* * *
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: And I just want to say this to Chester George and his followers – the people out there on the streets.
* * *
His face contorts into a mask of grotesque sincerity.
* * *
LEADER OF THE OPPOSTITION: I know you’re in pain Chester George. I know that you’re disappointed and fed up with politics. I feel that. I get it. Yeah? But what you’re doing - you’re not just wrecking other people’s lives, you’re wrecking your own. We - the politicians - must try to understand you. Why are there so many young people who feel they have nothing to lose by looting? We cannot afford to let this situation calm down, to let it pass, only to find ourselves in the same position in the future. Especially with the Olympics just around the corner.
* * *
Cheers. Grunts.
* * *
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Mr Speaker, I have to ask - is the Prime Minister really doing enough? Is he doing enough to ensure that CCTV can be used to identify the rioters and bring them to swift justice? Above all Mr Speaker, is the Prime Minister doing enough to make sure that the police have enough resources to deal with the rioters?
* * *
This gets a roar of approval from the opposition backbenchers.
* * *
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Look, I’m not trying to score any political points - this is not the time for that - but given the absolute priority that the public attach to a visible and active police presences, does the Prime Minister understand that they will not be pleased if the proposed cuts to police numbers go ahead as planned?
* * *
More cheers. More grunts.
* * *
The leader of the opposition sits down.
* * *
The Prime Minister gets back to his feet.
* * *
PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker, these riots are not about government cuts. The violence is being directed at shops; it is not being directed at Parliament. It is the ordinary working man who is being made to suffer. Numbers and figures can be dealt with after this crisis has been abated, but public safety is our number one priority.
* * *
The Prime Minister sits down.
* * *
Cheers. Grunts.
* * *
The Leader of the Opposition stands up.
* * *
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Will the Prime Minister then accept the reality that is the sick culture that’s inherent in our society? This is a culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights, but nothing about responsibility. How did the Tories let this happen?
* * *
The Leader of the Opposition sits down.
* * *
More cheers. Even more grunts.
* * *
The Prime Minister stands up.
* * *
PRIME MINISTER: Of course, there are inherent flaws within the rioting communities. But these have been festering for generations and can’t just be blamed on the actions of one government. What we are concerned with Mr Speaker – instead of playing the blame game, which we shouldn’t be doing today - is the breakdown of traditional family structures. In too many cases, the parents of these children – that’s if they’re even around – don’t care where their children are, who they’re with, let alone what they’re doing.
* * *
Cheers. Grunts.
* * *
PRIME MINISTER: This situation needs to be addressed from the bottom up. We need a benefit system that rewards work and that is on the side of families. We need an education system that is more disciplined. This will breed a better, happier society. Above all Mr Speaker, we need to put our foot down and show some tough love.
* * *
The Prime Minister sits down to a roar of approval. When the cheers fade, a temporary silence sweeps across the House while outside, far beyond the walls of the Houses of Parliament, the sound of sirens can be heard.
Chapter 18
Transcript of a video uploaded to YouTube.com (posted on 11th August 2011)
* * *
Chester George is wearing the same black skull hoodie, zipped up over his face with the luminous skull design leering back at the camera. At first he doesn’t speak. He’s just standing there in the same room as before, not moving, but biding his time in front of a large backdrop of classic punk rock posters.
* * *
‘Straight to Hell’ by The Clash, is playing quietly in the background.
* * *
When Chester George finally speaks, he does so in a quiet raspy voice - one that labours to be heard above the music, and that hints of exhaustion and world-weariness.
“Mr Prime Minister and all the politicians in the Houses of Parliament.
* * *
That was a poor pretence of unity yesterday. Yet you said everything that you were expected to say.
* * *
Which wasn’t much.
* * *
I feel however, that I must add something on behalf of the people you are trying to understand – something you forgot to mention amidst your feeble efforts to put on such a united front.
* * *
You ask - why are so many of them quick to steal? It’s criminality you say. It’s the fault of our parents, you say. Or it’s our sick culture.
* * *
Sssssick Culture.
* * *
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 shoppin
g 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 violenc
e. 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?
The Future of London: (L-2011, Mr Apocalypse, Ghosts of London) Page 10