Londoners are screaming that this is the worst attack on their historic city since the World War II blitz. The streets of London and quite a few other places, including Manchester and Birmingham, are lined with burnt buildings, broken homes and shops. Around 16,000 personnel from the metropolitan police are on the streets here, a five-fold increase since the riots began last weekend.
Local communities are in a state of shock and fear further attacks by hooded thugs who have been looting shops since last Saturday. So far, 888 arrests have been made in the capital and a little over 350 already prosecuted by the three magistrate courts, working through the night to render swift justice on those caught stealing.
Walking around the affected areas, it is difficult to miss tourists pointing their cameras at burnt-down buildings instead of the usual popular ones like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Local communities are embarrassed that the summer of 2011 will see tourists take back with them pictures of London that only their grandparents would be able to identify from the World War II days.
‘CAN’T BELIEVE IT’
Worst affected in the mayhem are small businesses, for long the backbone of the capital’s economy. London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, has already promised a £100 million package to rebuild broken businesses. Most businesses have insurance cover, but the fear is one that goes beyond just economic loss. Shop owners speak in a single voice when they say they cannot believe this is happening here.
Kulbir Singh, who owns the Best-One off-licence in the high street of Clapham in South London, said, “ We are just scared. Cannot believe this is happening. I was at home when this happened and I was crying, wondering what happened to my shop.” He is one of the few lucky ones whose shop was spared, though the steel door shows signs of attempts to break in. This small shop at any point has stock worth £70,000.
His neighbour, Hakam, who runs an English-American breakfast jointn says he is not sure how he is going to recover. The shop’s window was broken and the contents looted on Monday night. “I was standing across the street and watching my shop being looted. I did not even protest, fearing they may attack me as well,” said Hakam. Another shop owner across the street said that on Monday night he worked overnight, getting transportation for his colleagues to make sure there were no casualties.
It was not just small businesses that were looted. Large showrooms owned by popular highstreet brands like JD (sportswear), Debenhams and McDonalds have also been broken into. Kevin Davis, a senior manager at watch, jewellery and decoration store F. Hinds that was broken into on Monday said his company was still assessing the losses. Like many other shops in the area, it will remain closed for renovation.
PARLIAMENT CONVENES
While shop owners are still counting their losses, Prime Minister David Cameron at the emergency session of Parliament said the losses and insurance claims could add up to £200 million and assured that all legitimate claims would be met swiftly by insurance companies. The government will support those not insured. It is also creating special funds to meet rebuilding exercises. A fund of £20 million has been created to rebuild the high street businesses.
“Responsibility for crime always lies with the criminal. But crime has a context. And, we must not shy away from it. I have said before that there is a major problem in our society, with children growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong. This is not about poverty, it’s about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities,” said Cameron.
