What Did Cause The Riots ...

The riots seem to be over (changes in police tactics, visible punishments, rain, you can take your pick which was the most important in their ending).

In their wake we need to find out why the riots took place in the first place. There are a number possible causes:

• The death of Mark Duggan (personally I think that this may have been a contributory factor in the events in Tottenham, but not the later riots),
• Organized gang crime,
• Poor people reacting against the austerity measures,
• A feeling that if the rich and politicians could get away with improprieties, then we should be able to get away with it too,
• People just wanted a ruck,
• Youth boredom and lack of youth facilities,
• Greed,
• Police relations (or lack thereof) with minority cultures,
• A loss of moral values and bad parenting,
• A feeling of disconnection from politicians and political processes and hence disenfranchisement,
• Massive inflation on necessities,
• Unemployment and lack of economic growth,
• All of the above.

Whatever the real reason(s) for the riots, it/they must be discovered (if only to prevent them from reoccurring), and politicians and the press must not be allowed to manipulate any inquiry process that may take place to 'prove' that it was 'all the fault of [enter simplistic reason here] , and these draconian measures will cure everything', and subvert it too their own ends!

See Also: http://deadmanchatting.blogspot.com/2011/08/broken-britian-becomes-sick-as-growth.html