Hi Anna - Reeves Furniture Store, which has been a family owned business in Croydon for a hundred years, has been burnt to the ground. I went out earlier and could actually see patterns in the sky caused by the blaze up here in the hills six miles away.
The man and his father - fourth and fifth generations - are very upset and I do feel deeply sorry for them. Locals are also sad because it has been a landmark. It should though be noted that all of the famous shop landmarks that have gone in the past - Kennedys Sausages, Grants of Croydon, Beanos Records - have done so because of economic pressures. Those blazes have just been met with a shrug of the shoulders on the part of politicians and, in fact, with some justification - "that is the way of the markets", "you can't be sentimental about history", "it is a harsh, competitive world". I see that as arson too.
It is good of you to acknowledge my perspective. I don't approve of this mayhem in its own right (or wrong). I find it very dismal and depressing (but not shocking) and yet it had to happen. Even my father, himself now 80, ex local government, Express reader, and as about as mild mannered and conventional as it gets, has been of the view since last autumn that this has been inevitable. Traditionally of the centre-right, "ish", albeit working class by background, my parents should be precisely in the Cameron-Clegg clan but they can't bear them any more than I can with my radicalism and spoilt their ballot papers last May.
OK, they are just a couple of pensioners but that kind of thing represents the great divide now even among the settled. Governments of the last 15 years have got it all entirely wrong and don't even speak to middle England. What I approve of is the fact that almost everything that is being done needs to be changed and this might be a start. There is no other option. I would prefer it to happen without societal breakdown but it has been made patently clear for decades that it isn't going to happen with rational democratic debate. Hence, this kind of thing happens and will get much worse until the message is heeded.
The actions are not "just criminality". They are an exact reflection of the criminal disregard and incompetence of those who govern this country. Such people are not seen as having any convincing authority because, frankly, they just don't have any. In fact, let's go back to that headline on the weekend in the Telegraph about the planning proposals. Bob Neill, MP for Bromley, declares "war" on the National Trust. If Governments are "declaring war" on the National Trust, those on sink estates must feel in a confused way that they are being air bombed nightly. You can't rationally have elected representatives declaring civil war - for what else is it? - and then expect there to be no consequences. Their stances are utterly insane.
The man and his father - fourth and fifth generations - are very upset and I do feel deeply sorry for them. Locals are also sad because it has been a landmark. It should though be noted that all of the famous shop landmarks that have gone in the past - Kennedys Sausages, Grants of Croydon, Beanos Records - have done so because of economic pressures. Those blazes have just been met with a shrug of the shoulders on the part of politicians and, in fact, with some justification - "that is the way of the markets", "you can't be sentimental about history", "it is a harsh, competitive world". I see that as arson too.
It is good of you to acknowledge my perspective. I don't approve of this mayhem in its own right (or wrong). I find it very dismal and depressing (but not shocking) and yet it had to happen. Even my father, himself now 80, ex local government, Express reader, and as about as mild mannered and conventional as it gets, has been of the view since last autumn that this has been inevitable. Traditionally of the centre-right, "ish", albeit working class by background, my parents should be precisely in the Cameron-Clegg clan but they can't bear them any more than I can with my radicalism and spoilt their ballot papers last May.
OK, they are just a couple of pensioners but that kind of thing represents the great divide now even among the settled. Governments of the last 15 years have got it all entirely wrong and don't even speak to middle England. What I approve of is the fact that almost everything that is being done needs to be changed and this might be a start. There is no other option. I would prefer it to happen without societal breakdown but it has been made patently clear for decades that it isn't going to happen with rational democratic debate. Hence, this kind of thing happens and will get much worse until the message is heeded.
The actions are not "just criminality". They are an exact reflection of the criminal disregard and incompetence of those who govern this country. Such people are not seen as having any convincing authority because, frankly, they just don't have any. In fact, let's go back to that headline on the weekend in the Telegraph about the planning proposals. Bob Neill, MP for Bromley, declares "war" on the National Trust. If Governments are "declaring war" on the National Trust, those on sink estates must feel in a confused way that they are being air bombed nightly. You can't rationally have elected representatives declaring civil war - for what else is it? - and then expect there to be no consequences. Their stances are utterly insane.
Water-cannon has the distinct advantage of both dispersing the mob but is also suitably equipped to put out small fires at the same time, which is exactly why it's widely used in such circumstances elsewhere.
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