LONDON RIOTS

I was just setting off into town at 6pm this evening to meet my aunt for dinner when my friend called to say her office had closed and everybody was leaving the centre of London. Then my mother called and told me not to go but I thought she was over-reacting. Then my brother called and said “you’re grounded…..don’t even think about it, you need to stay at home. Don’t take the risk…..we’ve just been advised that it could kick off in any number of places and you don’t want to be in a restaurant in central London.”

So, I duly took his advice and pottered off to buy some staying in supplies (wine) from my local very quiet high street. I bumped into a friend attempting to board up her shop, but, because most of the timber shops have closed early today in anticipation of a fourth night of violence, she couldn’t get hold of any wooden boards, so instead, she’s removed all her merchandise from the front of her shop.

Already tonight, I have heard that Wimbledon and Richmond have been targeted and various shops have been looted. Literally everything was shut in Wimbledon by 4pm today as the community braces themselves for the worst.

One of the most depressing scenes of all, for me, is the Youtube footage of a young bleeding boy helped back to his feet by a bunch of youths who then took everything out of his back pack when he wasn’t looking and left him standing alone, bleeding, lost and mugged. It’s scary stuff.

What a nightmare. My friend says the Clapham residents are asking why the police didn’t do more last night? Where was the tear gas? The rubber bullets? We currently have no police commissioner, Boris Johnson is in Canada and all the other MP’s are tanned with no socks. My friends’ son took photos of the riots last night. He got some terrifying pictures of cars and shops ablaze – he watched the street being looted and saw the police refusing to go down the street because it was too dangerous. He also observed people breaking into a book shop, shout “FFS, it’s just full of books” – can’t do anything with those….and left the shop intact, even re-shutting the front doors. Apparently one of the only building not looted in Clapham was Waterstones.

Lets hope it doesn’t escalate any further and if you’re reading this lovely Aussie friend whose son I am housing tonight – don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be fine….