The past few days here in Britain about the riots in London has been one of shock. This started off as a peaceful protest in London from the shooting of a man by police alleged to have been carrying a gun but has now escalated into something else entirely.
From the boroughs of Camden, Clapham, Croydon, Ealing and various other towns in London, people’s homes, businesses and lives have been turned upside down for the past three nights now. So many have been hurt and an exact figure is not yet known as confusion reigns which is the main idea of anarchy.
Watching various news channels and looking at the newspapers they all seem to be just as confused as everyone else, blaming everyone from the police to the government. The riots have now spread from the Capital to other cities around the UK which at the moment include Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham and Nottingham.
The question is, will it spread elsewhere to other cities and towns or will it be stopped before that happens? Why has it been allowed to continue in the way that it has? Why haven’t the army been called out and a curfew put in place? We are now in day four and the questions I have just asked are more in need of answering than they were yesterday. Why are the government putting off using water cannons and stretching the already shattered police to its limits? The fire brigade and I assume the ambulance crews are all stretched to breaking point because of countless cutbacks with more to come.
Over four hundred people have been arrested in London over the past three days, two hundred from last night and there have been reports that they don’t have enough cells to put them in and are having to move them out of London into the Home Counties. There are even kids involved in the riots as young as ten years old it seemed to me watching the news and the images they have all shown. Where are their parents? Police from other counties are being called in to help and the ‘rent-a-bobbies,’ more commonly known as Special Constables who are just volunteers and will not been trained in the are of riot control.
Again, why aren’t the Army called in who know how to deal with situations like this?Yes they are stretched fighting in countries that have nothing to do with us and they themselves are up for huge cutbacks but they are needed on British soil now and if they do come, then watch it all fall to pieces and stop.
A Cobra meeting has been called at 10 Downing street to discuss what they should do and it seems as I type this that the Water Cannons have been taken out of the equation. Why?
I am still incredulous that the government is dithering over this and haven’t done anything. The police are doing all they can but sometimes they can be a part of the problem, not part of the solution. Some have been awake and on duty for over twenty-four hours now and anyone who is reading this will know how hard it is to stay awake, focused and in control in a high pressure job such as that. I feel sorry for them but at the same time they don’t help themselves. The innocent people who are being hurt in this are complaining that the police are not doing anything but holding the line and that’s it. I’m guessing they are being ordered not to do anything to make matters worse and to hold until there is more information but all this does is give more power to the rioters. These cowards have total control over the streets of London and the growing number of cities that are following. If they attacked parliament which is a possibility, then watch the government pull out all the stops and bring in the army!
Parliament has just been called for this Thursday 11th August 2011 which to me is way too late! Why not get them in now? What is the point of them if they can’t be bothered to get something done? These riots are bordering on a revolutionary level which needs to be nipped in the bud and should have been on day one! Yet more confidence lost on our government.
This has been on the cards for some time now for various reasons and all it will do is grow in numbers and violence until these idiots in parliament do something about it. The people have long lost confidence in them and they way they control this country, this Britain. Whatever the police do or even the government they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t so they may as well go all out and take total control today, not tomorrow!
My heart goes out to all the people who have lost so much due to these idiots running like wild rabid animals across the country. For me I believe we should have chain gangs like America and also bring back the stocks for people like these. But you know that all those arrested will be out with a slapped wrist and a caution.
I find it hard to believe that we as a country used to be the most powerful in the world at one stage but now are one of the weakest in the world. We simply let anyone walk all over us because we’re scared of any comeback or retaliation. As a Briton I am disgusted by the behaviour of the rioters and the weakness of the government. The government knew that this was coming for some time now but they just let it happen and ignored the warnings it seems.
This time next year it will be the 2012 Olympics. Right now I think we should have it taken away from us as there is no way we can control any situation that may get out of hand like this? If something did happen next year on this scale then we would be open to attack from anyone who wanted to do so. The same applies to now.
I hope that this is all sorted out soon as millions of pounds and people’s lives have been ruined and will continue until the government gets their act together.
I wish those caught in the middle all the luck in the world and that they can get their lives back together as soon as possible.
Caliburnus Rises 