What's happening in London? Brawl involving 100 people?

[AllTheCarsForMe]

I've just seen on Sky News that a teenager has passed away after a "brawl" involving more than 100 people! What on earth is going on?

It's most likely gang- and drug-related. People outside London are so quick to say it's an awful place to live when stories like this surface, forgetting that a huge part of the issue is the county lines supply system that originates in the capital and feeds the rest of the country.

Tower Hamlets, say no more!

How wealth and deprivation are spread throughout a city influences how visible violence is to the average person.

it’s a generalisation but in a city like London that has a poorer inner city violence is going to be more visible. Even if you don’t live in an area that is violent you will still likely travel through these areas. Compared with a city like Edinburgh which - yes a generalisation again - has a more wealthier ‘core’ with poorer areas mainly on the outskirts. And so the average person is more able to travel around the city and never encounter the violence/dodgy areas as they’re not areas you need to travel to or through.

It's not just London though is it? Across the country there are youths causing trouble, looting, starting fights, stabbing etc.

I am concerned about some of the youngsters today. I live in a village that, until about 2 years, ago was very very safe. No burglaries, no car thefts or break ins. Literally no crime at all.

We now have a local gang of youths who, amongst other things, have killed wild animals and a resident's cat. They shot the cat with an airgun then hung it in a tree.

They have had warnings from the police but nothing else happens. I believe because of their young age. No doubt there crimes will get worse as they get older

I live in Richmond and considered it to be super safe before this summer. During one of the heat days several hundreds kids from another boroughs decided to celebrate in a local park and police couldn't control it. It ended up with an assault, a men in central part of Richmond got a head injury and was hospitalised (he was not from the gang or something). I think police is hugely underrepresented here.

I’m in london
nothing is happening as far as I know
but there can sometimes be a Riot around the corner and I’m oblivious..
london is like that

How sad. There's going to be a grief strike family at the heart of all this.

We live on a large city. DD is starting 5th form tomorrow Our nearest college has a reputation for knife crime. Thankfully she wanted to go elsewhere. Definitely bot just a London problem.

6th form!

Yep

London also has a toxic and dysfunctional relationship between our useless mayor Khan and the Met police. Open warfare ( in the guise of critical reports and briefings) does not make for good neighbourhood policing.

@sashagabadon

The police have a responsibility toward the general public, and regardless of what they feel about the Mayor, they are obliged to fulfill that responsibility.

To let animosity toward the Mayor or opposition to his policies affect policing is reprehensible and utterly unprofessional on the part of the police.

I live in a so called posh area of London. Rising knife crime, murders, muggings at knifepoint, huge brawls - a regular occurrence round here. I never go out with a handbag now - everything in jacket pockets. London is a very violent place and is getting worse. Thanks Tories!! You have done nothing apart from arm special police with tasers! It's going to get worse once cost of living crisis starts to kick in. I'm quite worried TBH.... it's all getting Mad Max and people have their heads in the air ......

Violence is increasingly worrying me, I don't agree it is fair to say that London is particularly violent, it does have a massive population (Is it honestly almost 9 million now?.... I'm sure when I was in in my youth it was maybe 6 million. Used to be not much bigger than the whole of Scotland? Now its huge!

I did know it was increasing, just realised how quickly!

I'm in Glasgow, and I bloody love this city but the violence in certain areas is just bleak, and I worry a lot about it. It was an old firm game yesterday so I did what most people I know do and avoided the city centre. I wore green by accident once during a game and got heckled. I don't let my kids go into the city centre during matches either. Too many people looking for trouble, and it is a real shame because the majority of people i know and meet are great.

I am sorry to hear of the youth that died and the one who is in intensive care. That is not what any of us wants for our young adults.

100 mostly school children in a fight in Manchester in January 2022.

Of course the north would never have fights of more than two people.

What an appallingly ignorant comment. Educate yourself. Some of the scaremongering and sheer stupidity on this thread is just unbelievable.

Whilst Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest boroughs in London, it is also home to some of the richest people in London. I'm not sure of current figures but the average salary in Tower Hamlets used to be the second highest average salary in England. Do you think they're all gang members? Or high earners who like living in a deprived ghetto? Of course not.

How old are you OP? I am old enough to remember football hooliganism and the miners' strike in the 1980s. They regularly saw mass brawls in Northern England!

The West Midlands has higher levels of knife crime than London - Tory Mayor www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2022/07/22/west-midlands-has-highest-rates-of-knife-crime-in-country-after-it-increased-by-almost-half-figures-show/

@RisingSunn it doesn’t sound like @Cam22 has ever been anywhere near London!

I would hate live in London and wouldn’t want to bring up my children there. I bet all these people that live there and are being defensive, moan about it to fellow Londoners. 😆

I’m much happier living where I live, where it is safe as it can be for my kids to walk the streets.
And in the interests of being fair I also wouldn’t want to live in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, I could go on

I do love to visit though!

Whilst Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest boroughs in London, it is also home to some of the richest people in London

Pretty certain they aren't the ones having a brawl with machetes. TH and Newham are well known for gang related problems and violence and to deny they aren't is silly.

And knock it off with the supercilious 'educate yourself.' A lot of people on here live in London and are well aware of the problems.

And there was a small riot on the streets of Islington today too. Or at least a protest (at the Eritrean embassy) turned rough.

Whichever poster mentioned a million things going on at once in London is absolutely right. We’re huge! People mention small cities, it can take you an hour and a half /two hours just to cross London on the tube! And we often have poverty & privilege sitting side by side - just look at Grenfell being in the same borough as Made In Chelsea. We’re pretty big, and pretty diverse, and in those kinda places we have lots of stuff going on, on any given day.

And thanks to the pandemic, austerity politics & Tory government for 12 years, deprivation & funding cuts have been rife. Now we have a cost of living crisis. No wonder people are kicking off in some parts of town. There’s a lot to be unhappy about.

Some scary, lawless and violent things happening on my Nextdoor feed today (naice part of London) include

Someone is having a bonfire in their garden

Someone has got a cockrel that keeps crowing

A parcel has been stolen from someone's front porch

There is a helicopter making noise

No brawls here! Just illustrating that London is a big place so reports about "London" is really like taking three other cities and calling them the same place.

No one remember the riots of 2011? That felt otherworldly and was forgotten very quickly.

How patronising are you?! A lot of people on here live in London and are well aware of the problems?! 🙄😂

I live and work in Tower Hamlets. I've lived in the borough for 27 years and know Bow (and the rest of Tower Hamlets) very well indeed. In fact I'm appearing as a witness next week at Bow Magistrates' Court and have been working with Tower Hamlets police for some time. So yeah I have a reasonable idea what's happening in the borough without needing to be patronised.

Part of the issues are a chronic lack of investment in early starts (sure start centres) community centres, out reach programs etc.

12 years of cuts to this will have adverse effects. It’s no surprise gangs thrive in areas with high levels of deprivation and low community engagement