The Future of London Box Set

by Mark Gillespie

  It’s quite simple to you and all the other MPs – we’re simply rotten from within. Our communities have no morals. This is nothing you cannot comfortably classify as a revolt of the feral underclass – isn’t that right Mr Prime Minister?

  But YOU are too humble sir. You forgot to mention yesterday how much the greed and selfishness that we see in the city inspires us to be as rotten as we are.

  You see, our conception of right and wrong comes from more than just our parents. Have you forgotten Mr Prime Minister? Just a few years back, the bankers publicly looted this country’s fortune. When they did that, they showed us that the acquisition of individual wealth is clearly a measure of success. They took millions and destroyed people’s life savings. They were caught red-handed, but very few were punished. And yet you criticise us - the Good and Honest Citizens - for taking a mobile phone or a pair of shoes?”

  Chester George steps closer to the camera.

  “And what about all the MPs who got caught fiddling their expenses? You must remember that one Mr Prime Minister? Or how about the phone-hacking scandals?”

  He lets out a throaty laugh.

  “If we are devils, then we learned from the very best. You - the suits and ties - are the original looters of this country. You are the original gangsters.

  Now of course, I understand your reasoning for trying to label us as rotten. If there are no sociological, political or economic causes for the revolution that you call the riots, then no one in authority is to blame.”

  He wags a finger from side to side, like a parent telling off a naughty child.

  “Such irresponsible behaviour from our so-called leaders.

  Mr Prime Minister. The worst violence London has seen for decades is happening against the backdrop of a global economic meltdown. It’s never pretty when society wakes up, is it? But society is waking up. That’s what this is. We live in an uneven world of uneven wages and opportunities. Did you know Mr Prime Minister, that last year the combined wealth of the one thousand richest people in Britain went up by thirty per cent to over three hundred billion pounds?

  Isn’t that a remarkable number?

  London is now one of the most unequal cities in the developed world. You and your kind have turned it into a gigantic shopping mall. And yet you expect our kind to be satisfied with window-shopping.

  Mr Prime Minister. What you see now on the streets of London - and in other cities also waking up - is the result of a society that’s been run on greed. For us - the Good and Honest Citizens - there has been little cause for optimism over the years and opportunities have been too few and far between.

  Until now that is.

  Mr Prime Minister, let me close by giving you a word of advice. You would do well to pay closer attention to the private activities of your MPs and to the moral implications of the bankers involved in ‘casino capitalism’. It was white-collar vandalism that brought the world to its knees – not us. Remember that, the next time you talk about ‘criminality.’

  Clip ends.

  Chapter 19

  12th August 2011

  CBC News at Six

  (Intro music)

  A series of increasingly familiar images are broadcast. Thousands of rioters line the streets, throwing missiles at a wall of riot police. Dramatic aerial shots of buildings and cars that have been set alight. Angry and frightened citizens comment upon the ‘atrocities’. All of these images are accompanied by one prolonged headline, which remains glued to the bottom of the screen:

  LONDON IS UNDER ATTACK.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: Tonight, the armed forces have been deployed onto the streets of London. It’s a desperate move by the Prime Minister who has ordered this intervention to prevent yet another night of heavy rioting. Last night saw the worst violence yet as more fires continued to destroy businesses and homes in scenes that once again, can only be compared to the Blitz back in 1940 and 1941.

  Cuts to daylight aerial scene. Huge billows of smoke rise into the air, pouring out off a massive apartment building that has been targeted by rioters.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: And amidst the tangled wreckage of the city, there’s been stinging criticism of the police as well as the parents whose children are causing such catastrophic damage.

  Cuts to member of public - a young thirty-something blonde woman - taken from an earlier interview.

  WOMAN: It’s absolutely disgusting! They are feral rats. What are their parents doing about this? Their children should be at home. They shouldn’t be out there on the streets causing mayhem.

  Cuts to CCTV images of a gang of unmasked black youths. The gang are trying to break into an unknown building – kicking and pounding at the entrance, which refuses to yield under the assault.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: Police have also released more images of suspected rioters wanted for questioning, but as of yet - are no closer to solving the identity of Chester George, the man the authorities now consider to be the leader of the rioters.

  Cuts to an aerial shot of London – the camera panning left over Wembley Stadium with visible plumes of smoke in the distance.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: Tonight’s World Cup qualifier between England and the

  Netherlands has also been cancelled due to sustained unrest in the capital. Other friendly matches scheduled for this evening have also been called off.

  Cuts back to Sophie sitting at the news desk.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: Good evening. At last, the military have been deployed onto the streets of London in an attempt to curb the wave of violence that has swept over the city for almost a week now. Thousands of people gathered in the streets today to cheer the arrival of various regiments, including 3rd battalion The Parachute Regiment.

  Cuts to a scene of armoured vehicles making their way down the city streets. The vehicles are flanked by hundreds of troops, while large civilian crowds stand behind makeshift barriers on both sides, cheering the troops on, many of them waving tiny Union Jack flags in the air.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: The Prime Minister - who this week cut short his holiday in the Mediterranean - has also reiterated his promise that those involved in the rioting will pay a heavy price.

  Cuts back to Sophie in the studio.

  SOPHIE WALLACE: But despite the threat of military intervention, last night saw the worst rioting on the streets of London in living memory. An old-age pensioner, Richard Coggins, was brutally murdered in Croydon on Wednesday night and at least a dozen more people - two more pensioners amongst them - have been killed this week. Let’s go to a special report by our man on the spot - Dick Ronson - on last night’s violence.

  Cuts to aerial scenes of buildings on fire across the London skyline.

  DICK RONSON (Voiceover): It began long before nightfall. All across London, the violence spread and it became clear that despite their best efforts, the police were not equal to the task of peacekeeping our streets. The escalation was rapid as violence increased throughout the day and into the night. It was on occasions alarming, but for the most part it was truly frightening. The valiant efforts of the firefighters were no match for the rapacious flames that feasted on buildings across London. A photographer caught this image of yet another person being forced to leap to safety from the first floor of a burning apartment building.

  A young woman is seen jumping from a building into the arms of waiting firefighters – the backdrop is consumed by a thick yellow glow.

  DICK RONSON: In the west, Ealing continues to be under siege, bringing terror to everyday suburban life. People are already evacuating their homes, terrified of what the rioters might do to them, or to the lives of their family members, if they don’t.

  Cuts to interview with local wine bar owner (identified as ‘Suzie Rastovic’).

  SUZIE RASTOVIC: They broke the window of my bar, climbed in and started looking for the till, the alcohol – everything. I escaped through the back, through the corridor. Then I locked myself into the kitchen and I thought they couldn’t get in there because it’s a fire escape.
But I could hear them breaking everything. It was terrifying.

  DICK RONSON: Suzie, would you like to see more being done by the police?

  SUZIE RASTOVIC: (Getting angry) Yes I do, I want protection. That’s what they’re here for. Where are the police? (Pointing straight ahead) The police station is just up there. Why weren’t they here to protect us?

  Cuts to further scenes of looting - a gang of youths smashing into a designer clothes shop.

  DICK RONSON: (Voiceover) In Clapham, hundreds of youths smashed shop windows and continued to loot at will. These pictures show how young some of them are, some of them barely out of childhood. And in one clip, which has since gone viral –

  Cuts to a scene in which a group of youths are assisting a young boy who is lying on the pavement.

  DICK RONSON: - a group of rioters pause to help a young boy who is lying on the street. They appear to be helping him at first, but what they’re actually doing is distracting him while others help themselves to the contents of his rucksack.

  Cuts to Dick Ronson - bald and bespectacled - standing on the streets of Brixton.

  DICK RONSON: Sophie, I’m in in Brixton where last night, rioters ran amok until at least five o’clock in the morning. There is a real sense of insecurity out here on the streets. But there is also a quiet, underlying anger and not just at the rioters but with the police for their failure to control the situation. And many people are angry at the politicians too – for what they believe to be their part in the root causes of these disturbances.

  Well with me now is Jamie Lee, a local equality campaigner, based here in Brixton.

  The camera zooms out to reveal a short, bald-headed black man standing beside Ronson. A small crowd of mostly black people from the local community surround the two men. Behind them, a long row of buildings - once containing both shops and apartments - has been burned to the ground. The area is sealed off and firefighters can be seen in the background assessing the structural damage.

  DICK RONSON: Jamie Lee, thank you for joining us. The violence shows no sign of ending. Would you agree with that?

  JAMIE LEE: (Nodding) Of course. And let me say this - nobody here condones violence. But people don’t wake up one morning and suddenly decide to burn down furniture shops. It’s part of a long process of FRUSTRATION. But the police and the politicians had no idea this was coming. They had no idea that our inner cities are pressure cookers. That the steam is building up as unemployment rises and as inequality rises. And when that steam builds up? It has to be released. It’s got to have SOMEWHERE-TO-GO!

  Jamie hits the palm of one hand with the back of the other, tapping out the syllables of ‘SOMEWHERE-TO-GO’.

  JAMIE LEE: You ask the people standing around here Dick. These people have lived here for years and they’ll tell you - something was always going to happen.

  Several locals in the background nod their heads as he speaks.

  DICK RONSON: Yes Jamie, but that doesn’t condone what’s happening now. Does it?

  JAMIE LEE: I don’t condone violence! I was out on the streets till three in the morning last night trying to encourage the rioters to stand down, to stop what they were doing. But we can’t be blind to the root cause of this sickness. Poor communities like this one in Brixton and throughout inner city London are in pain. There are cuts to public services; there is a lack of opportunities; there is little to no hope. They are stopping and searching black people for -

  NO-GOOD-REASON!

  JAMIE LEE: We condemn the violence Dick. But Chester George is right - we must also condemn the government, the politicians, and the bankers - all of those who are guilty of economic violence.

  This gets a round of applause from the onlookers.

  JAMIE LEE: The bankers and politicians have done more damage to the world than these kids out here on the streets.

  DICK RONSON: Isn’t it true Jamie Lee, that you yourself have been involved in riots in the past? In the 1981 Brixton riots?

  JAMIE LEE: (Furious) Have some respect! I have never been involved in riots. I have been involved in marches and demonstrations, but never riots.

  DICK RONSON: Jamie, tell me. Are you disgusted by what you saw last night?

  JAMIE LEE: You tell me Dick. Would you be here today - would the topic of social inequality have been raised at all had these people not taken to the streets? Answer me please.

  DICK RONSON: (Touching his earpiece) Well it seems like we’re running out of time. Jamie Lee, thank you very much.

  Dick Ronson turns to the camera, showing his back to the crowd.

  DICK RONSON: Well Sophie, that name - Chester George - is everywhere at the moment. A video blogger, with just two short clips to his name, has become an Internet sensation, not to mention the spearhead of the London riots. But who is he? Where is he? And what will he do next?

  This is Dick Ronson, CBC News at Six, in Brixton.

  Chapter 20

  12th August 2011

  Mack fell into the armchair, and the soft leather swallowed him up like quicksand.

  He stared blankly at the CBC News. His eyes followed the pictures - the masked hordes, the journalists, the authority figures, and of course, the burning buildings - but his mind was reluctant to get involved.

  He laid a hand over his full stomach. Isabella Walker’s homemade lasagne was making a nest in there, forcing the rest of his body to shut down, and to declare a national state of food coma. Any second now, the front of his body would rip open and it would be John Hurt in Alien all over again.

  Mack dabbed the back of his hand against his damp forehead.

  The Walkers had gathered in the living room after dinner to watch the news. Mack’s parents were as usual, sitting on the leather couch next to the large flat screen TV. Mack was on the other side of the room, sitting in one of two black leather armchairs.

  On TV, the newsreader Sophie Wallace was talking about the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who was facing charges of abuse of office. Mack raised a half-hearted eyebrow. Finally. He always knew there had to be something else going on in the world apart from the London riots.

  And you did nothing to help that policeman.

  Why haven’t they mentioned him on the news? Maybe they haven’t found the body yet? Maybe there isn’t a body left to find? Maybe he didn’t die? Maybe he got a few bumps and bruises and picked himself up and walked away?

  You let them drag him down that alley. You did that, by doing nothing.

  He’s dead. Somewhere.

  Mack shot a worried glance at his parents. They were still looking at the screen, listening to a CBC journalist talk about the events in Ukraine.

  His mother – perhaps just as uninterested in the Ukraine story as he was - turned towards him.

  Oh shit.

  “It’s terrible isn’t it?” Isabella said. “I can’t stop thinking about that poor old man who died in Croydon a couple of nights back.”

  Archie Walker - reclining in an old T-shirt and a pair of loose jogging pants - piped in.

  “Aye, bloody scumbags,” he said. “Beating a helpless old man to death in the street. Stick a rope around their necks. It’s gone way too far now.”

  Mack’s blood ran cold. Richard Coggins. Croydon. Two nights ago.

  “Hmmm,” he said. He rubbed at his belly, trying to soothe the angry monster swimming around in his digestive fluids. Any more talk about the riots and he’d puke for sure.

  Don’t think about that policeman then.

  “A war veteran,” Isabella said, shaking her head. “Richard Coggins. He was a pilot. He fought for his country, defended us against the Nazis and look what they did to him.”

  Archie Walker nodded. “Let the army deal with it now.”

  Mack glanced across the room at his mother. She looked like she’d aged twenty years over the past week. There were bags under her eyes, little hammocks made out of loose hanging skin. His mother had always been a thin woman but Mack wondered now whether
she’d been losing weight recently too. He’d watched her pick at her own dinner that evening, and not for the first time that week.

  Isabella had been coming downstairs in the middle of the night too. Mack had lain in bed, listening to her run the tap in the kitchen, bringing a glass of water into the living room. What was she doing in there? Sitting by the window no doubt, watching and waiting. Waiting for the sound of glass breaking on Stanmore Road, and for the first whiff of smoke to come drifting across their neighbourhood.

  Archie Walker put an arm around his wife and stroked the back of her tawny hair, which hung loose around the shoulders. Then he turned to his son. The grim expression on his face filled Mack with an immediate sense of dread.

  “We’ve been thinking about moving back home Mack,” he said.

  Mack didn’t blink. “To Edinburgh?”

  His mother turned towards him. “We can’t stay here,” she said. “Not with all this going on.”

  She pointed at the TV, which was showing a department store building on fire. Several fire engines were parked outside, and the crews were working furiously to control the blaze. The caption below the images said the store was called Morleys and that it was an important location with historic value for the community.

  “It won’t be forever,” Mack said.

  “It’s been six days son,” Archie said. “Croydon’s in ruins. Ealing – that’s in trouble. And it looks like Brixton’s next. It’s only a matter of time before Tottenham goes down too – look at what’s happening on the High Road every night. It’s only going to get worse.”

  “But what about your job?” Mack said.

  Archie smiled. “I’ll work something out,” he said. “I’m sure I can get the old one back in Edinburgh. And your mum can get back into teaching up there if she wants to.”