As I left the Holiday Inn in Rotherham a few days ago, I wondered what my mum would have made of it all the events that took place there at the weekend. And in particular, what she would make of what it means to be a patriotic Britain in today’s turbulent times.
Patriotism
My mother was probably one of the most patriotic people I have ever known. She lapped up the Proms, went round her village organising collections for Poppy Day and, as a young teenager, was found handing out tea to soldiers off to war at Sheffield’s Dore station.
At 16 she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as a wireless operator in 1943 and helped in the D-Day landings. She also opted to stay in the WAAF to go to Bückeburg in 1945 joining the British Air Forces of Occupation.
She would have been horrified by the sheer vandalism and lawlessness that we have seen in the last few days. But I suspect more than anything she would have been horrified by the use of the Nazi salute by those who say that are patriotic to their country. It would have been beyond her comprehension.
Levels of anger
As for me, what is beyond my comprehension is how some seem to be justifying this level of violence and lawlessness because they are ‘angry’. I mean just how angry do you have to be to justify trying to set fire to a hotel with people inside? And as a nation of animal lovers, just how cross do you have to be to throw a brick at a police dog as reported by the Slough and South Bucks Observer?
Because I can do cross. I mean I’m cross with 14 years of Tory misrule, and with the lack of any improvements to our infrastructure in the North. And as my wonderful, patriotic mother lay dying in her care home on her own, I’m pretty furious about how the then government dealt with the Covid pandemic. And please, don’t start me on Michelle Mone and the dodgy awarding of PPE contracts.
These are all things that personally affected me – and my community. The difference is that I don’t go and rob Greggs [I mean Greggs, of all places?] because I’m so cross.
Racism is not patriotism
As South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “There is no excuse for what we saw happen in Rotherham, for the damage and destruction that was carried out by those who chose to so violently express their hatred in our communities. There is simply no justification for trying to burn down a hotel with over two hundred vulnerable and terrified people inside.”
And as Coppard also said, racism is not patriotism, violence is not grief. So let’s be quite clear what this is. It is opportunistic violence perpetrated by some who probably thought this was a bit of fun, and by others who have come to sow seeds of disunity.
Growing societal inequality
That’s not to say there aren’t real challenges for people up and down the country. People who are homeless, families who are really struggling. A recent recent report by the Fairness Foundation outlines just how unequal a society we are. In fact, it said: “Britain will become more unfair and unequal over the next five years, with growing inequality in health, housing, poverty and the north-south income divide.”
But anyone who thinks going and ripping up your community is the answer to all this, seriously needs to go and give their head a wobble.
As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently tweeted: “The shocking economic inheritance for this Govt is the fragility of living standards and depths of hardship being felt across the UK.”
Their latest survey of over 4,000 households found that seven million low-income families went without essentials like food, showers, heating and toiletries in the six months to May 2024.
If anyone should be rioting, it should be them. But they’re not. I suspect many of them are now involved in the community clean-ups that are now taking place up and down the country.
The solution is political
There is only one solution to all this – and that is political. And it’s not going to happen overnight. Those protesting can berate Keir Starmer all they like. He’s been prime minister for four weeks, not 14 years. However much people riot, it will not help restore public services, or boost local economies. In fact, the more people riot the more it will be an absolute drag on local economies. The clean-up costs, the rebuilding costs and the policing costs all amount to money that could have gone to boost local economies. What a total and utter waste.
So please let the new government take stock of what it has been confronted with and give ministers some space to enact policies that will try and address some of these fundamental problems. Give time for dialogue and understanding. And no time for hatred.
And for those of you who think burning or looting your very own community is your patriotic duty then I suggest you probably don’t have much regard for it in the first place.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
