Anger, defiance and despair in London

The violence engulfing London showed little signs of abating on Wednesday as 1,600 police officers were set to guard the streets of the city that evening.

Over 525 people have now been arrested, and one person has died in three days of rioting. The government has so far declined to rule out other harsher measures including the imposition of a curfew, and the use of water cannons, measures that are being suggested by some politicians as the only steps that can possibly quell the violence that has left police, in some cases, outnumbered and powerless and the world aghast at the lawlessness gripping Britain.

The violence erupted on Saturday after a peaceful vigil for a man fatally shot in the north London borough of Tottenham was taken over by rioters. Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old resident of Tottenham was killed on the night of August 4 after his car was stopped by police.

Initial anger about police handling of the case, its contact with his family, and racial tensions (Duggan was black) has spilled over into something much wider. His family and partner's pleas for calm have been to little avail.

From Tottenham the violence has spread across the capital, affecting both deprived and middle class areas. Clapham Junction, a prosperous suburb of south London has seen some of the worst attacks, with department stores and electronic stores raided and buildings set alight by masked gangs and some who didn't even bother to cover their faces, running away clutching the latest television sets and running shoes.

Many used bicycles to enable speedy travel and the BlackBerry messenger service to coordinate their next moves.

In Croydon, another leafy and prosperous borough, the devastation has been terrible too. Poignantly a furniture store that survived the Blitz bombing campaign on London during the Second World War was burnt out.

Notting Hill, home to the renowned carnival, saw its share of violence too.

There seemed little consistency with the attacks. On some streets in the city it was the banks that had their windows attacked, while in others it was supermarkets and clothes shops. In the borough of Enfield, also in the north of London, a Sony distribution warehouse covering some 20,000 meters has been destroyed by fire.

It's not just businesses either: in London, homes have also been hit.

Violence has spread beyond London too to Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol. Public events, including an England-Netherlands football friendly due to take place in Wembley on Wednesday have been cancelled. (The test match between England and India at Edgbaston, Birmingham has so far not been cancelled.)

Tensions were evident on the streets of London, with shopkeepers standing close guard by their doors. “It's very tense. In my 18 years here I've never seen anything like this,” says Hanif Sheikh, who stood by the entrance of Lookers, a retailer he runs in Hackney, near where some of the looting occurred.

He stands with two relatives nearly the entrance, eyeing all passers by for the first sign of trouble. Sirens are a constant background noise, as they are across much of London. However, he insists on keeping his shop open. “We have to open. We have to be in business. We don't want them to think we're scared.”

Others expressed anger over the police handling of the situation and their inability to respond to some of the looting taking place.

“Where were the police,” asked Sivaharan Kandigh, a devastated Sri Lankan grocer who had his store completely ransacked on Tuesday night. Other shop keepers spoke of plans to band together on Wednesday night to ensure no repeat of the devastation that had occurred the previous nights.

Groups also gathered across the city as part of ‘riotcleanup', a Twitter led movement by locals to clean up affected areas (in many cases, and admirably local councils had spent the night clearing up the streets though many have been overwhelmed and are accepting as much help they can get once police have been over the crime scenes).

There is considerable anger over the government's handling of the matter.

The UK Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, has only just returned to the country, cutting short a summer holiday in Tuscany to recall Parliament for an emergency session. In many quarters the feeling is it is too little, too late. Fractured relations between the government and police forces (the police are facing huge cuts to frontline officers) have also been seen as hampering effective operations.

Others including former Labour mayor of London Mr Ken Livingstone have argued that the government spending cuts cannot be taken out of the picture either.

The impact of the austerity cuts on the young and deprived have been particularly severe as the government attempts to grapple with the country's sizable debt local. Local authorities have been particularly under pressure, with the council of Haringey cutting many youth centres.

Similar moves in other areas, the high rate of unemployment among young people, and the cut backs on education and other national youth projects, it is argued, have left people feeling disempowered, frustrated and future-less.

These are issues will have to be addressed by Britain soon but for the moment it's about breaking up what is tantamount mob rule.

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