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| Britain |
| Residents vent anger at London mayor Boris Johnson |
| 2011-08-10 |
| (KUNA) -- London mayor Boris Johnson faced a barrage of criticism Tuesday from angry residents as he toured the devastation in riot-hit Clapham with Home Secretary Theresa May. Johnson, who flew back from his summer holiday early today, as the violence escalated across the capital, said: "I want to say to everybody who runs a shop or owns a business here how very sorry I am for the loss and the damage you have suffered. "I also want to say to the people who have been involved in instigating these riots and those who have been robbing and stealing that they will be caught, they will be apprehended and they will face punishments they will bitterly regret," adding "I know there are questions about the police response and police numbers. We are certainly going to be dealing with those." One woman told him: "I was in a salon when a brick came through the window and no one was here to defend me." Another woman shouted at the mayor, urging him to resign. Johnson struggled to make himself heard as he said: "Tonight we are going to have a huge number of police on the streets." He added: "It is time that people who are engaged in looting and violence stopped hearing economic and social justification for what happened." The mayor, who was eventually guided away from the crowds and television cameras, followed other leaders by ending his stay abroad to join efforts to quell the violence that has blighted London. The move came despite Johnson's aides previously insisting he could deal with the burgeoning crisis remotely as if "he was sitting in his office". Johnson arrived at a cordon outside Clapham Junction station where members of the public gathered. He was greeted by the sight of a burnt-out fancy dress shop being hosed down by firefighters, surrounded by litter strewn on the streets and smashed windows. Crowds of people armed with brooms waited for permission to enter the cordon, which covered St John's Hill and Lavender Hill, to start a clean-up operation - a movement started on Twitter. The mayor walked the length of devastated streets, past window after window of shops that were smashed in the riots last night. Johnson received a mixed reaction veering from almost carnival spirit to anger and rage. He managed to turn ill-feeling to positive at one point by taking hold of a broom and thanking crowds for turning out. Johnson paid tribute to the army of volunteers hoping to sweep Clapham's streets. He said: "Thank you very much to everybody who has come here to clear up the mess. "That is the spirit of London." When asked by one angry resident why he had not come home from his holiday earlier, the mayor replied: "I came as fast as I could." He said police had been overstretched but that same situation would not happen again. Johnson told the crowd: "It's time we heard a little bit less about the sociological justifications for what is in my view nothing less than wanton criminality." He told waiting media: "I do not want to see a repetition of the events of last night. "It's time for London and the majority of innocent law-abiding Londoners to reclaim their streets. "In 2012, next year, we are going to be welcoming the world to our city and it's a great city, it's a peaceful and fundamentally safe city and when they come they will find one of the safest big cities. "We have time in the next 12 months to rebuild, to repair the damage that has been done, to rebuild these buildings that have been destroyed. "I'm not saying it will be done overnight, but this is what we are going to do." The mayor blamed the situation on a "mental contagion" taking over youths' minds. "And when it does stop they will regret bitterly what they have done." Home Secretary Theresa May, during the same visit to Clapham as Johnson, said: "This is pure criminality, all this looting, thieving and rioting. "What we are doing tonight is putting on double the number of police, but crucially we are arresting the people who are perpetrating crime." She said those who had committed crimes would be identified using CCTV images which will be released, and then brought to justice. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Londoners voted for this worthless fucktard. You reap what you sow people. Learn from this and never vote for someone who disregards your liberty. Because without liberty, you will never have safety or any other thing that is most important to you. Liberty is the word which means taking care of your interests without imposing on others. This is something you can never compromise. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-08-10 23:21 |
| #7 As follw-up per #5, + ala FREEREPUBLIC, ISLAMIC MILITANTS are repor using online resources to call for British Rioters = UK Muslims to OVERTHROW THE BRITISH GOVT. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-08-10 20:47 |
| #6 Mr. Johnson, when are you going to authorize deployment of the vomit gas? Right before the mobs get to your home? |
| Posted by: Barbara 2011-08-10 13:25 |
| #5 Well this is embarrassing... Ahmadinejad urges UN to react on Britain riot Heh. I'll bet the Blue Helmets would make the British cops look like Chuck Norris... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-08-10 12:28 |
| #4 "I also want to say to the people who have been involved in instigating these riots and those who have been robbing and stealing that they will be caught, they will be apprehended and they will face punishments they will bitterly regret," How's he gonna keep that promise? Maybe the folks in London are unaccustomed to this sort of thing. But the only way to stop looters is to shoot the bastards in the streets. Issue shotguns to the cops, impose a curfew and shoot the violators. This has gone on for far too long. Put a chill into their spirits at the outset and cut the rioting short. Don't make any apologies and don't make any promises you can't keep. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-08-10 12:17 |
| #3 I think all dozen of their platoons must be in Afghanistan or Libya. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2011-08-10 10:24 |
| #2 Why didn't they call out the army? |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2011-08-10 03:07 |
| #1 At least Johnson came home, and cut his holiday short, unlike other so called 'leaders' we all know and (don't)love..... |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2011-08-10 00:40 |