The riots: we've ended up with a dangerously simplistic account of what happened
06 Dec 2011
Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and Shadow Health Minister welcomes the evidence in the Guardian’s Reading the Riots: ‘I think, as a whole, we’ve ended up being lumbered with a dangerously simplistic of what happened. None of the frustration or anger that is felt in communities like mine has been properly discussed, and I’m gravely concerned that we may well end up seeing further unrest.
‘I think the sense of being disregarded, marginalised and not listened to, in some parts of London, has actually been heightened by how simplistic the government’s response has been.
‘A number of communities feel they don’t have any control over their own lives. They feel harassed by the police and marginalised by their job prospects – and are bombarded with reminders of lives they will, in all likelihood, never have. I think communities like mine are absolutely sick of being told ‘we’re all this together’, when it’s absolutely clear that we’re not all on it together.’
‘The research in my area shows that there needs to be a completely new relationship with the police. It’s also really concerning that in Hackney alone, since January 2011 there has been a 80.6% rise in young people on the dole for over six months.
‘I don’t think people who want to raise issues like unemployment, consumerism, inequality, how we can support British families and what’s happening with the Olympics, should be constantly attacked and shouted down.’
--ENDS--
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