Letter on the 2011 London riots

David Hamilton, Barking, full address supplied, writes:

I read with interest your piece on the riots of 2011, but what an utterly shameful comment from the champagne socialist, millionaire Islington resident Dame Margaret Hodge MP:

“Sadly one decade on, a lot of the factors that led to this shocking outburst are still in place.
“Racial inequality. Aggressive policing. Underfunded youth services. A lack of good jobs for young people.”

A complete insult to the vast majority of decent, law abiding residents of Barking, Margaret Hodge seems not to understand that the only factors that lead to the riots were a minority of opportunist, criminal scumbags taking advantage of the situation.

A car was set on fire near the Westbury Arms pub (Image: Archant)

Ironically, it was actually too timid policing that allowed the riots to get out of control and spread so widely, a lesson the police sadly do not seemed to have learned with their recent feeble policing of Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter protests – not to mention the Wembley Euros final fiasco. More “aggressive” policing would be welcomed by law abiding residents.

As for “underfunded” youth services, Margaret Hodge conveniently overlooks the fact that Barking has been ruled by a Labour council and a Labour MP for many decades – it is for the council to manage its budget and provide such services.