London Calling: A Guide To Riots Under Margaret Thatcher
No point in my writing something all that original about how to place these events in their historic context--I wrote a book; I figure that's enough for one lifetime.
These were the news reports in 1981:
... The latest government figures show unemployment rising from 1.5 million to 2.5 million in 12 months ...
Joblessness among ethnic minorities is rising even faster, up 82 percent in one year ...
Liverpool 8, better known as Toxteth to outsiders, goes up in flames in four nights of what home secretary William Whitelaw describes as ‘violence of extraordinary ferocity.’ Police are forced to withdraw from a one-mile stretch of the main road through Toxteth as 150 buildings are burnt down and some 781 police officers are put out of action. Only when CS gas is used for the first time on the British mainland do the police regain control of the streets ...
In Toxteth, unemployment has risen to 37 percent, climbing to 60 percent among young blacks, with 81,000 people chasing 1,019 jobs in Liverpool as a whole. As the end of the school term approaches, the local careers office has information on just 12 vacancies to offer school leavers throughout the city ...
New riots in Brixton are accompanied by a wave of disturbances the length and breadth of Britain. Southall, Battersea, Dalston, Streatham and Walthamstow in London, Handsworth in Birmingham, Chapeltown in Leeds, Highfields in Leicester, Ellesmere Port, Luton, Leicester, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Preston, Newcastle, Derby, Southampton, Nottingham, High Wycombe, Bedford, Edinburgh, Wolverhampton, Stockport, Blackburn, Huddersfield, Reading, Chester, Aldershot - all these and other towns and cities report riots ...
Margaret Thatcher cancels a planned visit to Toxteth because her safety cannot be guaranteed ...
Everyone said pretty much the same things about events like this then. Some of the newspaper columns seem to be recycled verbatim.
The rest of the book explains why she was right. "There is No Alternative" is a self-explanatory title.
Many of Theodore Darymple's reservations about the book were, however, correct and prescient. If you read it, consider that the updated epilogue.
- Comment (4)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (0)
Comments :
Mar '11
Re: London Calling: A Guide To Riots Under Margaret Thatcher
Hmm, yes, as usual, Dr Dalrymple nails it.
I remember 1981 - the division of the company I was working for in the UK shut down (ironically, they were in the arms business, and other divisions thrived as a result of the Falklands war). I headed off to Canada, then the US, in search of fame and fortune (of which I found a little).
Since 1991, I commute between the US and UK, so I have seen the decline of the post-Thatcher era (as well as the decline of the US). I can say that the present times are much, much worse than 1981, for the reasons that Dr Dalrymple describes.
As a Conservative, of course Mrs Thatcher was right. But the UK is the socialist model that Mr Obama wants for the US, with little hope of change.
Edited on Aug 9, 2011 at 2:40amApr '11
Re: London Calling: A Guide To Riots Under Margaret Thatcher
I just read this article http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/the_taboo_on_mentioning_black_mob_violence.html which is closely-related I believe in its content and the obvious reaction which is to ask oneself what will be next, and where? There has never been a time in history when it was easier to organize groups of people quickly to assembly. That power will not be used exclusively to meet up at the petting zoo to caress bunnies, I can only assume....and color aside, there are plenty of people who are hopping mad enough to take action. Not to scare-monger, but just sayin'.
Jun '10
Re: London Calling: A Guide To Riots Under Margaret Thatcher
It's not scare-mongering to state the facts when danger is staring you in the face. In fact, one of the characteristics of a decadent civilization is the inability of the citizenry to recognize a threat and react appropriately.
We are already seeing the harbingers of this kind of violence in the United States: the so-called flash mobs. Our nation will erupt shortly after the 2012 election if it doesn't occur sooner. And, yes, the riots will be racial in nature which is the reason the MSM is so busy ignoring the flash mobs. The difference between the US and Britain is that the American citizenry is armed. We'll be lucky to avoid a full-blown race war before this is over. There, I said it.
God help us.
Apr '11
Re: London Calling: A Guide To Riots Under Margaret Thatcher
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1419981.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/03/toxteth-liverpool-riot-30-years