In 1981 I was living in Streatham when the Brixton riots took place. The next day I walked down Railton Road and Electric Avenue, the streets were deserted, boarded up shops, smashed windows, burned out pubs and building. Similar circumstances in the riots all over the UK today : economic crisis, no jobs, racism, disenfranchised youth, public service cuts and same hatred for the police, same Molotov cocktails and missiles. Rioters these days wear hoodies and balaclavas to hide their faces from CCTV cameras and seem intent on looting the stores for mobile phones, video games and Carhartt clothing – seems like they have lost their political agenda. But as the Guardian online said today”A riot is neither a solution nor an unforeseen calamity but a problem brought to the surface: a manifestation of social angst and official failure.”