I, like many I'm sure, have been watching the progress of the riots across England with horror, and I was especially downhearted last night when the riots came to Manchester. Like many erruptions of civic disorder the effects are shocking and startling and the underlying reasons for such senseless behaviour seem complicated and hard to define. Whether this is purely down to criminality and a 'free for all' mentality of the perpertrators or a symptom of deeper rooted problems in our society of dispossesion and disenfranchisement the effects of it are frightening everyone must focus on how we bring civilisation back to our society.
The other effect of such destruction however is more reassuring and heartwarming. It has resulted in a very community focussed 'blitz spirit' in the clean up campigns. I attended Manchester's clean up earlier today at 11am. By then the majority of the clean up had been done and it was fantastic to see such a turn out in the City Centre to put right the damage which had been caused. It was also reassuring to see that life was carrying on quite normally in the city despite the previous nights atrocities, and that in reality very few shops and businesses had been affected. I seriously hope that this was a one off for Manchester and that the other riots around the country will stop soon so that the country can return to some degree of sanity.