London and the rest of the UK seems quiet tonight, with rains helping to dampen the spirits of looters. The only new flare-up seems to be Eltham in south-east London, and which seems to already have calmed down.
A few more random links of interesting on the rioting:
Anthony Daniels, AKA Theodore Dalrymple, on how he’s not at all surprised by the riots. He’s been warning about the increasing irrationality and violence of the British underclass for years.
Only 12 per cent of London’s 7.5 million population is black, but statistics show that “among those proceeded against for street crimes [including muggings, assault with intent to rob and snatching property], 54 per cent were black; for robbery, 59 per cent; and for gun crimes, 67 per cent.” (Hat tip: Mike McNally of Pajamas media)
Brendan O’Niell: “Only two groups of people seem to be getting a kick out of the rioting in England. Firstly the rioters themselves, the nihilistic urban youth who are getting cheap thrills from looting shops, bashing bus stops, and burning down houses. And secondly middle-class radicals, trustafarians who live off daddy’s cash, who get a rush of political adrenalin whenever they see blacks burning stuff.”
Allister Heath in City A.M.: “What they wanted is free money and free goods and so they helped themselves. They were driven by greed, a culture of entitlement, of rights without responsibility, combined with a complete detachment from traditional morality, generalised teenage anger and a sense that anything goes in the current climate. This wasn’t a political protest, it was thievery….We need to see New York style zero tolerance policing, with all offences, however minor, prosecuted. But what matters right now is to regain control, to stamp out the violence and to arrest, prosecute and jail as many thugs as possible.”
Tags: Crime, London, riot, UK, Welfare State
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