[Snooky]

Dreadful scenes in London today with a bunch of thugs running riot causing wanton damage - what the heck is the world coming to?

People across Africa and Middle East are protesting having been ruled by dictators for decades without basic human rights or opportunities. In this country, we have it sooooo good relative to many and yet, this shocking behaviour kicks off under the banner of protests at the country finally starting to cut its cloth accordingly after years of overspending.

I'm sure there was a good reason why the police were not in there with batons and water cannon to arrest these people rather than allowing them to wreck the place live on TV across the world....wonderful for our tourism industry I'd say.

I'm not a violent person at all but....a little bit of me was hoping that the police would crack a few heads with batons - I guess they were too busy manning speed camera vans or something.

Rant over!!

[Baby Dave]

Not allowed to crack heads with batons as the do gooders in society don't like it. Riot cops in full kit looks too aggressive that's why officers get injured because they have to wear flat hats. The kitted up officers are kept out of sight until it's too late and the disorder has begun, then they are deployed playing catch up

[Plaverda]

I was there trying to shop! It was an utter disgrace. Shameful.

But let's just say I wasn't aware that 40 year old skinhead thugs are students these days, but obviously they are as there seem to have been encouraging everybody down oxford street.

[Snooky]

Originally Posted by Plaverda

I was there trying to shop! It was an utter disgrace. Shameful.

But let's just say I wasn't aware that 40 year old skinhead thugs are students these days, but obviously they are as there seem to have been encouraging everybody down oxford street.

Sorry to hear that you got caught up in it. My wife and I were in London last weekend and stayed just off Picadilly Circus and spent lots of time shopping in the area etc and we were just lucky that we were not there this weekend. First weekend away without children in about 7 years....I would not have been impressed to have it ruined by a bunch of mindless thugs.

[hmi1750]

As said above, sad to see this in London. People having no respect for their country and civility. How can the UK be preaching about benefits of democracy and be a role model of civilised society, when this is how (even though a minority) of the population behave! Is democracy to destroy and have no respect for the country and its people, their belongings etc?


Frivolous damage for nothing (probably rent a mob)!

Why could our police force not control it before it got so out of hand? Not by shooting them, but what happened to the "intelligence" gathering that goes on?

[JLR1969]

The idiots who cause the trouble are the same idiots that claim every benefit available.

Total Scum who should be rounded up and shot.

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by JLR1969

The idiots who cause the trouble are the same idiots that claim every benefit available.

Total Scum who should be rounded up and shot.

plus one....


in these situations, the police should be able to beat the crap out of these thugs...

[Boyd1963]

Originally Posted by Plaverda

I was there trying to shop! It was an utter disgrace. Shameful.

But let's just say I wasn't aware that 40 year old skinhead thugs are students these days, but obviously they are as there seem to have been encouraging everybody down oxford street.

Catch up. It wasn't a student protest. It was organised by the TUC and judging by the arrest statistics 99.9% of the protestors were peaceful.

[MEGA]

Bunch of morons and a shame that the average UK populous is so f-ing stupid to be honest.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Boyd1963

Catch up. It wasn't a student protest. It was organised by the TUC and judging by the arrest statistics 99.9% of the protestors were peaceful.

Indeed.

The fact that they were protesting against cuts that probably won't have much (negative) effect on members of this forum may have something to do with the stern view of the protestors taken in this thread. If they were protesting about fuel price hikes and/or shortages, there'd doubtless be a bit more understanding.

The actions of those who attend protests with the sole intention of causing trouble should not be allowed to sully the peaceful majority. Protest is an important right. Enormous numbers in this country marched in protest agains the invasion of Iraq. No, the politicians didn't listen, but it was important that decent people made their voices heard.

[rsmallwo]

the event organisers condemed the violence, its the usual small minority. You could say that these types will smash up stuff for fun in any situation, they get a buzz out of it, like football hooligans.

don't be too quick to endorse police beating everyone up though. Do we want to give the impression out like Col Gaddaffi does? You protest against me, I shoot/stab/rape/bomb you.

I think the Governement is walking a fine line with the cuts, too far and it will be riots in the streets. There is ALOT of resentment that average joe is picking up the tab for city bankers gambling habits, imagine if you had lost your job > wife > house > car > kids...think you'd be pissed.

[toxicnerve]

I'm not going to condone what happened. However, do you really think "peaceful protest" will ever effect change?

The Poll Tax situation in the 90s was only resolved after people took to the streets and rioted...

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by rsmallwo

the event organisers condemed the violence, its the usual small minority. You could say that these types will smash up stuff for fun in any situation, they get a buzz out of it, like football hooligans.

This is my view. Its the same idiots out for some anarchy/fun no matter what the cause.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

This is my view. Its the same idiots out for some anarchy/fun no matter what the cause.

Yes, and a lot of those people probably don't give a toss about the cuts, or whatever is being protested about. They just enjoy a ruck.

Not only that, but what's the betting there may be one or two govt agents in amongst them, stirring things up?

[Snooky]

I have no problem with the peaceful protest and agree that it is a valuable right for us all to have whether or not we believe it will achieve anything. I was simply referring to the thugs that were rioting and causing wanton damage - I believe that the police should have come down very very hard on those and accept that they were a small minority of those out on the streets.

There can be no condoning people sticking two fingers up at the law of the land.

I cannot believe that someone is trying to compare the police taking action against thugs breaking the law and what Gadaffi is doing in Lybia. Unreal.

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

The fact that they were protesting against cuts that probably won't have much (negative) effect on members of this forum may have something to do with the stern view of the protestors taken in this thread.

Do not wish to enter into another prolonged debate with you FM, suffice to say that contrary to your assertion that most of us on here will be immune to the "cuts" [sic], I suspect a few of us on here will feel the effects of the 'savings' measures that the Govt is having to undertake.

My wife is an NHS Nurse working in a Young Offenders Institute as a nursing practitioner as one of about 12 nurses (there is also a 24/7 Mental Health wing manned by another set of nurses). They have been told that the PCT needs to find £650K savings this coming FY and that no jobs are safe - the irony is that it took two people from the PCT HR section to come and tell them that. If my wife is made redundant I will be exceptionally bitter and twisted for many reasons, but my ire will be aimed at the previous shambolic Labour Govt and a profligate PCT which has employed too many 'do-gooders'.

I also work in a Govt Department (MOD) where 20% of Royal Navy manpower is being made redundant over the next 4 years. I am fortunate that I am not in the bracket to loose my job, but it could happen.

Would I ever join a protest march? Answer, no. It is not in my nature to do that kind of thing, they rarely achieve much. I also believe that the blame for the depth of "savings" that have to be made lies fairly and squarely with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair - the years of profligacy and tax and spend (and spend, and spend a bit more that we haven't got). The hypocrisy of watching the "school prefect", Ed Milliband, address the protesters made me want to laugh.

I agree with the comment already made regarding the disgraceful behaviour of a very small minority of anarchists.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Do not wish to enter into another prolonged debate with you FM, suffice to say that contrary to your assertion that most of us on here will be immune to the "cuts" [sic], I suspect a few of us on here will feel the effects of the 'savings' measures that the Govt is having to undertake.
.

On this we are in perfect agreement!

But it ought to be beside the point whether or not you or I will be affected. We should care about others and not just ourselves. But then empathy is not a Conservative trait.

I wonder at what stage this government and their supporters are planning on ceasing to hide behind the old "it's all the fault of those spendthrifts Blair & Brown" line? Will it ever happen? Only time will tell. We can also assume that they will never drop the pretence that the cuts are driven purely by economic necessity rather than ideologically.

As for that plonker Miliband, I think he made a big mistake in associating himself with the protest. I don't think it was his place, as the leader of the opposition party, to explicitly align himself. But that's just my opinion, it's open for debate and no doubt there'll be a lot of discussion on that subject in the coming week.

[sheps]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

I wonder at what stage this government and their supporters are planning on ceasing to hide behind the old "it's all the fault of those spendthrifts Blair & Brown" line? Will it ever happen? Only time will tell. We can also assume that they will never drop the pretence that the cuts are driven purely by economic necessity rather than ideologically.

The past government were still blaming Tory inheritance for some issues ten years after coming into power.

Given this, I quite agree that hiding behind an inherited set of circumstances does have a shelf life of acceptability. However, given the state of what has been inherited from the previous administration I think a complete term of 4 years is an absolute minimum before that excuse tires with me in this case.

Labour must be laughing their asses off at this state of affairs;
They spent years borrowing hideous sums of money to give out to all and sundry, creating a Utopian environment where all was good under their control.

The 'new boys' have come along and have to make some drastic cuts (which are necessary to put us back on the straight and narrow and are a direct result of the previous labour Governments fiscal policies) and labour paint them as the bad guys.

The fact is, regardless of world markets, we, as a country, were ill-prepared to deal with any fluctuations, and this was a direct result of 12 years of Labour's "spend, spend, spend" mentality.

[Snooky]

To those of you who are trying to bring politics into this....there is no need.

This is about thugs breaking the law and seemingly getting away with it whilst causing disruption to ordinary law-abiding folk including many visitors to our country.

Regardless of how this country got into this mess, and we all have our own views on where the blame lies, we now need to do something about it. None of us like having to see the cuts but some of us recognise that it needs to happen or else there will be no future for our children or grandchildren.

We all need to take some pain today and start to live within our means as a country and as individuals.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Snooky

To those of you who are trying to bring politics into this....there is no need.

True, there is no need. It could hardly be more political.

[Snooky]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

True, there is no need. It could hardly be more political.

Do you view the actions of the minority yesterday as being a valid political protest?

or, do you agree with me that they should be very harshly dealt with by the law enforecement authorities?

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Indeed.

The fact that they were protesting against cuts that probably won't have much (negative) effect on members of this forum may have something to do with the stern view of the protestors taken in this thread. If they were protesting about fuel price hikes and/or shortages, there'd doubtless be a bit more understanding.

The actions of those who attend protests with the sole intention of causing trouble should not be allowed to sully the peaceful majority. Protest is an important right. Enormous numbers in this country marched in protest agains the invasion of Iraq. No, the politicians didn't listen, but it was important that decent people made their voices heard.

hmmm...my bro wrks for the NHS...

no job is guaranteed atm....

doesn't mean that i shud b smashing windows up!....and plus i just got a court order to pay £1k in library fines!....justice system at its best!...