Members of the community assembled at the Handsworth Campus of the City College in Soho Road to chew over the rioting spree that had engulfed parts of Birmingham and other towns and cities across England. It had all kicked off in Tottenham after another killing of a black man by police. Six MPs were in attendance, three of whom represented Birmingham. Keith Vaz, who has a key role in collecting evidence, made an appearance. They were anxious to say they had come to listen, yet each spoke at some length in response to questions from the floor. Their answers seemed to be long on anecdotes and rather short on ideas. They pointed out the problems they were faced with. All happened to be from the Labour Party, but Vaz pointed out that he chaired an all-party committee, so he wasn’t there as a Labour MP.
A briefing was handed out which did not include this. Some MPs have joined a chorus of heavy sentencing for those charged with offences during the disorder, including some of whom found themselves paying back much larger sums than taken by looters. This is not to condone looting but to point out the double standards and moral malaise are with our leaders rather than within a “sick” society. The dispossessed are dispossessed by having public services cut or withdrawn providing a safety net for those on low pay, unemployed etc. It is always a trick of governments to lay blame at the door of the dispossessed. The decision makers are rich and they want more and more for themselves. The tactic has met with a response. The “Disaster Capitalism” agenda means that such a crisis triggers a further response to kerb civil liberties and introduce get tough policies which end up making a bd situation far worse.