This is not 1981. Nor 1985. As has been pointed out over the past few days, things have changed a lot since the "inner-city unrest" – as it was quaintly named back then – erupted in Brixton, Tottenham, Toxteth, Handsworth and other parts of Britain.
But with each passing day, the old maxim, "The more things change, the more they stay the same", has increasing relevance. In the 80s, as now, rioting was sparked by a confrontation between black people and the police and spread to the rest of the country, including to "white" areas. In 1981, the Conservative prime minister dismissed suggestions that the Brixton riot was due to unemployment and racism. Time proved that she was badly wrong. But fast forward three decades, and David Cameron tells the House of Commons that this week's rioting was "criminality, pure and simple". More...
Don't miss:
But with each passing day, the old maxim, "The more things change, the more they stay the same", has increasing relevance. In the 80s, as now, rioting was sparked by a confrontation between black people and the police and spread to the rest of the country, including to "white" areas. In 1981, the Conservative prime minister dismissed suggestions that the Brixton riot was due to unemployment and racism. Time proved that she was badly wrong. But fast forward three decades, and David Cameron tells the House of Commons that this week's rioting was "criminality, pure and simple". More...
Don't miss:
- London riots: What nobody dares to say...
- The Tottenham riots were about race. Why ignore the fact?
- Britain's rioters: young, poor and disillusioned...
- "This is not rioting; this is an insurrection"
- Why London is burning...
- Capitalism in crisis, a warning from history: 80 years ago...
- "Get real, black people! Fight for a cause!"
- The law-abiding masses look on in quiet despair as London burns...
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