Why is London burning?

[palo5]

Originally Posted by billybunter

What do you mean mate?

It was reported that riots started after police shooting. Was this wrong reporting?

[windymiller]

Originally Posted by pharoahegypt

Must be said though; some of the sentences are strange...... like the girl who was alseep through riots, but still got locked up for handling a pair of shorts, just because they were left on her bed by her friend who was involved..?? to name just one less sensible sentence.

Or the guy who got 6 months for taking a bottle of water worth £3.50. In my opinion it's the greedy sods who charge extortionate prices for something that falls out of the sky (having lived in the UK my entire life I can assure you this happens on a frequent basis here) that should be put in prison.

As for the bankers, if there was any kind of investigation into illegal activity that may have contributed to the collapse of the entire UK economy then I haven't heard of it. Even in the U.S where virtually anything goes as long as it makes a buck, they at least went after some of the culprits.

The truth is that that the powers that be in Britain regard white collar crime as trivial and seem reluctant to punish wrongdoers. On the few occasions that they do bother to actually bring one to book they dish out meagre sentences in cushy jails with gauranteed early parole. I'm sure some of the members of this forum will remember the case of Guinness chairman Ernest Saunders who was convicted of insider dealing about 20 years ago. This guy got a 5 year sentence, was sent to an open prison and got released after 10 months on compassionate grounds due to the onset of Alzheimers disease. Just a few months later, Hallelujah! Praise the Lord it's a miracle! He's cured. The only person in the history of the world to recover from this debilitating and incurable disease.

Of course I'm sure you would all agree with me that it is entirely coincidental that the politicians all seem to turn up on the board of directors of many major companies after they have left political office. Nothing fishy about that. Is there? Nah....there couldn't possibly be. Could there?

[Puhbear69]

Originally Posted by windymiller

Or the guy who got 6 months for taking a bottle of water worth £3.50. In my opinion it's the greedy sods who charge extortionate prices for something that falls out of the sky (having lived in the UK my entire life I can assure you this happens on a frequent basis here) that should be put in prison.

As for the bankers, if there was any kind of investigation into illegal activity that may have contributed to the collapse of the entire UK economy then I haven't heard of it. Even in the U.S where virtually anything goes as long as it makes a buck, they at least went after some of the culprits.
[....]

No there where only a few not very serious meant investigations all over the world.

How does it came: Read this (US) for an example of many:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...9070638235.htm




The victims of such criminal machinations are living in tents in several cities now and really not so 'WOW'.


I can't give you examples from Britten, maybe your fellow countrymen can help.


Anyhow: The state supervision of banking in Britten got restructured. Let's pray and hope in a more effective direction.


Only one German example:
The HSH Nordbank must been saved with 9 Billion of the tax-payers money. Why? Because of high risky papers among other things from Lehman Brothers. Added to that came accounting fraud. 600 employee (20%) got fired, and Mr. Nonnenmacher, CEO of HSH Nordbank stands of his bonus of 2.9 Mill. Euro!

[billybunter]

Originally Posted by palo5

It was reported that riots started after police shooting. Was this wrong reporting?

I must admit I'm not sure. I never heard anything about this.

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

Originally Posted by palo5

It was reported that riots started after police shooting. Was this wrong reporting?

I think it's a bit more subtle than that.

On Thursday 4 August, a young man called Mark Duggan was shot and killed in Tottenham, a policeman was injured and an initial statement from the police of the incident implied that shots were exchanged, then it emerged they hadn't... with the independent police commission admitting they may have misled journalists (and in turn the public).

Following on from the Metropolitan Police's involvement in the News International investigation and suggestions of corruption with some officers allegedly taking money from journalists for information this seems to be yet another chapter in a book of charges that suggests something pretty rotten is at the heart of policing in the capital.

On Saturday 6 August an initially peaceful protest takes place in Tottenham by people calling for 'justice' for Duggan's family, late afternoon they march from the Broadwater Farm estate to Tottenham Police Station. As the day turns to early evening stones are thrown at police cars, two of which are set alight, quite what caused this is unconfirmed, there is a suggestion of an altercation between officers and a teenager.

More police in riot gear and on horses are called in. What initially seems to be a riot (destruction of property, taunting of the police, missile throwing) at some point becomes looting of shops.

What follows over that weekend and into the middle of the following week and whether this has any connection at all to the death of Mark Duggan is open to speculation and definitely not as clear cut as saying his shooting resulted in national disorder. Duggan's name was all but forgotten in the days that followed. I suspect that any political protest dimension to what followed has been forced onto what happened after the fact by people who have an agenda they want to further. That's not to say there might not be a political cause to what created a nationwide group of people willing to break the law and fuck things up for the rest of us but my belief is that the people who looted wanted something for nothing and wanted to say fuck you to the police, anyone in authority, anyone who wasn't them and their mates. It was a mixture of bravado and nihilism. This wasn't protest born out of conscience.

There seems to be a view amongst them, I'm basing this on press reports and interviews, that looting is a victimless crime, that insurance companies would pay out and nobody would suffer, that they were somehow justified in their actions. I think this is where everyone needs to remember who the victims were, they were mostly working class people who lost their homes and livelihoods, lost everything and then there were the shopworkers who had to go back to work and clean up the smashed glass and probably felt powerless and a little bit afraid, these people are not exactly the upper ecelons of society, are they? The people most affected came from the same communities, had the same background, grew up on the same streets and had the same opportunities. If the looting and destruction that occurred around the country following the event in Tottenham were a protest then they were the equivalent of going into a playgroup and slapping all the toddlers really hard to protest against child abuse.

Sorry, I've proper gone on here. I clearly had my Weetabix this morning. I'm a right windbag when I get going. In summary, I'm not convinced the looting and destruction that occurred following Tottenham had anything to do with the death of Mark Duggan.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by Norman Stanley Fletcher

Sorry, I've proper gone on here. I clearly had my Weetabix this morning. I'm a right windbag when I get going. In summary, I'm not convinced the looting and destruction that occurred following Tottenham had anything to do with the death of Mark Duggan.

No apologies necessary: that's a commendably thorough and fair minded summary of the events themselves and their significance

[gunner]

Im not condoning the riots,but dont you find it strange that someone who steals water, to the value of £3.50 is given six months in prison? But an MP, who over four years, claims £16,000 for a mortgage on a house he doesnt own, is only given 16 months.