People's Democracy

Britain Rocked By Riots

R Arun Kumar

FOR the connoisseurs of the game of cricket, the game in its best format, 5-day Test, is on – irrespective of what is happening around in UK. Unfortunately that was not the case with football, the most beautiful game. The first match of the English Premier League and the friendly match between England and Netherlands was postponed because of the riots. This has forced one of the English footballers to question, “Where is the army?” and another to comment, “This is what happens when uneducated people get bored...protesting about nothing”. Sorry, the 'intelligence' of these 'educated' gentlemen who 'entertain' us is not to be questioned. Let the game go on – otherwise, how will they earn their weekly wages (one crore rupees only, which is more or less what our cricketers too earn). It is time for them to use this money to get educated about the world around them and look at those filling their stadiums not just as 'fans' but as 'people'.

United Kingdom, that prides itself for its multiculturalism, is now rocked by riots, which were triggered by the killing of a young man by the police in Tottenham. The riots have forced the prime minister of the country, the mayor of London and many other important personalities to cut short their vacation and report to duty. David Cameron, the prime minister has responded just as our 'educated' footballer wanted: “You will feel the full force of the law” and increased the number of police on the streets to 16,000 from 6,000. The police, together with the fire-fighters who have been on the streets facing the brunt of the attacks are not happy. Being on the streets, they know the reasons for the riots better than their bosses. In fact, any one whose wages and social welfare benefits are cut, as was done to the police and fire-fighters, can well understand.

RISING

DISPARITIES

The riots in England, according to some commentators were waiting to happen. Income disparities in the country are on the rise – the total net household wealth of the top 10 percentage is £853,000, almost 100 times higher than the net wealth of the poorest 10 percentage, which is £8,800 or below. One person in five lives in households with less than 60 per cent median income. Youth employment is at an all-time high since the Second World War. In a country with 8 per cent of non-white population, the intensity of poverty and unemployment among these sections is more profound. Unemployment among the coloured and mixed ethnic groups is around three times the rate for white British. The Equality and Human Rights Commission of Britain, in its Triennial Review 2010, states, “Ethnic minority and religious minority groups are over-represented in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England”. Trevor Phillips, its chairman, talking about the status of poor and ethnic minorities said, “Gateways to opportunity that appear permanently closed, no matter how hard they try; while others seem to have been issued with an 'access all areas' pass at birth”. The global economic crisis had provided ignition to this powder keg scenario in Britain.

The Conservative government in UK, immediately after assuming power last year, increased the pace of the austerity measures and drastically reduced the budget to social welfare. Many people lost their jobs, saw their wages, benefits, pensions frozen, if not reduced. Education became costlier. These had accentuated the burdens of the common people. Just a few weeks prior to the riots, David Lammy, a member of parliament said: “The highest unemployment in the capital is in Tottenham where four out of five children are born into poverty. The government need to recognise our case for investment and regeneration”. The government did not pay heed and the result?

The discontent that the economic hardships breed, coupled with the subtle social discrimination, created a sense of alienation among the youth and the under-privileged. For them, both the mainstream political parties in the country – the Labour Party and the Conservative Party – appeared the same. This is true to an extent because of the pro-rich neo-liberal economic policies ardently pursued by the earlier Labour government led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The limited strength of the Left in the country, which has the ideology to correctly explain the reasons and causes for their deprivation, but lacks the wherewithal, did not help their cause. The limited presence of the Left, creates a political vacuum for the people who think that all the parties are 'similar'. The ruling classes and the media at its service also harp on this line, giving rise to apathy towards politics and democracy. It makes the ground fertile for the growth of anarchic tendencies. Thus, naturally, we find a section of the youth, instead of getting politically organised, forming 'gangs'. According to an estimate, there are over 205 gangs operating in London with a 'membership' of at least 15,000. These misguided youth, instead of giving a proper political expression to their anger, are resorting to rioting. As the country burned, rival gangs announced their presence by chalking out their logos on burned-out buildings and marking their 'territory'.

VOLATILE

SITUATION

The measures initiated by the UK government might bring an end to the riots, but not the causes that gave rise to them in the first place. The government, true to its class character is not interested in addressing the socio-economic factors that gave rise to the discontent and fuelled the riots. The prime minister of the country instead of taking such an approach, only exposed his class bias and naivety when he stated that 'wrong parenting' is to blame for the riots.

Though we are witnessing the riots in UK today, the situation in many countries around the world is very fragile. Thanks to the global economic crisis, income inequities are on the rise in many countries and across the world. In the US, according to new census data analysed by the Pew Research Centre, between 2005 and 2009, the share of wealth owned by the wealthiest 10 per cent of all households rose to 56 per cent from 49 per cent. No matter what the ethnic group, “wealth grew more concentrated at the top”. The growing income disparity in the United States has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. During the same period (2005 and 2009), the wealth gap between whites and minorities has risen to a historic high. The median net worth of Hispanic households dropped by 66 per cent and that of black households fell by 53 per cent. The median net worth of a white family now stands at 20 times that of a black family and 18 times that of a Hispanic family – roughly twice the gap that existed before the recession. The share of Americans with no wealth at all also rose sharply during the recession. 33 per cent of Hispanics had zero or negative net worth in 2009, up from 23 per cent in 2005. For blacks, the portion rose to 35 per cent from 29 per cent, and for whites, it rose to 15 percent from 11 percent. Similar is the situation in many 'developed' countries in Europe.

In the present scenario, unless steps are initiated, at the least, for reversing the austerity measures and initiating steps to increase employment opportunities, the situation remains volatile – waiting to erupt from the rising discontent and anger. It is for the Left and progressive sections of the society to channelise this discontent by directing it against the neo-liberal policies. Any failure to do so, would pave way for the rise of anarchic and right-wing forces. If this happens, it would only benefit the ruling classes as they would immediately use this opportunity to use force to 'restore law and order' and further curtail democratic rights. Moreover, if these riots assume ethnic and religious overtures, as many are trying to smear them with, it would break the ranks of the working class. This would not only weaken the struggle for a political alternative to the present social order, socialism, but will strengthen the ruling classes and even might give rise, once again, to fascism.

The challenge before the Left all over the world is, to work more diligently among the people, organise them and lead the struggles for their rights and livelihood.