Friends from around the world have been contacting me to ask if I’m okay as images of London’s riotous weekend fire across their screens (fortunately I’m not near the action at all). I found it very interesting that our political leaders did not express their concern about the safety of Londoners immediately and it felt like days before Nick Clegg dragged himself back to London to relay the usual sound bites.
The last comparable riots in London were about 25 years ago so I would imagine this is rather big national news and David Cameron or Boris Johnson could inconvenience themselves to reassure people who have lost their homes and businesses that they are trying to deal with the situation. Yes, the Met Police are dealing with the criminal aspect but there is civilian collateral damage and many of the people who lost everything have nowhere to turn. I can only imagine that this lack of empathy may be that the victims of these crimes do not represent your typical Tory voter?
There were awful images on TV yesterday with families sitting on the pavement having lost their homes and possessions, and the news that ‘Downing Street are in constant contact with the authorities’ rings hollow.
Bubbly
