Riots Rage On In London For Third Straight Day

The escalating unrest – spreading in part via mobile BlackBerry texts, Twitter and other social networking sites — was taking root in the powder keg of poorer neighborhoods largely away from the iconic central heart of London popular with American vacationers. Reports indicated some youths had also begun rioting in one neighborhood in Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city.

The violence first erupted Saturday night in Tottenham, a gritty north London neighborhood, following the fatal shooting of a black resident by police investigating gun crimes. Those riots triggered a disturbing ripple effect among disenfranchised youths in other parts of the city on Sunday that spread in size and intensity on Monday.

Some, including the former London mayor Ken Livingstone, suggested the Tottenham riot had triggered pent up resentment over the weak economy, high unemployment and historically deep budget cuts that are decreasing government funding for poor communities and grass roots charities. He blamed a sense that young Britons are facing “the bleakest future.”

“This is the first generation since the great depression that have doubts about the their future,” he told the BBC.