Having lived in Lewisham, worked in Croydon and been beaten with a gun in Dulwich, the riots and mass looting come as no surprise to me.
London is a very unequal city where people who are rich by global standards live a few miles from people who are poor, at least by European standards.
The task ahead is not just to provide education, jobs and good housing, but to start a shift in moral values away from materialism, selfishness and the widespread rejection of rules that exists in society.
This can only be achieved when the establishment and ordinary people unite in a moral consensus.
This must include living modestly, regardless of your wealth. Rejecting drugs and other self destructive habits. Dedicating our lives to learning, self improvement, hard work fairly rewarded and bringing up children to value these things too. This could be part of a religious or secular life.
Things will only get better when people's values change. This applies to everyone from the MP putting luxuries on expenses to the looter putting stolen goods into his stolen car.
