The 2011 Riots

Mark Langabeer (Hastings and Rye CLP) reviews the BBC2 documentary – The Riots 2011: One Week in August (BBC2 9^th August 2021) – (Photo – Paul Mattson)

August has always been seen as a quiet time because, for many, it’s the holiday season. History appears to contradict this notion. This August has witnessed the dramatic effects of climate change and the most alarming report yet from the IPCC, the removal of the Afghan government by the Taliban (at breakneck speed) and a shooting in Plymouth, by a woman-hating, so-called “incel” that led to six deaths.

A recent BBC2 TV programme (here) interviewed police officers and those that were involved in the riots of August 2011, . The programme began by recalling the Broadwater Farm Riot in 1985 which led to the killing of PC Keith Blakelock. The trigger for this riot was the death of Cynthia Jarrett, after a raid on her house and the arrest of her son. Similarly, the spark for renewed rioting in Tottenham was the killing by police of Mark Duggan, who lived on the Broadwater Farm Estate. 

Family members’ protest

Family members, and around 40 others, organised a protest at Tottenham Police station and demanded to know the circumstances of his killing. There was no response by the authorities and the crowd grew in number and a couple of police cars were set ablaze. A female PC stated that the policy of the police was containment and she had to run towards the police station to escape a mob who were throwing objects at her. A full-scale riot in Hackney soon spread to other London Boroughs. After three days of rioting and looting, 22 boroughs (out of 32) were affected and the police appeared to be unable to deal the situation.

Both Cameron, the Prime Minister, and Johnson, the mayor of London, cut short their holidays in order to respond to the growing crises. A COBRA meeting was arranged and an adviser to Cameron stated that there was a brief discussion about the effects of Government policies, but this was quickly rejected and the causes were pit down purely to acts of criminality. The police were concerned that a more proactive response could lead to a repeat of a death of a demonstrator at the G20 protests and they didn’t have the resources to deal with the numbers involved. 16,000 officers were drafted in from other areas of the country.

The rioting in London subsided, but flared up in other areas of the UK. Parts of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham also had riots and the looting of shops. The worst incident came when three Asian men were run over by a speeding car and killed. Asian owned businesses in Birmingham had organised defence groups in their areas to prevent looting. A father of one of the dead made a public appeal for calm, which appeared to have an effect. After five days, the rioting came to an abrupt end. 

Full force of the law

For the Tories, and their right-wing co-thinkers, it was simply a matter of criminality and the full force of the law was required. For the first time in history, night-time court sessions were introduced to convict offenders. Many first-time offenders received custodial sentences. I recall one guy imprisoned for stealing a bottle of water. Over 4,500 arrests were made and over 2,000 were convicted of offences related to the events over those days. [The Director of Public Prosecutions at the time was a certain Keir Starmer.]

It has been estimated that around £180 million in damage was caused by the rioters, mainly in their own neighbourhoods. A contributor stated that these events didn’t happen in a vacuum. In my view, they are a product of poor social conditions. Unemployment, low pay, poor housing and the lack of youth facilities are the principle causes of the rioting and they are likely to happen again because these problems remain or even worsening.

A right-wing historian, stated that Enoch Powell’s rivers of blood speech, back in 1968, was wrong in one respect; some white youths were involved in 2011. This guy stated that white youths have assimilated black gang culture! As if gang culture didn’t exist prior to the arrival of black immigrants! In fact, Powell’s infamous speech has been proven wrong on all counts. Immigration has enhanced Britain’s culture, which is not static, but evolves.

Personally, I don’t condone the actions of the rioters. As a contributor stated, it detracted from the circumstances of Duggan’s killing which was judged to be a ‘lawful killing ‘. It provided cover for the Tories, judges and tops of the police to take more punitive action against the youth involved. The labour movement must offer a programme that gives the most oppressed sections of society an alternative to gang life and criminal activity.