Why are majority of the riots in northern towns?

[PhoebeMcPeePee]

DH & I were watching the riots on the news this morning like most people absolutely horrified.

He's from one of the northern towns affected although we live in the south and started discussing why these riots now (and historically) tend to be more focused on northern towns but didn't really come up with any one thing. Any thoughts on this?

I agree!

quality comments here

This is interesting and heard it a few times now. Wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to cause division and unrest in the West, another tool for him to try and destabilise and become a dominant force in the world if that’s the right way to put it!

Supposedly lots of Russian paid people and bots online who spread things and influence. I 100% believe this is true!

Exactly. The previous government wouldn't let them work- be it Syrian surgeons or Eritrean lawyers etc.....so how are they meant to look after themselves?
Or would you prefer they starve in the streets?

Just love that there are suddenly swarms of posters on here who all think this is fine and dandy who don't appear to have been posting before-

Sorry-it's not ringing true. The north is not one homogenous lump of poor prospects and decline- just asin the south we aren't all swimming in cash on £100k a year plus ( oh and that's each- not family)

Many of these guys at these 'demonstrations' may well be tradesmen making more than plenty of respectable non looting, non arsonist professionals. The difference is they are just undereducated twats who think they have a right to do whatever they want and are miffed that beloved Farage and Tommy for all that effort got 5 MPs and have discovered that 'no- not everyone think as they do' - personally I hope they get stiff sentences, fines and community service at minimum - preferably in immigrant charities - and this goes for all the women going along with it too - you tell me what burning down places, looting shops and abusing police has to do with 'respecting values and democracy' we gave just had an election and your bunch of opportunistic yobs we're not elected- end of matter - now let the gvt get on with governing

In psychology they call it reaction formation.

Erm minor point, the Conservatives have been in power for FOURTEEN YEARS.
Labour 2 months...

The North has been kicking off for literal centuries. It shouldn't be a surprise. Let them crack on.

Why do you think that!?

We love living here!

Yes I'm sure they are but ooh you do see neighbourhoods change and you don't want to be the last person of your own culture there.

It's happening in the area I grew up in

Ahhh, I see the Shamima Begum option is being mentioned. The fantasy of the racists that the UK will be able to deport most of its 4 million Muslims to Pakistan or Bangladesh, by arguing that they are dual nationals and so we can strip them of their UK passports and then deport them. Bliss, eh?

Well, no.

First, it was never clear that Shamima Begum was entitled to a Bangladeshi passport. If she was, it was only until she was 18. She is now well over 18, so that ship has sailed.

Much more importantly, though, she was outside the UK when this happened. It's a hell of a lot easier to cancel a passport than to remove somebody. If she had been in the UK when the government did that, and said "You're going to have to leave", the only country that could have taken her in was Bangladesh. But they were under no obligation to do so.

I think perhaps people don't understand how deportations work. They are arranged through diplomatic channels. An Albanian commits a crime in the UK, or a Brit commits a crime in Spain, and the ambassadors and their deputies get together, and decide that it's best if the person is sent home, so that's what happens. But it's a bilateral process. You can't just put the person on a plane, fly it to Tirana, and push them down the stairs onto the tarmac. You will note that Ms Begum is not in Bangladesh, because they quite rightly don't want her.

So there is zero realistic possibility of forced deportations. Which in one way is kind of a pity, because Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a man with an extensive criminal record including drugs charges and mortgage fraud in addition to his "patriotic" activities, is also an Irish citizen. In fact he is only able to live patriotically in Spain because as an EU citizen he can't be denied entry due to his criminal record, which would be the case if he was there on a visa.

So, sorry, racists, but the deportation option is out. We await your proposals for other solutions.

“Swarms.” Nice.

Tradespeople are also cheaper in the North so any building work and home improvements can be significantly cheaper. I couldn’t believe how low my brother got quoted for a two story and single rear extension. It would be double the amount he was quoted in the SE where I live.

Childcare is cheaper.

We often find that used cars are a bit cheaper too - we’ve travelled out of the SE to pick up a car “bargain” a few times.

Taxi fares…they are absolutely outrageous in London and the SE.

Cinema and other leisure activities.

@Axelotylbottle could you tell me who this liberal elite media are then because most media is right wing these days- and if we are referring to these current incidents- I'm more than happy to say that they are indeed total scumbags. Their class has sod all to do with it- my working class friends feel exactly the same way

I'm from the place your on about and it's ridiculous!
Just an excuse for antisocial behaviour from the many who are brainwashed into thinking immigrants are all bad.
I don't care if your black white yellow or green and where you were born every nationality including ourselves have decent human beings and arseholes!
The masses are trying to conquer by division instead of integration and it's getting out of control 😡

This (and @RedToothBrush's similar post) is spot on. These riots are at least partly the result of deep rooted deprivation that goes back decades.

I grew up in London but have lived in 'the north' for 25 years now. Many people down south have no idea of the extent to which many northern areas have been systematically run down and underfunded by successive governments (with the conservative ones being worst - austerity was targeted very unequally, and closing pits with no plan for the future happened under Thatcher), and the impact that has had on communities.

Southerners that dismiss northerners as racist or thick or lacking aspiration (because if they want a good job they should just move to London, right?) are showing themselves to be extremely ignorant - far more so than the people they are mocking.

(And I don't even know where to start with the claim that you can't buy proper coffee in Leeds station... Leeds station has had multiple decent coffee shops to choose from for at least the past 20 years. None of them sell instant coffee.)

I assume that they are allowed to stand because they have not made the same mistakes as the bnp in their literature.

Andy Burnham had a bunch of policies who wanted to impliment in Manchester.

Boris Johnson came along and pretty much lifted many of these proposals and they formed the backbone of much of his manifesto.

These policies were very popular in the north because they talked about issues that mattered to Northerner. There was a wave of voting and the 'Blue Wall' formed.

Bit by bit he binned each of these policies.

The Conservatives didn't win the election.

But Labour is also in the doghouse in the North because they've run local councils for year and many feel they are corrupt in their own way, with doing things for their mates.

The LDs are associated with the Middle Class Educated. Its noticable which areas in the North the LDs do well...

So that doesn't leave alternatives for Working Class Northerners disillusioned by Labour and Tories.

What shocks me in my quite affluent SW town, is the numbers of people who whilst condemning the violence towards the Police etc, then say "Well, you can see what they are protesting against..."

I personally think there's two things going on.

1. These aren't protesters. These are chancers and thugs who wouldn't know what a protest was if it hit them in the face. They are just trying to boot authority because they can and if they can smash their way to a few things whilst looting the better. Its born of boredom and no sense of pride in anything.
2. There's a real underlying wider disillusionment which is being reflected in voting patterns.

The two are linked but also not linked. They both come from poverty and lack of opportunity and a dislike of authority and power which isn't acknowledging real life problems.

Men only riot if they have nothing to lose. Or they are bored.

I know that! I was just referring to DH’s family and the antiquated and non accepting and homophobic opinions they shared. For people the same generation as me to be spouting this nonsense was an eye opener. I was making the point about differences in attitudes and ways of thinking.

You show how out of touch you are then. I know people who save money so they can afford the petrol to work. And trains are so expensive. I haven't been on one for a while.

Thanks for this detailed post which is very well informed.
Have many friends there (attended Uni there in the 80’s when it really was suffering in so many ways) but have seen so many positive changes.
Most of the people, as they always have been, are wonderfully welcoming and inclusive.
Drug culture is a far worse issue than anything regarding race. If you look at the murder of little Olivia Pratt-Korbel, it held a mirror up to these issues. Whole swathes of communities embedded in this culture and it’s not just in one city.
For a city which prides itself on inclusivity my friends there have been shocked (as have I) at the increased support for right-wing rhetoric. These are educated, upstanding members of society who genuinely believe that ‘illegal immigrants’ are at the heart of every problem.
As for the young kids involved from what I can see so many got involved to film themselves live on TikTok, where thousands were watching. That is a separate but huge issue - in their small lives, suddenly they have a large audience. I’m not excusing them, it’s despicable, but the desire is there to film themselves being more and more destructive. The same kids will be at their local Turkish barber tomorrow to get their hair cut, with no understanding of any single issue involved.
It is a very sad state affairs in a city I really love, which has generally seen off extreme right-wing protests.
From what I can see there were some protesters out to ‘save our children’ who were concentrating more on anti-government, anti-elite, messages but once you go there, the rabble will soon assemble.

And this is again where media should hang their heads in shame, releasing first only the last part of the video before the full video of what actually happened. They constantly stoke division, whether it’s ’far left’ or ‘far right’ they constantly divide people and sensationalise.

Have the men attacking the policemen/women been charged yet? One of the policewomen had their nose broken.

Have those men been charged with GBH?

This is the update one day ago;

This is a current live investigation and all four men remain on police bail

So, attack 3 police, and get bailed.

Of course, rioters should be arrested and punished, but why are these 3 violent men, who attacked police, free to walk the streets?

Again, double standards.

Trendy Metropolitian Cities v Provisional Towns.

There's no jobs in the latter. The cost of housing in the form is nuts and is forcing those on lower pay to live further out.

Absolutely. A few years ago DS1 was trying to get an apprenticeship. No success. Partly because the apprenticeship company would only accept applications from applicants who lived no more than 45 mins away. Ridiculous because it takes > 45 mins at least to travel across our town on public transport. He’s now a graduate looking for a job, same issues, appalling links between geographically close towns.

Can't wait for the riots to hit Knutsford and Alderley Edge.