That was IT? Seriously? London burns for three nights, and THAT is all you have to say? Seriously Cameron, I know I'm not your biggest fan, but that was truly awful. More police. Yeah, I could have made that call (and did, several times). If that's all you've got for us, fuck off back to Tuscany.
I meant that the government's poor reaction was an embarrasment. The decision to recall Parliament should have been made yesterday, when it became apparent that it was going to be a third night of riots. And Cameron should have come back on Friday night, when the US credit rating was downgraded and the EU continued to slide back into crisis. It's just piss-poor leadership. When Gordon Brown was PM, in 2007 when there were floods across England, he returned from his holiday as soon as it was apparent that people were being put in danger and made homeless, so he could lead from the front. I honestly expected better than this from Cameron.
Parliment is being recalled, he has to find the most peaceful solution to this problem. He has to balance consoling the public and not giving too much information away that the rioters can use to their advantage. Banzai, it seems passion is getting the better of you. I thought his speech was concise and had everything it needed at this time. I agree that the initial reaction was lacking. But I think the government was waiting to see if it was getting worse, which is clearly is, before they start making the big decisions.
I always knew the world would go out like this. They called me crazy for my conspiracies. In all truth, however, this is a tragedy in it's own right. People have been caught up in anothers' drama. It almost reminds me of the times when you have a fight amongst you siblings and friends. And they catch you up in their drama. What was between them now becomes a problem outside of them. They drag innocent bystanders along with their radical views. And I'm sure the bystanders only ever wanted to remain neutral. Truly a tragedy.
But it's the utter lack of engagement with the root causes. Just saying that this is criminal, and those who are caught will be locked up might be an immediate reassurance, but it shows no awareness as to why this is happening. I don't want a government who just flood the streets with police. I want someone with a red box to be actually thinking about how to tackle this at its root level. Otherwise you're just declaring war on an entire sector of the population.
I completely agree. There is clearly more to this whole mess, because it's spreading. It's not just something you can dismiss with 'What do you expect from the Tories' either. There is a great social problem here that needs to be addressed.
We're far beyond party politics. I don't care who leads, but they need to actually lead. The current administration isn't doing that. Theresa May is basically saying "Everything is fine", Simon Hughes (SIMON HUGHES!!!) is saying get the army on them, David Cameron is annoyed at his holiday being cut short, and George Osborne is just laughing at us all from LA. Even Ed Miliband hasn't covered himself with glory, I've seen very little of him (though, recovering from surgery is a better excuse than off on his holidays). The best political leadership has been from local constituency MPs. David Lammy (Tottenham), Stella Creasy (Walthomstow), Diane Abbott (Hackney) and others have been making the kind of statements which government ministers should be doing.
Cars and bins have been set alight in towns near me. I know it's not much compared to what's happening elsewhere, but it's a start and I don't want it to turn into something bigger. Agreed.
It's hard to get away from party politics really. Memories of the miner's strike in the 80s is still strong, and I was waiting for someone to blame Anarchists. I've not heard what Ed Miliband said, but I did hear about getting the army involved, and the use of lethal force. I don't think that's the message the British police wants to send to anyone, never mind everyone. As for the statement, I'm taking the 'back seat' approach. I want to see what the government does and, like I said, I think the PMs address was short for a reason. Things happening behind the scenes that we cannot be made privy to for obvious reasons. With the floods, Gordon Brown preformed brilliantly, but what he was dealing with (flooding) was vastly different to what is going on now. Giving away too much information can give too much information to the rioters.
I agree with Lemmy. I mean, there's only so much they can reveal. They can't exactly say, "We'll send x number of our guys to <insert street address>." unless they wanted to appear stupid. Who knows? Maybe they're just luring the rioters into a false sense of security (ie, more policemen) while in the background, they're at work with a plan that'll end it all in one swift motion.
I saw it. I loved the comment from the obvious Geordie too. 'We will protect our lands!' That group is doing a 'Name and Shame' stunt. Oh Christ that's a bad idea.
I'm not convinced it will hit Brighton. Pride is this weekend, and most Brightonians would sooner die than let that be threatened.
Banzai's a good guy to have around that's for sure. I've read his blogs. If I were in Britain, I'd so join his party.
That was a really bad typo that I can hardly believe I made. It has been changed. [back to topic] Well, let's just see how things go.
Haha, cheers Link. Unfortunately, I'm not actually in Brighton any more. Since I finished uni, I've been back home, just outside Reading. I'm presently in Southend, at Ashleigh's, and will be travelling home later today. Across London. Fun.
You never know. They could hit the zimmerframe shop and all be driving around on newly-stolen mobility scooters in the morning
