I was listening today to a UK local policeman talking about the reaction of his community to the riots. He was describing how the community was pulling together; how people young and old, white and black, Christian and Muslim out together repairing the damage; how the adults primary concern were for the youths who held their hopes for the future, not the damage they had caused.

In the background their political masters where rabbiting on about how today's spoilt youth needed the equivalent of a good flogging. The policeman said it was like they came from a different world.

My thought was how similar those politicians sounded to many of the posters here.

That will be me rstuart, thanks but standing by my view having, I think, an equal amount of understanding.
csteele, seems so far among those charged 95% are male,see my link.
Yes your posts while old tell of opportunism self interest and greed.
No one on this site is less conservative than me, but on the evidence of those posts your and rstuarts, are conservatives to blame?
And was it conservatives who burned and smashed parts of Paris not long ago.
Those hockey and base ball, America grid iron riots, in Canada and America conservatives did that?
Good at my age, to be told the truth I thought kids in love with Gangsta cultures, proud to hate police, others, yes an element of racism, did it.
See minority racism is just as evil as majority.
We in this country see car sales men pushing Gangsta rap into selling its cars.
The unkind but never dull, Ossie ocker are telling story's in the pub saying first car ever to come with car thief and a spare one included..
Harsh? yes but like every preconceived idea it need not be true.

Dear Belly,

You will not hear a bad word against the ANZAC rioters in Sydney because the event was a major part of the history of the union struggle in this country plus they then went and died for the country. Yet I guarantee there will be a good number of the English rioters who end up in the armed forces also potentially dying for their nation. Service life is famous for straightening wayward lives plus the General's don't mind aggression in the ranks, after all their job is to fight.

Surely the fact that the ANZACs looted and vandalized must take a little gloss off the history. I do think a comparison is warranted.

It is interesting to note their ranks swelled from 5,000 to 15,000 in an afternoon and all without social media.

If you think the Sydney riots were justified then any condemnation from you about the London riots must come from an opinion that the shooting death of Mr Duggan was not proper grounds for the mayhem.

I can live with that since absolutes are silly in these cases. 

I am also pondering the issue of a decline in respect for authority something I mentioned in an earlier post as an obvious factor. I wonder if the revelations of the corrupt relations with the Murdock press might not have contributed in some small manner to the anger and disillusionment. 

There were no ANZAC personnel in the 1916 Sydney riots.
The ANZACS landed on Gallipoli in 1915 and there is no mention of any New Zealand soldiers being in the riots.

Kindly remember that ANZAC is not the sole province of Australia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8703370/UK-riots-magistrates-told-ignore-the-rule-book-and-lock-up-looters.html
More facts about those who took part
csteele I am afraid you do not seem to share many of my views.
I am not ashamed of my youth, my lost days in the very left.
Looking back I see the ashes of dreams I drempt.
So much is clear now the lies the murders and slavery, all at the hands of Communism.
It is not old age, not a changed mind but understanding that enforces my belief.
If the left think, every such event,can be blamed on capitalism and conservatism.
If we forgive these kids ,who do not in the least care about left or right.
We sponsor this behavior.
I feel with total honesty, manufacturing a class issue based on such as this is a weakness of the very left.
I too know, with no doubt, at any age I would not run over innocents burn buildings try to kill a police man thieve.

Dear Is Mise,

That is a popular conception but not I think strictly correct. After the withdrawal from Gallipoli the term did loosen to an extent. 

From Wikipedia; 

" By this time, "Anzac" had ceased to be an acronym and had begun to be used as a term to describe any formation containing Australian or New Zealand units. I Anzac Corps, under the command of General Birdwood, departed for France in early 1916. II Anzac Corps, commanded by General Alexander Godley, followed soon after."

However more than happy to be corrected if you have other info.