So are there any garden centres in Tottenham then?

Bless. Elementary design fault with that shield, though. Why no little round stand for your cup? I bet that tonight the lads in blue will bring their own flasks, folding chairs and windbreaks.

 

Made it home unscathed.
Its way quieter than usual. No sirens. No groups of kids.
From the train it looks like everywhere is closed with shutters down. Its like the first 20 mins of a zombie movie.

My sleepy suburb remains sleepy.

A friend sent me this vid from Bromley- its local kids robbing a gaming store. The commentary is very telling. The kid thinks its a joke.

‪Complete and utter chaos on the streets on London‬‏ - YouTube

Im surprised Chatham and the Medway hasnt kicked off before now tbh Clare. Sittingbourne doesnt usually wait to be asked.

 

Riots are now in Salford & Manchester...

 

Miss Selfridge set on fire about 2 minutes after these coppers left the area... typical.

 

biggest selling item on amazon uk over the bast 2 days:

baseball bats ... over 10 000 sold

Amazon.co.uk Movers and Shakers: The biggest gainers in Sports & Leisure sales rank over the past 24 hours

 

....

 

Fires in Salford.

 

I don't have any first hand knowledge of the army. I was never in it. I just see the adverts they make, and on the news about how they are training other nation's forces in crowd control and keeping the peace.

As for what I'd arm them with, I don't know that either. If I was a military brass, maybe I'd be able to put the details in, but as a layman I don't.

That's not to say that I'm wrong to suggest that the army helps.

If my car is broken, I know I need a mechanic, I don't know what the mechanic will do. If I am broken I know I need a doctor, but again I don't know what the doctor will do. If the country is being battered by malicious, yet organised thugs, and the police clearly can't deal with it, then I know we need a force that can, but I don't know how they'd do it.

What is the alternative? It was on the news earlier that the coppers are reluctant to make arrests, because for every one person they arrest, it takes two coppers off the front line while the arrest is being carried out. So the coppers can't stop the rioters, and without arresting them at the scene they know they will never catch them later. Should we send out a message to all who want to join in that they can do so uninhibited? Or should we send out a message that while peaceful protest is allowed in this country, sickening, violent crime against innocent people is most definitely not acceptable.

 

I must admit to not always being on the side of our police, they tend to jump on the ordinary bloke who steps out of line like a ton of bricks, on occasions like this they stand back, and I sympathise, as if they had gone in hard on day one they would have been condemned immediately as being OTT.

The situation has moved on, and now they should be getting stuck in.

I dont think there would be many people still prepared to come down on the side of the looters.
But in this crazy country I'm sure there will still be a few do gooders around.

 

I'll man one of those water cannons...... WHA HEY!!!

 

I'm waiting for the post-looting interviews with assorted rat-faced teenagers:

'Why did you do it?'

'Well, there ain't nothing to do round 'ere. No yoof clubs, like.'

'I thought there were two in the area.'

'Yeah, but we torched 'em last Guy Fawkes. So now we ain't got no yoof clubs and we ain't got nothing to do.'

 

I agree entirely, in principle. But the trouble is we can't wait for the slow cogs of government and society to turn and bring in changes.

Right now, as homes and livelihoods go up in smoke, and people in the affected areas are living in fear, we need an immediate short term fix. For reasons you've mentioned, the coppers can't deal with it right now, so they need some help. I can't help them, but maybe the army can.

Its not unprecedented for the army to bail out us civvies. About 10 years ago when the fire brigade went on strike, the army brought out their fire engines. They brought tankers out during the fuel blockades, and more recently they built a temporary bridge to replace one in cumbria that had been washed away in a flood.

Ok, so this is a very different situation, but the point is the army can provide support in a non-confrontational role. For the riots, maybe the army could drive minibuses full of arrested rioters back to the nick, so that coppers could stay at the front line. Or maybe they could help keep roads clear so that the coppers can move about more freely. Maybe the could lend a helicopter or two to observe the situation to help the coppers know what's going on where.

The other thing to consider is that while the coppers have lost a lot of respect (and not just from the thugs, I'm afraid my own personal experiences make it hard for me to respect them), the army are still widely respected. A bit of respect goes a long way and may even help bring some people to their senses.

 

What an extraordinary situation, Melinda's friend's video of Bromley shows just how bad the problem is - just a huge joke to the young person running his 'camera phone' no doubt.
You have to fear for those living in close proximity to the arsonist elements amongst the thieves, and etc..
Surely there is a need for some government action to try and stem the tide if nothing else, it seems like total anarchy to me - the police are clearly under-manned and underfunded at the moment ( so many leaving with their 'gold plated' pensions) just when we need to resolve the overall 'law and order' situation.....the mind boggles!!