Any London left?

Fireblade96

Looting JD Sports.
It's not exactly the spirit of '68 is it ? More like the Gangsta Celebrity Shopping Channel.

garnett

Fireblade96 wrote:

Looting JD Sports.
It's not exactly the spirit of '68 is it ? More like the Gangsta Celebrity Shopping Channel.

Spot on.

Just in case anyone's too far away to know or witness the facts for themselves, the people on the street committing this criminality (as seen in the 10s to 100s from my flat) the perpetrators were smiling, laughing, well dressed, fed and interested in sporting and electrical lifestyle goods.

This was absolutely, and categorically, nothing to do with any poverty or disillusion, or politics or the shooting (other than as an excuse for opportunist criminality).

This was driven purely by a sense of entitlement to certain material goods without the desire to earn those products through endeavour.

iPete

Some people need a baton around the face.

Anyway, what are the Embankment regulars thinking about riding in and out of London tomorrow?

garnett

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2HhsQfnTyM

jamesco

iPete wrote:

Some people need a baton around the face.

Anyway, what are the Embankment regulars thinking about riding in and out of London tomorrow?

Couldn't agree more.

Here in Ealing there're helicopters flying overhead and looting going on. My route to Shoreditch goes through Notting Hill where thugs & thieves were marching around during the ride home last night, so I suspect there'll be a few diversions this morning.

Glad to have Marathon Pluses on...

greg66_tri_v2.0

JZed wrote:

Police ignored all the kids turning up at Clapham and now they are just looting without any hinderance.

I'm a long way from home ATM, and seeing the all through the unreliable prism of the Internet.

However, iirc, weren't there some student riots earlier in the year at which it was suggested that the Met stood off, as a passive protest at the cuts? Is there an element of this going on again?

nich

Garnett wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2HhsQfnTyM

These humans make me sick and angry. I wish the police had the power to use some proper force on them.

dilemna

I feel sick seeing these scenes. Scum scum scum.

Anyone got Cameron's number?

He must impose curfews and the put the Army on the streets NOW who have to shoot people on sight who are doing this burning peoples' homes, cars and businesses. This is the only way this will stop.

Social breakdown and anarchy rules. Co-incidence that kids are not at school?

All these goods shortly to be seen on Ebay or Gumtree.

I hope no proper bike shops are looted some would probably never open again.

DonDaddyD

Greg66 wrote:

JZed wrote:

Police ignored all the kids turning up at Clapham and now they are just looting without any hinderance.

I'm a long way from home ATM, and seeing the all through the unreliable prism of the Internet.

However, iirc, weren't there some student riots earlier in the year at which it was suggested that the Met stood off, as a passive protest at the cuts? Is there an element of this going on again?

There is a difference between rotesting and outright widespread riots. While the police have a hard time, making a clear distinction between the two and when to esculate the tactics used is a must.

Now is a time to use robust policing (water cannons, plastic batons etc). The student protests - except where it became problematic and not about the protest but vandalism - not so much.

Hairybuddha

Well that was an interesting commute last night. Rounded a corner in Peckham to be confronted by a burning bus and groups of youths pulling people off of bikes, including a guy on a frikin pizza delivery scooter. Very menacing atmosphere.

Very scary, no police to be seen

georgee

Time for Teresa May to go isn't it? what an utter balls up, shameful to watch the police behaving like such cowards.

nich

Couple of smashed up shops in Catford on my morning commute, other than that quite a calm and easy journey in.

jzed

Greg66 wrote:

JZed wrote:

Police ignored all the kids turning up at Clapham and now they are just looting without any hinderance.

I'm a long way from home ATM, and seeing the all through the unreliable prism of the Internet.

However, iirc, weren't there some student riots earlier in the year at which it was suggested that the Met stood off, as a passive protest at the cuts? Is there an element of this going on again?

No - according to the officers that were blocking the road - they didn't have the resource (down in Croydon trying to sort that one out). It was a case of unless they could get enough numbers they sit back and do nothing. There weren't any police anywhere nearby.

A couple of officers around JD Sports last night with police dogs could have stopped the build up. These were school kids in gangs of 4 or 5 just waiting until there were enough of them to get some freebies. SCUM - I would bring back public flogging, introduce the removal of limbs for looting.

daviesee

georgee wrote:

Time for Teresa May to go isn't it? what an utter balls up, shameful to watch the police behaving like such cowards.

Natural reaction but please explain how that would change anything?

squired

Croydon is a mess this morning. Shed a few tears as I cycled through. Every electrical store, home entertainment store, cash converter type store (or anything likely to have cash) has been stripped from South Croydon down to Norbury.

The big question is whether there will be more of the same tonight?

fixie71

Not the time for getting punctures is it.

rolf_f

notsoblue wrote:

Interesting comment on Reddit about the Vancouver riots; apparently after it happened pictures of the rioters were put up all over the city on bustops etc... Loads of people were identified and prosecuted for this. What an excellent idea.

Given the approach to student funding, the obvious approach here is to spread the cost of the looting by treating it as a loan and putting an extra 15% or so tax onto any future earnings of anyone prosecuted over this until the costs are recovered. Of course, they'll never be fully recovered so they'll be stuck with the tax bill for life but it wouldn't do any harm.

I wonder how many of these chimps have put themselves out of jobs because of this.......

beverick

daviesee wrote:

georgee wrote:

Time for Teresa May to go isn't it? what an utter balls up, shameful to watch the police behaving like such cowards.

Natural reaction .....

Natural left wing reaction that is - and as unhelpful as ever. Expect similar rhetoric from "the wrong Milliband" this afternoon.

It's no different, and no more helpful, than comments from some guy on the TV last night (SKY news c. 22:30) saying that the cause of the riots was the increase in tuition fees and cuts in the EMA.

Bob

Slack

[quote="JZed
A couple of officers around JD Sports last night with police dogs could have stopped the build up. These were school kids in gangs of 4 or 5 just waiting until there were enough of them to get some freebies. SCUM - I would bring back public flogging, introduce the removal of limbs for looting.[/quote]

That's all a bit Sharia isn't it.

I would prefer to see all these good for nothing lay abouts cleaning streets, cutting grass, painting walls. About time they put something positive into society rather than scrounging and sulking. Where are their morals and pride!

Send them to the Falklands to live in prefab huts.

jzed

Slack wrote:

That's all a bit Sharia isn't it.

I would prefer to see all these good for nothing lay abouts cleaning streets, cutting grass, painting walls. About time they put something positive into society rather than scrounging and sulking. Where are their morals and pride!

Send them to the Falklands to live in prefab huts.

Couldn't care less whether its Sharia or not. This country had become too soft and we need real punishments for crimes.

rick_chasey

http://youtu.be/6Gex_ya4-Oo

Nasty video.

Kid bleeding on floor. Is helped up by kids, before having his stuff stolen from him.

sketchley

Anyone else feel like they didn't wake up in the same city?

What the rioters seem oblivious too is that the shops and businesses they have looted and burnt often belong too and employ local people. The Brothers, Sisters, Parents, Aunts, Uncles etc of their school friends will be directly affected by this. Their local communities will struggle to survive, who is going to rebuild and invest in these areas? The big businesses will be insured and we, and the rioters themselves, will have to pay for this for years to come in higher insurance premiums.

My wife cannot go to work today, several of her colleagues live in Croydon and were basically up all night scared and waiting for police to tell them to leave. They had bag packed an were ready to go with their children. Disgraceful.

I can see all the big names pulling out of the high-street now reverting to either an internet model from anonymous warehouses (maybe with shop front showrooms) or large out of town shopping centres where transportation of looted goods becomes an issue. Inner city area could well become run down no go area after this. I hope not!

Not looking forward tonight or the rest of the weekend. I hope it calms down. I never thought I would say this but I would not have problem with the Army on the streets tonight or a curfew for that matter. If not I can see vigilantism being a problem. There are already reports on the Turks in Stoke Newington defending their business with baseball bats.

rick_chasey

Greg66 wrote:

JZed wrote:

Police ignored all the kids turning up at Clapham and now they are just looting without any hinderance.

I'm a long way from home ATM, and seeing the all through the unreliable prism of the Internet.

However, iirc, weren't there some student riots earlier in the year at which it was suggested that the Met stood off, as a passive protest at the cuts? Is there an element of this going on again?

A quote from one of the riot police taking a rest:

He compared the riots with the student demonstrations. "It's completely different. There was some violence then, but you didn't have people basically wanting to murder you.

bdave262000

Nothing good will ever come from these people, they are society's parasites. They are totally unemployable. They say that there are no job prospects for them. I work in the construction industry we have young guys coming over from Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania etc who arrive in this country with nothing, can hardly speak a word of English but they are prepared to work hard, are enthusiastic, want to learn as much as possible, want to work overtime and weekends, in the space of 18 months some of these guys are promoted to site managers.

We have given jobs to the types that you see on the news rioting, you’re lucky if they turn up for work 3 days out of 5. They are lazy, text or play on their mobiles when you talk to them, act as if they are doing you a favour and are disrespectful. One lad said to me he was too tired to work as he'd been up to 4am playing COD with his mates and smoking gear.

rubertoe

It must be bad... there was even trouble in Leafy Barnet last night. These people must really have issues with telephone companies and sports shops.

jzed

6000 police apparently on duty last night. Doughnut shops must have done a roaring trade as there were 5995 police anywhere but Clapham Junction.

jzed

{double post}

Gazzaputt

Rode through Woolwich this morning. Looks like a warzone. Burnt out cars, burnt out building and debris strewn everywhere. Still had trouble going on.

Arrived at Charlton and all the shops at the 2 retails parks have been looted and Asda and McDonalds set alight.

jzed

georgee wrote:

Time for Teresa May to go isn't it? what an utter balls up, shameful to watch the police behaving like such cowards.

I'm going to agree. Just been listening to her and got zero confidence from her. She is out of her depth and not a good strong figure to convince the public that the government can get this under control. Hopefully Cameron is going to be stronger.

Robust policing - as Jim Royal would say - my arse.

Sewinman

Well that was an interesting night! I live on Eckstein Rd near Clapham Junction, at the end of my road is Currys, Debenhems etc.

When I got home I noticed a few of the shops were boarded up and/or closing early. There was a gang of kids on my road pushing a wheely bin down the road. I rang the police to tell them this. That was about 6.30-7. From then on until midnight I would say there area was completely lawless. Kids were walking up and down my road for hours with handfuls of loot. Some were turning up in cars to take stuff away and getting kids to go and steal a car load. This included flat screen TVs and other electrical goods. There was no noticeable police presence during any of this, I did not even hear a police siren. It was a bizarre feeling because you could walk among them without any real fear - they were engaged in a very concentrated looting and were not interested in anyone else. If they really wanted to protest they could have attacked the police station on Lavender Hill, but instead they burnt the fancy dress shop and Dub Vendor. Most of them were young - 12-16, with a few older guys in cars orchestrating. I saw a few girls who had brought suitcases with them to fill and were calmly walking back home rolling their cases.

Quite an astonishing night really. We were confined to my house with the streets effectively lawless for 3-4 hours.

It is a worry what the legacy of this will be after they clear up the glass etc. I can see race relations worsening significantly in the area.