Looters - them or us?

By Mike Ovey, Principal, Oakhill Theological College

I spoke on the phone yesterday with a south London vicar whose parish had been hit by rioters. Actually, "rioters" is not quite the word. The disorders straight after the death of Mark Duggan may have been riots with the associations of protest that brings, but by now a better word than rioters is looters, because the focus seems so strongly on violent theft.

Reading round the web, this is widely felt. You do get different analyses of why people are looting, and what should be done about it. So for some, this is the disadvantaged youth underclass levelling the score a bit, and the real fault lies with the parents, police, schools, racists, politicians – take your pick – who have alienated them. For others, this is urban feral youth who are enemies of civilised society, and should be treated as such. For some, the remedy is high cost investment creating jobs, while others think the best remedy is live ammunition on the streets.

[Read the rest here.]