UK Rioting Inflicts Further Damage on British Image

The devastating scenes coming out of London and now other cities in the United Kingdom, will not improve the image of a country still recovering from the phone hacking scandal.

The images of children as young as nine, along with adults in their 20’s and 30’s; rioting, looting and most recently murdering, has brought shame and embarrassment to Great Britain.  After the sickening details of the phone hacking scandals of recent weeks, the British Government were in absolutely no way prepared for this latest disaster.At a time where markets across the world are in grave danger of collapsing, and the United States economy hangs on by the skin of its teeth, the horrible images coming out of the UK will add further misery and worry to the potential consequences of a world recession.

The British press have been working in overdrive since the rioting began, and just as worrying as the images of violence across the country, is the reasons many youths have given for their actions. A young man told the British press, that while he did not agree with the actions of the rioters, he could see why they were doing it. Another youth referred to the rise in VAT, student loans and University tuition fees, stating that people have no future as they now have no money.

While the recession has affected most countries around the world, surely the destruction of peoples businesses and livelihoods is not the answer to fighting these difficult times. The Republic of Ireland, Greece, and most recently Spain and Italy, have fallen on extremely hard times, yet this kind of behaviour is nowhere to be seen in these countries. On the other hand, there were protests in Greece, but these were at government officials in the aftermath of a budget, not at innocent people.

David Cameron said today that a lack of responsibility is to blame for the rioting across Britain. He spoke about the lack of parenting and control over the people responsible for the crimes. The British Prime Minister has a lot more to do than pint the finger of blame at anyone. The British Government now has an even bigger task on their hands. Not only do they have to capture and condemn the people responsible for these crimes, but they also need to clean up their streets to ensure this does not happen again, and while doing so try to repair the tarnished image of the United Kingdom.

The world will be watching the London Olympics in 2012; however, will people be safe attending the event?

Article first published as <a href='http://technorati.com/politics/article/uk-rioting-inflicts-further-damage-on/'>UK Rioting Inflicts Further Damage on British Image</a> on Technorati.