Back to Thatcher

08 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by Caitlin in British Politics, Uncategorized Tags: brixton, david cameron, tories, tottenham

The events that have unfolded last night and again tonight in London are truly awful and upsetting, but frankly, not surprising.

London’s deprived boroughs are experiencing pain across all sectors as this governments cuts start to bite. Today on the BBC they had young people from Tottenham talking about how the closure of Youth Centres in the area was having a huge impact of the lives of young people in the area.Haringey, the borough that Tottenham lies in, is one of the most deprived in the country.

Out of 326 local authorities Haringey is the 13^th most deprived overall, and 6^th on the basis of income deprivation.  The Telegraph reported in March that Haringey voted to close four residential care homes and six old people’s day centres, halve park maintenance and cut three-quarters of its youth service.

The youth centres are the crucial point as unemployment is at an 11 year high in Haringey. This is something being repeated across London’s deprived neighbourhoods, mirrored in riots happening tonight in Brixton, Enfield and Walthamstow.

Brixton and Tottenham saw these same riots in the 1980s, anger at the police and anger at Thatcherite Tory policies, this is a pattern.

It is easy for politicians to sit in front of a desk and say cut this, cut that. The people in places like Brixton and Tottenham depend on the public services that are being cut, the violence is wrong, but the anger is more than understandable. David Cameron with his silver spoon, Eton education knows little, if anything about living the life led by this country’s most deprived. Perhaps this is why it’s the second night of rioting in London and we have still had nothing from the Prime Minister. I’m sure rioting is less than rare in Witney and he know longer has Andy Coulson as his voice of the common man.

The recent European and American financial meltdown has heralded a chorus of Tory cheerleaders anointing the financial strategy of this government as divine. In reality we have economic stagnation and there is rioting across London whilst the Prime Minister is sunning himself in Italy (maybe getting tips from Silvio Berlusconi about avoiding prison when you’re corrupt) and the Chancellor is at DisneyLand in California frolicking with Mickey Mouse.

The catalyst for the riots in Tottenham yesterday was perceived police brutality, as it was in the eighties. But, as in the eighties, there is social deprivation deepened by a cuts agenda at the heart of everything that is happening.

It is the people of these communities who are suffering from the financial excesses of others, as those responsible sit in penthouses a couple of miles down the road in The City.

The people involved in these riots have no jobs due to massive unemployment and no hope as a result of the closure of youth services and other public services that provide a lifeline in these communities. In no way is violence an acceptable expression of this anger and frustration but surely the anger and frustration itself is understandable?

This government needs to seriously look again at its agenda of cuts. David Cameron and his Cabinet need to go and visit these communities not only In London but in other deprived areas up and down this nation and see the damage these cuts are doing to peoples lives.

Advertisement