So its kind of hard to find out much about the riots going on in the UK right now, and seeing as a majority of you are from that area I was hoping you could answer a few of my questions about it.
Mainly, who's rioting and why? All I could find is that a guy was shooting at the police and they shot and killed him. Is this generally believed to not be true but rather a fabrication of the government?
Also-how do you guys feel about the lack of police force being used? In your opinions should they be using water cannons and rubber bullets?
Just kinda curious as here in the USA they would have definitely used those measures when the riots broke out, but I know its a different culture in the UK.

Yeah all i've read in the news is that a few hundred people started to protest the murder, protest turns into mob, mob turns into riot and out come the police with their tiny little shields.

I too wonder when the real riot gear will come out: water cannon, beanbags, teargas and rubber shot will come out. Gotta admire that to a certain degree though, considering current events in the middle east and northern africa.

Good question J! Apparently the guy didn't actually fire at the police. But he was in possession of a loaded gun. Tough sh*it he got killed! Live by the sword, die by the sword, if you know what I mean?

Then it all escalated into mindless violence. And copycat mindless, moronic, feral, hooliganism, scum, anarchy, rioting, arson across the UK.

No excuse for it. It sickens me.

The police are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Yes, I wish they used water cannons and rubber bullets. And live rounds. And deployed the army.

But the UK is a namby pamby pinko state. Can't violate anyone's human rights. Or you might get sued! Grrrrrr.

Gotta admire that to a certain degree though

It is refreshing and it seems to have worked for them for a very long time, shame that it can't always work.

And live rounds

This I believe would be worse. Contain the violence and protect the public, but if at all possible (and it is possible) do so without taking lives.

According to the (quite prevalent) news here, the original protest was a peaceful one, of people showing support to the parents of the young man killed by police, who wanted answers...and rightly so. Unfortunately, it seems some hooligans joined and turned it into something more, which escalated into rioting, smashing shop windows and stealing goods, and mindless lighting of fires in police vehicles and local buildings, for absolutely no valid reason other than to create mayhem, it seems. 'The word' went out via 'social networking' and further opportunistic crowds of thugs and unemployed youth (and some older people too!) gathered the following evening and rampaged other London suburbs, mindlessly breaking windows and looting goods. Again the word went out via social networking and even MORE turned up on the third night, not only in the spreading suburbs of London, but in other main cities (Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds) and copycat destruction took place again. Simply burning supermarkets and looting the goods (alcohol, mainly - not food!) , smashing and grabbing at electrical shops and individuals running off with several items and encouraging others to come and do the same...laughing as they did so. London escaped, it seems, a repeat last evening, but the other cities did not, and it seems the violence and looting is spreading.

This has NOTHING to do with what the original peaceful protest was about. This is simply opportunistic, mindless madness!

I have already heard of some friends here, in my country, who were to leave for London in the next few weeks, have cancelled their trip, and have no intention of risking anything! I am sure thousands around the world are probably rethinking their position about whether they will travel there. The Olympics are in that area next year...in and around the suburbs of London that are being destroyed at the moment. Such magical advertising...NOT!

In our news today, it seems British politicians are gathering urgently to discuss the probable deployment of the army and what weapons/methods can and will be used against these mindless, disrespectful morons. Animals wouldn't behave they way these 'human beings' are!

Having said all that, there is some WONDERFUL news and a delightful outcome to all of this. The people of London are banding together with brooms, gloves, bins etc, and taking to the streets of destruction to clean up. It is truly wonderful to see that MOST people can see the way to come together in peace and co-operation to achieve a positive process. They are giving their assistance to the utterly devastated shop keepers who have done nothing wrong to be targeted by these thugs, and many have had their businesses destroyed. The wonderful people of London intend to help those shop keepers out, to give them physical help in cleaning up, and to give them moral support as friends and neighbours. In addition, the people who have lost their homes through some of the deliberate fires are also being cared for by the well wishing community, helping them to come to terms with the loss of everything they own, simply because these morons have decided they want a piece of getting something for free.

Long reign positive community spirit!

At least there is some love and respect in the town!
/me feels bad for the poor people.

That's basically it, SoulAngel. The police seem to be overrun by the sheer volume of crime, although they are ding their best that they can do. I imagine it's scary out there for them and reports say that some police officers having been working entire day and night shifts to help.

The main points have been that major stores have been burned to the ground, many small businesses have been raided and looted, there were pictures of hundreds of people looting from a department store in Clapham, and also in a Currys electrical retailer.

The Prime Minister, Mayor of London and a few other high ranking people have returned from their holidays to hold talks about what to do. There has been discussion about legalising the currently illegal use in the UK of water cannons.

There are a couple of wonderful stories that I'd like to link though. A large number of residents in the affected London boroughs have come together with great community spirit and used brooms to clean up. This link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14456857) shows a lovely image of it. I would have like to have linked another fantastic image about a young couple who made cups of tea for the police using a riot shield as a tray, but I can't seem to find it.

More trouble, unfortunately, which is reported here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14472885

How is it 'we' can drop laser guided bombs on places such as Libya, and deploy Apache gunships, but we can't quell scumbags in our midst?

Oh ffs, it just gets worse:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-14471405

OMGosh, that's truly dreadful. For these men to be protecting the community and to be senselessly run down is just beyond comprehension. Sadly, this could now escalate into something a whole lot worse than we've seen the past few days. I pray that it doesn't!

I would have like to have linked another fantastic image about a young couple who made cups of tea for the police using a riot shield as a tray, but I can't seem to find it.

Found it. Click (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixel-eight/6024429000/lightbox) :)

(Courtesy of pixel.eight and London News Pictures)

Yeah, i think a lot of us should be praying for them... Dependent on religious views(If you are religious please do)

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/uk-riots.jpg

http://www.instablogsimages.com/1/2011/08/09/london_riots_7r3wj.jpg

Nice image D! Ta for posting bud!

Not sure I'd want some tea from a plastic cup made with semi-skimmed milk?

But I appreciate the sentiment of that couple. If I was a copper who had been on duty for 30 hours, I think I would like that plastic of tea! However it was.

what's wrong with semi-skimmed?

So they are looking at a few things to change according to BBC, here they are and my thoughts on them:

To look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via social media when "we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality"
I don't like this as it could lead to abuse. Perhaps monitor the social media for these plots and crackdown on the instigators. But shutting down communication in my idea is going too far.

Plans to look at whether wider powers of curfew and dispersal orders were needed
Curfew sounds so much like a police state. Dispersal orders I am ok with.

New powers for police to order people to remove facemasks where criminality is suspected
Unsure on this. Sounds good, but don't want it to be abused.

Courts could be given tougher sentencing powers
I like this. Will set a good deterrent for future riots if a larger punishment is seen.

Landlords could be given more power to evict criminals from social housing
Don't like this. It could easily lead to abuse and evictions due to discriminatory reasons under the pretense of 'criminals'.

Plans to extend the system of gang injunctions across the country and build on anti-gang programmes, similar to those in the US
unsure on the effect this would have. Could be good.

He said the government would meet the cost of "legitimate" compensation claims and the time limit for applying would increase from 14 to 42 days
This is good.

A £10m Recovery Scheme to provide additional support to councils in making areas "safe, clean and clear"
also good.

A new £20m high street support scheme to help affected businesses get back up and running quickly
Good as well.

Plans for the government to meet the immediate costs of emergency accommodation for families made homeless
Good.


Overall- I am pleased by the governments proposals (we'll see how they actually implement them later) on helping the recovery process for those harmed by it. However I hope that the proposals for cracking down don't go to extreme.

Lol elfs. I prefer the full fat variety every time.

I only assumed it was semi-skimmed cos of the green band on the label. Maybe mistaken?
And the colour of the tea looks a bit insipid, which is what you get with semi and skimmed milk. Life's too short to be worrying about healthy options.

pftt the colour of the tea depends on how much milk you put in, not how much fat is in the milk :S. semi skimmed tastes less clarty than the fatty stuff so nerr.
On a more topic based note, the riots seem to have died down since the rain arrived, mebbe chavs prefer looting in dry weather?

Lol elfs for the 2nd time!
It could also depend on how long the tea was brewed/steeped for? So nerr! ;p

Clarty? You ain't Scottish?

And you shop in Sainsburys where they sell orange top milk too!

Unlike me who shops with the chavs at Asda.

Hopefully they have been all arrested, or are busy selling their illgotten goods on fleabay?
I hope there is no repeat of the senselessness of the last week.

I was right too! It was Cravendale semi-skimmed:

http://www.milkmatters.co.uk/newsroom/search/cravendale/

Curious website they have:

http://www.makethetea.com/

But gladly it is quiet on the streets!