"People getting angry"

There's been an overwhelming amount of comment - some considered, some reactionary and some just down right idiotic - on the riots and looting across the UK over the last few days, but when considering the causes, I think Dorian Lynskey in his piece on 'crisis music' actually sums up my feelings quite neatly.

Importantly, he distinguishes between the original protest in Tottenham at the weekend and the mindless, meaningless, looting and violence of the the following days...

A riot is a weapon of last resort; a cry for help; a public form of self-harming. The spark in Tottenham was political: the shooting of Mark Duggan by the police, the incompetence of the police in explaining to the community what had happened, and – reports currently suggest — at least one instance of heavy-handed policing during a demonstration on Saturday. The fuel was the pervasive frustration and anxiety of a suffering neighbourhood: record levels of youth unemployment, social services (especially youth services) slashed to the bone, the Education Maintenance Allowance scrapped, a damaged relationship between the police and the community, and collapsing faith in the political class. But a lot of the behaviour, especially the looting, had no political impetus and the immediate outcome makes the lives of deprived residents even worse than they were last week. There are no winners.