Return of the Underclass? More like the Return of 19th Century Britain

[blindmapmaker]

The current climate of hate and ignorance in Britain is sickening. No, I don't mean the "rioters". I mean the upper-class politicians who  blame everybody but themselves for what's happening. It harkens back to the 19th century when Luddites, syndicalists, chartist and all those were readily labelled "criminals" and put behind bars or deported to Australia. True, the protesters aren't starving, also true is that they hurt a lot of people who aren't responsible for their plight (in their defence, it's pretty hard to break into the estates of conservative politicians), but that does not mean there isn't a legitimate cause behind all this. More police, summary convictions and harsh jail terms are responses more fitting for Iran than for a Western European democracy, especially in the light of the fact that the original bone of contention has not been addressed at all. There is apparently no need for juridical swiftness when the victims are people of colour and the perpetrators white policemen.

Labour's most relevant statement is to review police cuts. Truly, the People's Flag is Palest Pink. Meanwhile pundits and the right-wing libertarian "men on the street" are already talking this up to the 9/11 of the underclass. Let's hope we won't see a War on the Riot soon. Sending in the cavalry worked so well after all (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre)

Relevant Links (because you can't trust the BBC on this one):
http://taz.de/Kommentar-Krawalle-in-Grossbritannien/!76132/
http://taz.de/Riots-in-London/!76121/