UK Riots 2011 - Why They Started

The true cause of the riots this August is currently unknown, however there are many theories behind it all.

After the police shooting of Mark Duggan on 6^th August 2011 there were many riots across the UK, including in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and many more places.

Reasons such as the large proportion of unemployment in the UK could be a possible answer. In Tottenham, the birth of the recent riots, there is an extraordinarily high unemployment rate. It is now the 8^th highest in the UK. After London, the violence spread to other cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. This could also be due to a high unemployment rate. Birmingham has 4 of the top 5 unemployment rates in the UK. The highest is in Birmingham Ladywood, where the unemployment level is 11.9%. Therefore, unemployment is most probably a high contributory factor to the August riots.

Many believe the development of gangs in urban areas is a reason for the riots across the UK. Rioting gangs can influence young people and make them believe it is acceptable to act in these ways, causing damage to many lives without even thinking about their actions. Children as young as 11 years of age have been caught contributing to these riots, and this could be down to their peers acting in a terrible manner.

Government cuts meant that youth clubs have had to close in Tottenham. Youth clubs can keep teenagers off the streets and let them participate in social, non-violent activities. Unfortunately, the closing of youth clubs means that many teenagers have less to do and no one to aspire to. As well as this inner city areas have faced a large amount of closures of their primary schools, leading to poor education for children. Children then go onto secondary school with no motivation or aspiration and do not have a high attainment level. This can lead to people having no job, and they then feel the need to riot about this. They also come to a stage where ‘the only way to get money or possessions in this age is to steal things’ said a man involved in the looting following the riots.

There are many causes to the August 2011 riots in the UK, though I believe they are largely to do with government cuts leading to high unemployment rates and gang influence.