HOSS You Get Nothing 1992
58 minutes ago
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Friday, 16 September 2011
Art Pepper: Notes From A Jazz Survivor
An intensely personal and sometimes painful look into the fascinating world of Art Pepper. One of Jazz' greatest alto saxophonists and most expressive soloists, Pepper was also a thief, drug addict, alcoholic, womanizer, and world renown wildman. In candid interviews he recounts his triumphs, troubles, and luck in meeting Laurie, his last wife.
For half the film Pepper leads a trio in a Malibu nightclub, the set includes: "Red Car", "Patricia", and "Miss Who?".
Via
For half the film Pepper leads a trio in a Malibu nightclub, the set includes: "Red Car", "Patricia", and "Miss Who?".
Via
Israel okays PA's acquisition of anti-riot gear ahead of UN vote
Israel has given approval for the Palestinian Authority to equip its security forces with riot-control gear, such as tear gas grenades and rubber bullets.
The PA has approached Israeli firms to buy such equipment in advance of expected demonstrations on the West Bank around the Palestinians' request for United Nations recognition as an independent state.
Palestinian security officials told their Israeli counterparts in their regular meetings that they will do everything within their ability to contain demonstrations and prevent violent interactions with the Israel Defense Forces and settlers. But the two sides are also preparing for the possibility that demonstrations will escalate into violence the PA will find it difficult to control. Thus, the IDF recommended a few months ago to allow the PA to acquire such equipment, so the Palestinians could deal with demonstrations before the IDF had to.
The ministers involved gave their approval at the beginning of September.
Now, the PA is working furiously to buy the equipment, but seems to be having difficulty procuring the goods because time is so short. The IDF will finish its preparations this week for a possible escalation in the territories. The Central Command will receive reinforcements of a couple of regular infantry battalions tomorrow, as part of its preliminary preparations against violent demonstrations, in the IDF's overall plan named "Summer Seeds."
At this stage, an additional 20 percent of forces are being added on the West Bank. The battalions have trained to deal with possible scenarios, including violent marches toward settlements, IDF checkpoints and major roads serving the Israeli population.
In case of an overall escalation, the IDF has prepared to double its forces in the West Bank. This plan includes bringing in regular forces now in training plus calling up a few reserve battalions on short notice. The IDF plans to minimize the damage to its training schedule, but if necessary, battalions from various advanced training courses will be called in.
The IDF has made large purchases of equipment for dispersing demonstrations, in addition to the regular equipment used in such circumstances. For example, it has brought out equipment that disperses a horrible smell or makes noise at an intolerable frequency.
The most reasonable scenario the IDF expects in the short term is for violent demonstrations in several areas, despite the PA's intentions to prevent such violence. IDF forces are preparing to defend the settlements, and should demonstrators attempt to penetrate the settlements, the army is ready to use controlled sniper fire to prevent such intrusions. It is not clear that any such conflict - if it comes - will occur in September. Such violence could break out in October or near the end of the year, a sort of delayed response to political developments.
The IDF and Shin Bet security service are also worried about the recent rise in the number of attacks carried out by right-wing extremists, including on the IDF, mosques and left-wing activists. This only complicates the situation as the PA advances its move at the UN.
Amos Harel @'Haaretz'
The PA has approached Israeli firms to buy such equipment in advance of expected demonstrations on the West Bank around the Palestinians' request for United Nations recognition as an independent state.
Palestinian security officials told their Israeli counterparts in their regular meetings that they will do everything within their ability to contain demonstrations and prevent violent interactions with the Israel Defense Forces and settlers. But the two sides are also preparing for the possibility that demonstrations will escalate into violence the PA will find it difficult to control. Thus, the IDF recommended a few months ago to allow the PA to acquire such equipment, so the Palestinians could deal with demonstrations before the IDF had to.
The ministers involved gave their approval at the beginning of September.
Now, the PA is working furiously to buy the equipment, but seems to be having difficulty procuring the goods because time is so short. The IDF will finish its preparations this week for a possible escalation in the territories. The Central Command will receive reinforcements of a couple of regular infantry battalions tomorrow, as part of its preliminary preparations against violent demonstrations, in the IDF's overall plan named "Summer Seeds."
At this stage, an additional 20 percent of forces are being added on the West Bank. The battalions have trained to deal with possible scenarios, including violent marches toward settlements, IDF checkpoints and major roads serving the Israeli population.
In case of an overall escalation, the IDF has prepared to double its forces in the West Bank. This plan includes bringing in regular forces now in training plus calling up a few reserve battalions on short notice. The IDF plans to minimize the damage to its training schedule, but if necessary, battalions from various advanced training courses will be called in.
The IDF has made large purchases of equipment for dispersing demonstrations, in addition to the regular equipment used in such circumstances. For example, it has brought out equipment that disperses a horrible smell or makes noise at an intolerable frequency.
The most reasonable scenario the IDF expects in the short term is for violent demonstrations in several areas, despite the PA's intentions to prevent such violence. IDF forces are preparing to defend the settlements, and should demonstrators attempt to penetrate the settlements, the army is ready to use controlled sniper fire to prevent such intrusions. It is not clear that any such conflict - if it comes - will occur in September. Such violence could break out in October or near the end of the year, a sort of delayed response to political developments.
The IDF and Shin Bet security service are also worried about the recent rise in the number of attacks carried out by right-wing extremists, including on the IDF, mosques and left-wing activists. This only complicates the situation as the PA advances its move at the UN.
Amos Harel @'Haaretz'
Instead of attacking WikiLeaks, fix what it exposed
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was right when he suggested that the WikiLeaks revelations were “embarrassing” and “awkward.” But his assessment — and that of so many other government officials — stems from the magnitude of what he left unsaid.
These revelations are not merely embarrassing. They also contain evidence of government actions and policies that are an abuse of power and that violate international human-rights standards to which we as Americans are committed.
For instance, through the information coming from WikiLeaks documents, the public is now aware of “FRAGO 242” — an official order not to report evidence of prisoner abuse by Iraqi security forces. This policy violates the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which was ratified by Congress in 1994. The treaty explicitly requires allegations of cruel or inhuman treatment to be investigated and brought to a halt.
In recent days, WikiLeaks has released cables that show government officials helped conceal the heinous execution of family members of suspected combatants in Iraq. The site of the murders, which included the execution-style slaying of two children and three infants, was obliterated by a subsequent coalition airstrike.
Taken as a whole, the material shows a pattern of concealing abuse by both U.S. and coalition forces. The information revealed by WikiLeaks is thus a critically important tool for those who seek to uphold basic human-rights standards and the professional conduct of U.S. military forces.
These revelations also bring our system of classification into question. Although Pfc. Bradley Manning has not yet been brought to trial, President Barack Obama has publicly declared that the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst “broke the law” by allegedly sending this restricted information to WikiLeaks.
Many civilians — and a surprising number of military personnel — are unaware that this system of classification is not grounded in any law passed by Congress. In fact, the entire edifice that allows the use of classification rests solely on the basis of executive orders that have been renewed and modified by various presidents. The ability to restrict information from the public is essentially an unchecked assertion of executive power.
However, according to Obama’s policy for classification of government documents (Executive Order 13526), there are several situations under which government information must never be classified. The government cannot use classification procedures “to conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency … or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security.”
Administration officials have not provided any evidence that these WikiLeaks revelations have harmed our national security. They have, however, acknowledged that some of the material is personally, and professionally, embarrassing.
But they continue to act as if evidence of illegal or otherwise unethical behavior simply does not exist.
If online conversations attributed to Manning are accurate, it appears that his self-described “turning point” came when his own commanding officer refused to acknowledge clear evidence of an abuse of power. According to these conversations, Manning says he was told to investigate 15 Iraqi academics who had been brought in for questioning by Iraqi security forces, for the crime of supposedly printing “anti-Iraqi literature.”
After running the printed material through a translator, Manning realized that it was actually an article titled “Where Did the Money Go?” which sought to expose corruption within Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Cabinet. Manning’s commanding officer is said to have told Manning to “shut up” and find out how he could bring in more detainees. The message was clear: He could not rely on the chain of command to address evidence of wrongdoing.
This incident would be consistent with other revelations that have since emerged from the WikiLeaks embassy cables. Several diplomatic cables express concern about al-Maliki’s politicization of his security forces, using them to abuse political opponents.
In July, the Red Cross and a group of Iraqi parliamentarians asked for an investigation into an alleged torture facility being run by one of al-Maliki’s elite units in Baghdad’s Green Zone. That same month, the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction issued a report that noted more than $17 billion in funds that have gone missing.
The pattern of ignoring or otherwise concealing clear evidence of abuse has become so familiar that, to many, it now seems normal. But pretending that problems don’t exist won’t make them go away.
A recent report from the Council of Europe, which convenes the European Commission on Human Rights, stated that the current “deficit of transparency” among Western security and intelligence institutions leaves no choice but for the public to rely on whistle-blowers to hold governments accountable.
Instead of punishing and silencing alleged whistle-blowers like Manning for revealing uncomfortable truths, we should honor their courage to stand up for what’s right.
That’s all we should ask any American to do.
Ann Wright @'Stars & Stripes'
These revelations are not merely embarrassing. They also contain evidence of government actions and policies that are an abuse of power and that violate international human-rights standards to which we as Americans are committed.
For instance, through the information coming from WikiLeaks documents, the public is now aware of “FRAGO 242” — an official order not to report evidence of prisoner abuse by Iraqi security forces. This policy violates the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which was ratified by Congress in 1994. The treaty explicitly requires allegations of cruel or inhuman treatment to be investigated and brought to a halt.
In recent days, WikiLeaks has released cables that show government officials helped conceal the heinous execution of family members of suspected combatants in Iraq. The site of the murders, which included the execution-style slaying of two children and three infants, was obliterated by a subsequent coalition airstrike.
Taken as a whole, the material shows a pattern of concealing abuse by both U.S. and coalition forces. The information revealed by WikiLeaks is thus a critically important tool for those who seek to uphold basic human-rights standards and the professional conduct of U.S. military forces.
These revelations also bring our system of classification into question. Although Pfc. Bradley Manning has not yet been brought to trial, President Barack Obama has publicly declared that the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst “broke the law” by allegedly sending this restricted information to WikiLeaks.
Many civilians — and a surprising number of military personnel — are unaware that this system of classification is not grounded in any law passed by Congress. In fact, the entire edifice that allows the use of classification rests solely on the basis of executive orders that have been renewed and modified by various presidents. The ability to restrict information from the public is essentially an unchecked assertion of executive power.
However, according to Obama’s policy for classification of government documents (Executive Order 13526), there are several situations under which government information must never be classified. The government cannot use classification procedures “to conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency … or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security.”
Administration officials have not provided any evidence that these WikiLeaks revelations have harmed our national security. They have, however, acknowledged that some of the material is personally, and professionally, embarrassing.
But they continue to act as if evidence of illegal or otherwise unethical behavior simply does not exist.
If online conversations attributed to Manning are accurate, it appears that his self-described “turning point” came when his own commanding officer refused to acknowledge clear evidence of an abuse of power. According to these conversations, Manning says he was told to investigate 15 Iraqi academics who had been brought in for questioning by Iraqi security forces, for the crime of supposedly printing “anti-Iraqi literature.”
After running the printed material through a translator, Manning realized that it was actually an article titled “Where Did the Money Go?” which sought to expose corruption within Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Cabinet. Manning’s commanding officer is said to have told Manning to “shut up” and find out how he could bring in more detainees. The message was clear: He could not rely on the chain of command to address evidence of wrongdoing.
This incident would be consistent with other revelations that have since emerged from the WikiLeaks embassy cables. Several diplomatic cables express concern about al-Maliki’s politicization of his security forces, using them to abuse political opponents.
In July, the Red Cross and a group of Iraqi parliamentarians asked for an investigation into an alleged torture facility being run by one of al-Maliki’s elite units in Baghdad’s Green Zone. That same month, the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction issued a report that noted more than $17 billion in funds that have gone missing.
The pattern of ignoring or otherwise concealing clear evidence of abuse has become so familiar that, to many, it now seems normal. But pretending that problems don’t exist won’t make them go away.
A recent report from the Council of Europe, which convenes the European Commission on Human Rights, stated that the current “deficit of transparency” among Western security and intelligence institutions leaves no choice but for the public to rely on whistle-blowers to hold governments accountable.
Instead of punishing and silencing alleged whistle-blowers like Manning for revealing uncomfortable truths, we should honor their courage to stand up for what’s right.
That’s all we should ask any American to do.
Ann Wright @'Stars & Stripes'
What's happening to those named WikiLeaks sources?
Investigating the Root Of The U.K. Riots
Nearly 2,000 people have been funneled through British courts, under charges that they participated in the riots that inflamed London and other U.K. cities this August. As judges try to get to the bottom of who did what, The Guardian newspaper and London School of Economics are partnering up to find out why the riots happened in the first place. They are launching a new project that will dispatch researchers into communities where rioting took place, to investigate the root causes. The Guardian's Paul Lewis, who's leading the project, speaks with Michele Norris.
Audio/transcript
@'npr'
Do riots show that tensions of earlier decades still smoulder?
Scum, thugs, feral rats, wolves, an army of ants on their BlackBerrys … the dehumanising epithets flew like bricks through a JD Sports window last week. Then came the fightback to mend what David Cameron called "criminality, pure and simple" in our "sick" and "broken" society. The government seems to blame the recent havoc across England solely on individuals with too many rights and too few responsibilities, and appears to think that badly parented kids just woke up one morning and decided to do a bit of free shopping.
There is even talk – from the very same David Cameron who not long ago was saying the state should not intervene to change individuals' behaviour – of curfews, banning face masks, evicting criminals from council housing, tougher court powers, curbing social media, not to mention more "robust" policing and teaching parenting skills. "We've got to get out there and make a positive difference to the way people bring up their children … and we've got to be less sensitive to the charge that this is about interfering or nannying," Cameron said on Monday.
I studied in Liverpool in October 1981, three months after the Toxteth riots. I then moved to Tottenham, north London, in the wake of the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985, and then – after 15 riot-free years in the capital – on to Bradford not long after the 2001 riots.
In all three conflagrations, I remember race being a major factor – between the black community and the police in Toxteth and Tottenham, and between the Asian and white communities in Bradford. There were other factors, too, such as recession and unemployment, to the extent that the Scarman report after Toxteth (though prompted by the 1981 Brixton riots) blamed poverty and deprivation for the troubles. Yet the spark (for Toxteth, Tottenham and Bradford) was a racial one.
The so-called sus laws – heavy-handed stop-and-search methods by police – had been taking their toll, and the arrest of a black man in public led to nine days of rioting in Toxteth. On the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham four years later, the death of a black woman during a police search of her home triggered a battle with police that ended with the murder of a policeman.
During the Bradford riots 10 years ago, Asian and white youths turned on each other and the police, caught in the middle, were accused by the Asian community of failing to provide protection. Ted Cantle's subsequent report on the Bradford riots concluded that part of the problem was segregated communities living "parallel lives", and coined the concept of "community cohesion", later adopted by the Labour government.
Since the riots of 1981 and 2001, Liverpool and Bradford have undergone major regeneration and racial tension has ceased to be an overriding issue. Research published last month by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that Bradford's real problem – poverty – has been overlooked, and that is despite the £3bn regeneration. Broadwater Farm saw major redevelopment, leading to a dramatic drop in crime and improved community spirit.
Cantle, now founder and executive chair of the Institute of Community Cohesion, believes that last week's riots were not about race. "In the 1980s, the riots were definitely about the black community, who were discriminated against, disadvantaged and had a hard time from the police and felt abused by them. A lot of that has changed. With the current riots, clearly, there's an element of basic criminality and sheer vandalism and opportunism. People look around and see newspaper hacking, burgeoning debts, the scandal of bankers' bonuses, MPs fiddling expenses, and they think, 'This is our turn to get our noses in the trough.' People forgot the difference between right and wrong."
But he thinks the issue of parenting is more nuanced than the government has portrayed it. "There's been so much emphasis on outsourcing parenting – pretending schools, Sure Start centres and community organisations are there to look after the kids, rather than reflect that actually parents are still responsible – that I think there's a major concern about how parents have partly felt disempowered by all that, but have also been prepared to take advantage of that disempowerment," he says.
But Claudia Webbe, an independent adviser to the Metropolitan police's Operation Trident, which aims to tackle gun crime in the black community, says underlying issues around stop and search remain.
"If you look at young black people in Tottenham now, they are still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts. Young people generally, black and white, are facing increasing stop and search. It's meant to be a tool of last resort used with the consent of the community," says Webbe. "A lot of tension around stop and search was bubbling up and part of that spilled over."
According to Steve Kavanagh, Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, there was a fear of stop and search in the early 2000s but he insists that as long as it is used appropriately, communities support it.
"In Haringey this year, there was a 100% increase in street robbery. Now that is people from the black, Asian, Turkish and white communities being robbed of their mobile phones, jewellery and everything else. The overwhelming number of black community representatives don't want us to be fearful of engaging around young, black, disenfranchised people who are committing crimes. They want a police service that is sensitive, professional, but assertive when it needs to be."
Police-community links, he adds, were strong throughout the recent rioting. "The police were not going to solve this alone, they were always going to solve it with the communities. We've had communication teams trying to get rid of rumours, getting emails out with messages that we've all signed up to. That's a hell of a journey from Scarman and even [Stephen] Lawrence. It's not a race issue or an age issue."
For Stephen Nze, who was involved in the action in Toxteth as a "naive 16-year-old" in 1981, last week's riots were a combination of reaction to the government and the banking crisis, as well as unemployment – youth unemployment is running at 20% in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics. Now a youth worker in Toxteth, he says: "Everywhere's on a tinderbox, with the government and the bankers and all that. These kids are not stupid. I don't agree with violence and looting, none of it – this time round I've been out on the streets supporting the police and trying to stop kids from getting involved – but I do understand it. They went out and reacted. A little five-year-old has a tantrum, well these kids had a tantrum on a big scale.
"Some of these kids, whose parents were most likely involved in 1981, are saying, '[The government's] just cut out EMA [educational maintenance allowance], we can't go to college or university, they can't give us a job,'" he says. "You've got to think as a young person thinks, and some think there's no future, no hope."
Webbe agrees that a lack of jobs or opportunities were a factor in Tottenham. "The local authorities and other institutions put investment into Broadwater Farm to help to rebuild it, yet they did nothing about the circumstances of the people," she says. Cuts to youth services are not helping either, she says.
A survey by the Unite union shows that up to 3,000 local authority youth workers in England face losing their jobs by next April, with average budget cuts of 28% this financial year.
"The cuts meant youth services went, such as summer programmes for children and young people who can't afford to go on holiday. This is where the youth services are supposed to step in," she says. "Connexions services – which are about information, advice and guidance, for example on careers, or sexual health – they've cut all those as well. So a 16- to 17-year-old who can't get an EMA and who can't sign on until they are 18, there's no one for them to talk to."
Cantle, though, claims that the riots weren't about poverty – a view he shares with the prime minister. "A lot of the people arrested were not jobless, not without hope and not without money. There were some middle-class people arrested as well," says Cantle.
But he believes that government cuts could fuel tensions: "I think the cuts will make things worse. What we need at the moment is more investment in social institutions. We're not going to get out of this by heavier policing, however, it has to be done by communities and society itself. That requires money and a change in our values. The way we value things seems to rely heavily on materialism, possessions, the consumer society. But everybody would be suspicious of any government initiative on values. It's got to be a community-led process."
Matthew Connolly @'The Guardian'
There is even talk – from the very same David Cameron who not long ago was saying the state should not intervene to change individuals' behaviour – of curfews, banning face masks, evicting criminals from council housing, tougher court powers, curbing social media, not to mention more "robust" policing and teaching parenting skills. "We've got to get out there and make a positive difference to the way people bring up their children … and we've got to be less sensitive to the charge that this is about interfering or nannying," Cameron said on Monday.
I studied in Liverpool in October 1981, three months after the Toxteth riots. I then moved to Tottenham, north London, in the wake of the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985, and then – after 15 riot-free years in the capital – on to Bradford not long after the 2001 riots.
In all three conflagrations, I remember race being a major factor – between the black community and the police in Toxteth and Tottenham, and between the Asian and white communities in Bradford. There were other factors, too, such as recession and unemployment, to the extent that the Scarman report after Toxteth (though prompted by the 1981 Brixton riots) blamed poverty and deprivation for the troubles. Yet the spark (for Toxteth, Tottenham and Bradford) was a racial one.
The so-called sus laws – heavy-handed stop-and-search methods by police – had been taking their toll, and the arrest of a black man in public led to nine days of rioting in Toxteth. On the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham four years later, the death of a black woman during a police search of her home triggered a battle with police that ended with the murder of a policeman.
During the Bradford riots 10 years ago, Asian and white youths turned on each other and the police, caught in the middle, were accused by the Asian community of failing to provide protection. Ted Cantle's subsequent report on the Bradford riots concluded that part of the problem was segregated communities living "parallel lives", and coined the concept of "community cohesion", later adopted by the Labour government.
Since the riots of 1981 and 2001, Liverpool and Bradford have undergone major regeneration and racial tension has ceased to be an overriding issue. Research published last month by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that Bradford's real problem – poverty – has been overlooked, and that is despite the £3bn regeneration. Broadwater Farm saw major redevelopment, leading to a dramatic drop in crime and improved community spirit.
Cantle, now founder and executive chair of the Institute of Community Cohesion, believes that last week's riots were not about race. "In the 1980s, the riots were definitely about the black community, who were discriminated against, disadvantaged and had a hard time from the police and felt abused by them. A lot of that has changed. With the current riots, clearly, there's an element of basic criminality and sheer vandalism and opportunism. People look around and see newspaper hacking, burgeoning debts, the scandal of bankers' bonuses, MPs fiddling expenses, and they think, 'This is our turn to get our noses in the trough.' People forgot the difference between right and wrong."
But he thinks the issue of parenting is more nuanced than the government has portrayed it. "There's been so much emphasis on outsourcing parenting – pretending schools, Sure Start centres and community organisations are there to look after the kids, rather than reflect that actually parents are still responsible – that I think there's a major concern about how parents have partly felt disempowered by all that, but have also been prepared to take advantage of that disempowerment," he says.
But Claudia Webbe, an independent adviser to the Metropolitan police's Operation Trident, which aims to tackle gun crime in the black community, says underlying issues around stop and search remain.
"If you look at young black people in Tottenham now, they are still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts. Young people generally, black and white, are facing increasing stop and search. It's meant to be a tool of last resort used with the consent of the community," says Webbe. "A lot of tension around stop and search was bubbling up and part of that spilled over."
According to Steve Kavanagh, Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, there was a fear of stop and search in the early 2000s but he insists that as long as it is used appropriately, communities support it.
"In Haringey this year, there was a 100% increase in street robbery. Now that is people from the black, Asian, Turkish and white communities being robbed of their mobile phones, jewellery and everything else. The overwhelming number of black community representatives don't want us to be fearful of engaging around young, black, disenfranchised people who are committing crimes. They want a police service that is sensitive, professional, but assertive when it needs to be."
Police-community links, he adds, were strong throughout the recent rioting. "The police were not going to solve this alone, they were always going to solve it with the communities. We've had communication teams trying to get rid of rumours, getting emails out with messages that we've all signed up to. That's a hell of a journey from Scarman and even [Stephen] Lawrence. It's not a race issue or an age issue."
For Stephen Nze, who was involved in the action in Toxteth as a "naive 16-year-old" in 1981, last week's riots were a combination of reaction to the government and the banking crisis, as well as unemployment – youth unemployment is running at 20% in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics. Now a youth worker in Toxteth, he says: "Everywhere's on a tinderbox, with the government and the bankers and all that. These kids are not stupid. I don't agree with violence and looting, none of it – this time round I've been out on the streets supporting the police and trying to stop kids from getting involved – but I do understand it. They went out and reacted. A little five-year-old has a tantrum, well these kids had a tantrum on a big scale.
"Some of these kids, whose parents were most likely involved in 1981, are saying, '[The government's] just cut out EMA [educational maintenance allowance], we can't go to college or university, they can't give us a job,'" he says. "You've got to think as a young person thinks, and some think there's no future, no hope."
Webbe agrees that a lack of jobs or opportunities were a factor in Tottenham. "The local authorities and other institutions put investment into Broadwater Farm to help to rebuild it, yet they did nothing about the circumstances of the people," she says. Cuts to youth services are not helping either, she says.
A survey by the Unite union shows that up to 3,000 local authority youth workers in England face losing their jobs by next April, with average budget cuts of 28% this financial year.
"The cuts meant youth services went, such as summer programmes for children and young people who can't afford to go on holiday. This is where the youth services are supposed to step in," she says. "Connexions services – which are about information, advice and guidance, for example on careers, or sexual health – they've cut all those as well. So a 16- to 17-year-old who can't get an EMA and who can't sign on until they are 18, there's no one for them to talk to."
Cantle, though, claims that the riots weren't about poverty – a view he shares with the prime minister. "A lot of the people arrested were not jobless, not without hope and not without money. There were some middle-class people arrested as well," says Cantle.
But he believes that government cuts could fuel tensions: "I think the cuts will make things worse. What we need at the moment is more investment in social institutions. We're not going to get out of this by heavier policing, however, it has to be done by communities and society itself. That requires money and a change in our values. The way we value things seems to rely heavily on materialism, possessions, the consumer society. But everybody would be suspicious of any government initiative on values. It's got to be a community-led process."
Matthew Connolly @'The Guardian'
English riots inquiry begins collecting evidence
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