he was devastated at losing his family business which began in 1867 and had been in the family for five generations. Meanwhile, Ealing restaurant owner Adrian Mills told the BBC his till was emptied by looters and alcohol taken. He said: 'The police don't seem to have the numbers to cope with the way this is spreading. It is complete and utter lawlessness.' In Birmingham police said several shops near the Bullring shopping centre were attacked and property stolen as youths rampaged around the city centre causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. The disorder started at about 7.45pm when a mob of around 40 youths charged from the station into the main shopping area smashing shops and causing havoc. One group grabbed hundreds of coat hangers throwing them onto the streets and tipping over rubbish bins. Among the damaged shops were a Sainsbury's Local, Adidas, JD Sports, Primark, TMobile and stationery shop Savers, which is located yards away from Jamie Oliver's restaurant Jamie's Italian. Shocked diners at Wagamamas and Jamie's Italian stopped eating to stand up and look at the riots in progress. Back in London, on Peckham High Street, around 500 youths gathered near riot police, while a gang of 10 looters raided a loan shop and an ABC Pharmacy was targeted by men using plastic bags to cover their faces. Dresses were among the items taken from a clothing store, while a cashpoint and a branch of Coral bookmakers were also badly damaged. Three lines of riot police charged at a large group of youths outside Peckham Library, forcing them to retreat. At Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush, barriers were erected, and Kilburn High Street was closed off. Police were also on the streets in Harlesden. The widespread rioting led to railway station closures while numerous roads were also shut. Among the mainline stations that were shut were Peckham Rye and Queens Road, Peckham, as well as Barking in east London, West Croydon in south east London, and Bethnal Green in east London. The trouble in Birmingham meant that Birmingham New Street station had restricted access, while in south London Woolwich Arsenal station was closed. Harrow-on-the Hill mainline station in west London was closed at the request of police and Sydenham station in south London was also shut. Many roads had to be closed as the violence continued. Among them was a section of Tottenham High Road in north London and the A107 Lower Clapton Road in Hackney, north east London. Responding to mounting reports that buses were being attacked or forced off the road as unrest spread across London, the Unite union's regional secretary for London and eastern region Peter Kavanagh called for urgent support for transport workers from Transport for London. He said: 'We are getting growing reports of bus drivers being caught in the middle of the unrest breaking out across London. We are extremely concerned for the safety of these workers and their passengers. 'Transport for London must now waste no more time. It must do what it was established to do, and that is take the lead on an integrated response to the capital's transport problems. 'This is too serious a matter to be left to the discretion of individual bus companies. 'We urgently need a consistent, cross-capital response which puts the well-being of the workforce and passengers first.' The Met Police's acting commissioner Tim Godwin urged parents to contact their children and get them off the streets to help officers bring the unrest under control. They also said they would be examining CCTV footage and other sources to identify culprits. Police carry away a rioter on the streets of London this evening, while elsewhere in the south London suburb an officer helps an injured colleague to safety Looters run from a shop in Hackney with a bag of clothes whilst another rioter in Hackney raises a wine bottle as he rampages through the streets Masked: Two of those involved in the riots cover their faces with scarves to try and hide their identities

 

London burns at hands of the mob as the PM finally flies home: Gangs armed with petrol bombs and poles on THIRD night of riots and cynical looting

• Serious violence in Hackney, Croydon, Peckham and Birmingham tonight
• Unrest also reported in Deptford, Camden, Kensington, Ealing, Lewisham, Bethnal Green and Woolwich
• Some residents ordered to evacuate their homes in Clapham Junction
• Police urge football clubs to cancel London fixtures
• Prime Minister David Cameron is returning home from his holiday tonight for an emergency meeting
• Met's Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin urged parents to get their children off the streets
• 300 officers drafted in from 12 other forces to bring unrest under control
• 225 people arrested since Saturday night - including one aged 11 - and 36 charged

By Emily Allen

Last updated at 12:42 AM on 9th August 2011

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Police and firefighters are struggling to control a series of riots across London tonight in which officers have been attacked, shops looted and dozens of buildings set on fire.

The violence began in Hackney shortly after 4pm when a mob of hooded youths began hurling missiles at officers and setting fire to bins and cars. Minutes later similar scenes erupted in Lewisham, spreading to Peckham, Deptford and Croydon in south east London.

Reeves furniture store was burned to the ground Croydon - a family business for more than 100 years - and one woman was seen leaping from a burning building on Surrey Street as flames threatened to engulf her. Police have also announced a man has been shot in the suburb, but not fatally injured.

A woman leaps from a burning building in Surrey Street, Croydon after flames threaten to engulf her. People stand to catch her as she jumps to safety

Devastation: Flames more than 100 feet high in Croydon after rioters set fire to a building. The suburb has suffered some of the most serious violence in the capital

Disturbances have also been reported in Harrow, in the north west of the city and Clapham, in south London, where shops have been looted, including the Debenhams store and a row of shops in Lavender Hill.

Unrest has also been reported in Fulham, at Wandsworth Bridge Road, Woolwich in south east London and Ealing in west London this evening where the windows at a Tesco supermarket were smashed and rubbish strewn across the street.

A bus at High Street Kensington has also been attacked and unrest has been reported in Camden and Chalk Farm.

Some reports suggest people in Hackney and Clapham Junction have been forced to flee their homes following the violence. Police have also urged football clubs to cancel any up-coming London fixtures until the violence has been brought under control.

Gangs of looters - who appear to be teenagers and young adults from a range of different backgrounds - have raided hundreds of shops and businesses across the city, making off with TVs and other electrical goods, cigarettes, clothes and alcohol.

This evening Downing Street announced Prime Minister David Cameron is returning home from his holiday in Italy tonight to chair a government emergency Cobra meeting tomorrow morning. Labour leader Ed Miliband is also said to be returning early from his holiday in Devon.

 

Croydon: Arsonists started a blaze at Reeves furniture store - the latest borough to come under attack from rioters. The family business is more than 100 years old

Camden: The violence has now spread to Camden and Chalk Farm in north London. Police are seen walking the streets near Camden Lock

Hackney: Police officers in riot gear block a road near a burning car on a street in Hackney as youths hurl missiles at officers

Hackney: Dozens of riot police in helmets and shields surround a rioter in London in Hackney this afternoon as he admits defeat

Birmingham: Looters raid the Orange Store in New Street this evening in copy-cat riots which have erupted in the city

Hackney: Looters rampage through a convenience store making off with cigarettes and alcohol. Hundreds of shops across the city have been ransacked

 

Violence: A masked man walks past a burning car outside a Carhartt store in Hackney this afternoon. Violence is also taking place in Peckham and Lewisham

A burning car in Hackney this afternoon. Violence has also begun in Peckham, south London with shops being attacked and a bus has also been set on fire

The violence began on Saturday night after the shooting of suspected gangster Mark Duggan in Tottenham.

London's Mayor Boris Johnson announced he was cutting short his holiday to return to the city while Home Secretary Theresa May also returned early from her holiday to meet police officers and insisted rioters 'would be brought to justice'.

She condemned the riots as 'sheer criminality and said those responsible would 'face the consequences of their actions'.

Mrs May said: 'The riots in Tottenham on Saturday night and the subsequent disturbances in other parts of London are totally unacceptable.'

Haringey Council said the damage to roads and pavements in Tottenham on Saturday night was in the region of £227,000.

Across the capital people took to Twitter to report the unrest as it unfolded.

Hooded youths loot a Carhartt store in Hackney by ripping out a roller-shutter door before making off with clothes

People flee in Hackney as rioting began in the east London suburb this afternoon where cars and bins were set alight and missiles thrown at police Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Tottenham MP David Lammy (left) meet local residents and business people including jeweller Steve Moore (far right) who lost his shop after rioting broke out in Tottenham on Saturday In Hackney, commentators said thugs had looted Ladbrokes and JD Sports shop and other eye-witnesses suggested that the police were trying to prevent rioters from trashing Hackney’s Town Hall. The violence was centred on Mare Street, a main road that runs near London Fields.  Meanwhile, a man was seen on a Tube train dressed in black and carrying a copper rod as he headed into the riots. An eyewitness said: ‘One man on the Tube was dressed all in black – he even had gloves on – and he had a big copper rod tucked inside his jumper. At Bethnal Green it dropped on to the floor and lots of people looked quite alarmed and got off at the stop.’ Josefinehedlund tweeted: ‘Kids smashing up police cars outside Tesco in Hackney Central Getting closer to my neighbour, scary.’ Another user, Matthew Paul Balman tweeted: 'Just seen some live pics of London and the riots, wtf is going on. Thugs throwing chairs and facing off with the police.' Twitter user antoinette213 wrote: 'This is a madness. I'm seeing these youths live just opening up some truck and emptying it.' Many warned their friends and family to stay inside and pleaded with people not to incite violence on the website. User Vicky Simister described how youths were arming themselves: 'big truck being unloaded by hoodies on Mare St - taking wood sticks out and throwing at police.' Stratford Shopping Centre in east London was closed after police warned managers that the area could turn into a potential flashpoint.  Centre manager Andrew Norton said: 'People's safety is absolutely paramount, which is why we've closed early. The whole situation's really quite bizarre.' Nearby, the Stratford Picturehouse cinema told audiences to go home and closed its doors hours early. On Sunday, In Enfield, North London, a mob of 200 anarchists smashed their way into shops and lobbed concrete slabs at police cars following Saturday’s riot in nearby Tottenham. A jewellery store, a McDonald's and a Tesco were set upon, while in Brixton, South London, hundreds of teenagers looted a Foot Locker store before setting it on fire, requiring six engines to battle the blaze at 1.30am. Police reported that more than 100 arrests took place across the capital on Sunday night.

The violence has spread to Deptford this evening - including this building which has been set on fire. It follows violence in Hackney, Lewisham and Peckham today Police in riot gear drag a man along a street in Hackney whilst looters in hooded tops and scarves raid the Carhartt store with one man making off with a pair of jeans Chaos: Twitter users describe seeing youths loot a lorry and the sports shop JD sports, while another woman tells how rioters are attacking police cars Earlier this afternoon Chief Superintendent Nick Ephgrave, Lambeth Police borough commander, confirmed that three non-fatal stabbings took place in the borough during yesterday's riots. He said he had visited an injured police office in hospital and added that 'his face was covered in stitches'. A Scotland Yard homicide team has been brought in to investigate the riots, according to Mr Ephgrave, speaking at a meeting with Lambeth Council and community leaders at Lambeth Town Hall.

A car burns outside a Carhartt store in Hackney where youths also looted the store

He said the extra resources and the 'full use of all their technology' would allow police to catch those responsible for the violence and looting last night.

He said the police have 'more than 30 prisoners' following the disturbances.

A Section 60 order is in place in the area today, allowing police to stop anyone they suspect may commit violent acts.

Mr Ephgrave said much of the violence was 'pre-planned' using 'PIN-protected messaging serviced' such as Blackberry messenger that are 'difficult to access' by police.

He said police are also looking at Facebook and Twitter for evidence of any criminal planning.

Council leader Steve Reed and many community leaders present at the meeting expressed concerns over police resources.

Lee Jasper, chair of Brixton Splash, a community event which took place yesterday, said he knew police had extra resources in the area and that either 'they weren't enough or they weren't deployed properly'.

He said he was at the Currys store where looting took place for an hour from 10.45pm last night before police arrived.

Mr Ephgrave said the outbreaks of rioting across London meant a lot of the reserves at his disposal were deployed to other areas at the time.

The alert came as plans for the Notting Hill Carnival were thrown into jeopardy amid fears that the festival could be a focal point to violence,

There are concerns that the West Indian event over the August bank holiday could even be cancelled in an attempt to prevent more riots.

Three London fire engines also came under attack during the second night of rioting in London. One engine from Brixton station being targeted while actually fighting a blaze started by looters raiding the Foot Locker store.

Two others from West Norwood and Edmonton were on their way to blazes when they were set upon. Windows were smashed as mobs of looters hurled bricks and other missiles at the engines.

Surrender! Powerless police let the mob seize the streets, looting shops and starting fires in their wake

Violence and mayhem were spreading like wildfire through the capital last night with police apparently powerless to act.

Scenes of mob rule became more terrifying by the minute as widespread arson and anarchy was added to the orgy of looting.

By midnight flashpoints had multiplied around London, with Clapham, Hackney, Dalston, Peckham, Woolwich and Lewisham added to the list which already included Enfield, Walthamstow and Tottenham.

Taking over the streets: A large crowd gathered in this street in Hackney, east London, before clashing with he police

Late night looters: A group of youths run through the streets in Dalston, east London, after breaking into the area's Kingsland shopping centre

Stealing: A group of looters flee from clothes store Blue Inc in Peckham after stealing clothes

And there were fears that the chaos could spread nationwide, with Croydon to the south of the capital ablaze, and even Birmingham joining in the destruction as hundreds of youths smashed shop windows and looted the contents.

With cars, shops and homes burning, police tactics were coming under ever-increasing attack.

Riot officers were unable to deal  with the sheer scale of the violence and there were questions about the  Metropolitan force’s lack of leadership following the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson.

The police lack of control allowed mobs of children aged as young as seven to rampage through the streets at will. Mobs of masked youngsters, some on BMXs, roamed the streets ransacking stores in daylight and hurling petrol bombs at police. At least 35 officers were hurt and tens of millions of pounds of damage was caused to homes and businesses in ‘copycat criminal activity’ across London. 

Youths in Peckham were videoed throwing fireworks down one street yesterday evening

Smashed: This Maplin shop in Birmingham and a bookmakers in Peckham were vandalised by the rioters

Raid: This group targeted a jewellery store at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham

Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin took the extraordinary step of appealing to parents whose children were running wild, telling them: ‘I do urge that parents start asking where they are.’

David Cameron was forced to quit his holiday and fly back to chair an emergency summit this morning.

The orgy of violence has its roots in the police shooting of suspected gangster Mark Duggan last Thursday.

But by last night it had descended into ‘pure criminality’ and ‘thieving on a mass scale’.

On another calamitous day for the capital, it emerged that:

• Some 215 arrests had been made, the youngest being a boy of 11;
• Police promised to track down the internet provocateurs who called on others to join the looting;
• Pamphlets were handed out advising thugs to burn clothes if caught on CCTV to evade capture.
• There were reports that Mark Duggan did not fire on police, but an officer shot him dead because he feared he was in danger from the gunman;
• It emerged that Duggan was armed with a blank-firing gun which had been converted to hold live ammunition; 

Rampage: A group of looters raid a local shop in Hackney, stripping the shelves bare of drink and cigarettes, while a cash machine is also ripped apart

Stripped bare: The looters jumped over counters and threw food such as crisps and sweets to the floor in order to get to the things they wanted

Milling about: Hundreds of people gather outside a parade of shops in Hackney before things turned violent in Hackney

Last night London was in lockdown as police lined the streets braced for violence led by ‘burglars, thugs and bullies’.

Scotland Yard invoked special powers in four trouble hotspots – Lambeth, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest – allowing officers to stop and search suspects without reasonable suspicion.

But the move backfired when violence erupted in Hackney, East London in retaliation to the search operation.

There, armed gangs on BMX bicycles attacked a crowded bus during the evening rush-hour and then chased the screaming commuters as they tried to escape.

Riot police were forced to evacuate homes in the area. Screaming children were led to safety as cars and buildings continued to burn.

London's burning: A riot officer watches as a shop burns in Croydon as riots spread out of London yesterday evening

Police were unable to prevent the attacks because all the riot officers on the streets were caught up in running battles with gangs who pelted them with lumps of wood, chairs and bottles.

The mob set fire to several buildings and three police cars. Witnesses reported seeing children aged as young as seven involved. They smashed the windows of stores, grabbing what they could before riot police arrived.

Other thugs fought each other over a bag of diamonds which had fallen on to the street after it had been looted from a jewellers.

A police officer could be seen lying on the ground after being struck on his shield by a missile.

Other officers created a cordon around him while he was treated by colleagues.

At one point child rioters tried to hijack a bus so they could drive it at police. As shop protective grilles were ripped up and a security camera smashed, two teenage girls giggled to each other, saying: ‘We’re gonna get gold!’

There were also reports that white people were being targeted for robbery by gangs roaming the streets.

Smash and grab: A group of youths kick the door in of the JD Sports store in Hackney, while another group escapes from a store, one carrying a television he has taken

Mindless: A group of youths attacks a helpless photographer in Brimingham as the violence spread north last night