Impact of London rioting on visitors
 

For any of you who are in London, to what extent is the rioting having an impact on visitors? Would you have any hesitancy about going there in the next few days?

Thanks,

Len

They are occuring outside of Central London, and are not in areas where tourists would be wandering.

>>to what extent is the rioting having an impact on visitors?<<

None whatever. There was some rioting and looting over the weekend in a part of London miles from the centre. Police responses were slow, both to the initial peaceful demonstration about the man who had been shot, and then to the looters who piggy-backed on to the tense situation. No reports of further trouble since early yesterday morning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499

All is totally and completely normal today in central London. Sunny skies this afternoon, people sitting in cafes and going about their business exactly as normal. London is really huge and these are therefore isolated pockets of concern [small numbers of people robbing TV shops etc] in suburbs most visitors would never have any reason to go to.

I think some foreigners were confused by Tottenham (where the violence started) vs. Tottenham Court Rd in the middle of London. They are completely different places and miles apart.

It's starting to look a bit more serious. It seems there have been more sporadic incidents this afternoon, but still not anywhere tourists are likely to go. But there is concern about whether the Notting Hill Carnival will go ahead.

Sadly quite a bit more serious: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ss-London.html

There is a looooong thread in the Lounge w/ upto date reports from London Fodorites

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...urday-8611.cfm

Widespread very ugly scenes with shops looted and some burnt across many London suburbs last night with Met police stretched to the limit. Mindless Yobs nicking stuff and running amock rather than any political protest. Proceed with more caution, maybe the day to go to one of the museums rather than shops.

Stay safe, it sounds like some London Fodorites had a rough night.

<<Widespread very ugly scenes with shops looted and some burnt across many London suburbs >>

Heard on the news that there has been riots on Oxford street as well, where a shop was looted and burned...
Looks like central London is not that safe anymore?

Now that the police is mobilising 17,000 officers in London alone and the prime minister in charge, I think it will boil over and order will be restored. Effect on ordinary tourists will be minimum, but exercise sensible precaution, as small-scale disturbance cannot entirely be ruled out for some days to come.

might monitor travel.state.gov and insuremytrip.com

but I would stay out of risk areas and go...

betterbidding.com for me great deals on 4 stars on Priceline

Tower hotel for me last $80 right on the Thames in nice area.

" I think it will boil over and order will be restored"

Or not. If thousands of young people around the country decide they want anarchy, in lots of places at once, there's a limit to what "civilised" policing can do, without switching resources away from (and therefore encouraging) other sorts of crime.

Alec might be right: it's quite possible that many have had their fun.

Or it might still be a few more days before things settle down. Or authorities might have to step up suppression to Northern Ireland standards - with the obvious risk of creating more "martyrs" and turning self-absorbed posturings about "victimisation" into real resentment.

I'm among Cameron's greatest fans. But I really wouldn't place any hope at all in his (so far invisible) skills at leadership under pressure. They might emerge - but it certainly would come as a revelation.

I'm not cancelling any planned trips into town. But I'm not making any plans for the next week or so that necessitate driving home along the Westway at night.

When I see these scenes on the News I am ashamed to be British. The feral, disenfranchised youth are rampant. Last one out of Britain, please turn off the lights.

Heres an interactive map of where the latest riots are occurring.

http://news.aol.co.uk/2011/08/09/thi...1_lnk2%7C73539

" Last one out of Britain, please turn off the lights."

When I hear meaningless gibberish like that, I'm truly ashamed to be British.

Reducing a serious issue to a vacuous cliche lifted from a Sun headline reminds us just empty-headed so many Britons are.

Thanks for that.

We are being told in newspapers here on the East Coast this morning that disturbances have "spread" to other cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool making things sound perhaps much worse than they really are.

10 Youths were arrested that had used the train to cause chaos in the Medway Towns. They burnt out cars before the arrests.

Oh, those 'disturbances' outside London are copycat violence fuelled by saturation TV coverage. They want a moment of notoreity in front of TV cameras, while nicking the latest flatscreen TV or smartphone into the bargain.

I have great confidence in the ability of British police to restore order without resorting to strong arm tactics of curfews, water cannons and troops on the street.

Italy is not the best place to keep up with the subtleties of British social relations, but from here it really does look like the young rioters are hell-bent to have a pissing match with the police, and hell-bent too to prove that the police can't control the streets of London, perhaps taking deliberate aim at creating worries about the upcoming Olympics.

Needless to say, the pictures being shown around the world focus on the sensationalism, but there is also a fairly consistent theme that the police have faltered or bumbled, and that there are leadership problems there.

I'd be skeptical of people who think they can predict what's about to happen next in London (or in the global markets).

That attack of the fancy restaurant in Notting Hill last night will probably not reassure most tourists.

And of course, now that the young man from Croydon has died, I think that pretty much clinches the certainty of round 4 tonight.

It is interesting that special permission is required from the highest levesl to use rubber bullets and tear gas. Perhaps that point has been reached.

Peaceful wishes for our UK friends.

I think even the police knew Round 4 tonight was a certainty. What has been unclear in Round 2 and 3 in particular (as it appears from abraod) is whether most of the rioting kids are in it for the fun of stealing, or whether they are picking a fight with the police as a show of manhood. If it's the first, the consumerist thieves won't persist in getting their heads cracked just to have another TV. If it's to prove they can get their heads bloodied and be proud to come back for more and not flinch, the police will have a hard time outwitting them.

I would have thought British authorities had learned some lessons about what escalates this kind of outburst and what doesn't from many bitter experiences in Northern Ireland. But that's no guarantee they'll remember and have success here, and maybe the underlying conditions are so different, they will have to think anew.

Of course here in States, the news coverage amps up sensationalistic views ...... now have named the story "Britain Burning". Makes it difficult to really ascertain what's going on. Hope police are able to get control of hooligans.

"I'm among Cameron's greatest fans."

Why Dave & Boris used to be little thugs who thought nothing of trashing restaurants. How can they condemn the rioters when they did similar when young?

Has CNN cooked up one of its flashy theme titles yet? Are they the ones who came up with "Britain Burning"?

The first hand accounts by people living in London here on Fodors are frightening enough that the sensationalist headlines do not seem out of place.

I liked "Paris Burning" in 2005. I was living in Paris at the time, just off the Champs-Élysées - watching CNN and discovered that Paris was on fire. I looked out the window and except for the ususal hoards of tourists it seemed calm enough. I went back to the TV and CNN was still yammering on. It is frightening if you don't know the geography of a place.

Yeah, I think it was CNN that has named this news story (Britain Burning) ..... altho for several years now, I've noticed ALL news stations feel compelled to "name" big news events.

Can't wait to see what Fox News comes up with. I've already been enjoying the headlines on The Sun quite a lot.

Anyone who listens to "sensational" US media has themselves to blame for what they choose to ingest as a news source. All of the news I watched on TV covered it, as they should, and did nothing to "sensationalize" it at all, nor did the radio news I listen to. It was pretty matter-of-fact about these events occurring, factual, nd it wasn't that big a part of the news and had no flashy names. Anyone who watches CNN in the states deserves what they get IMO, it's not a good news channel, and if you don't like sensationalism I wonder why you watch that channel.

but there is also a fairly consistent theme that the police have faltered or bumbled, and that there are leadership problems there. >>

not surprising really given that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police [what the chief of police for London is call, the Met Pol Com for short] just had to resign over the phone hacking scandal.

Given the hot weather, wouldn't water cannon be a good idea? a nasty foreign idea, i know, but they get the job done.

[i can't believe i just wrote that, and me a namby pamby liberal lefty - perhaps the distance of the channel has affected me].

Would the water cannon be a good idea?

Who can be sure? The rioters have the advantage here.

Police leadership and police credibility were no doubt undermined by the phone hacking scandal. But there are other serious questions, I think, about the performance of the police and decision that have been made about when and where to deploy them, to what extent to arm them, etc. I don't think the police face an easy situation, but there is no alternative to examining whether their performance could have been improved.

As for CNN, it would have to work overtime to match the sensationalism of the British medi -- and truth be told, this simply is a sensational story. It is riot, for Pete's sake. People in Britain are appalled and sickened, I gather, by the pictures they've seen, and the pictures are not doctored or hyped.

I am still waiting for a chance to get a free new TV.

FWIW, yesterday I cycled from south of Canary Wharf, through Limehouse and Shadwell to the Tower, on through the City to St Pauls, crossed to the South Bank to Waterloo, then back along the main roads on the southern side to Tower Bridge and home again from there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

This is something the police haven't quiet met before. Public order policing has been about managing pre-arranged and planned political demonstrations, with a risk of troublemakers peeling off, like last autumn. Most of the people are in predictable places. This is about flash-mobbing, with people only out to make trouble melting away when the police arrive in force and regrouping elsewhere (which is why water cannon are irrelevant).

Well all was quiet in my neighbourhood last night and friends that went to work in the city yesterday said all was normal. There may have been some squirmishes around city centre (Oxford St) but nothing like what you see on TV or in the 'burbs'.

There was a heavy presence of police in our area and I am keeping my fingers crossed. I think the rioters have lost the element of surprise and most town centres are taking serious precautions and closing early and boarding up. Some areas have organized neighboughood watches and are patrolling with the police.

RIM have said they will cooperate with the police and give BBM messages and Greenwich Council where I live has said they will evict any tenants that have participated and get caught.

Lets all pray this is coming to an end...once that happens we can move onto solving the bigger issues.

As a tourist I think you will be fine and probably wont notice much (maybe extra sirens and helicopters overhead at night) and a much quieter central London as locals from outside London head home early to ensure they can get home.

I'm glad that things were quieter last night, jamikens.

let's hope that's a sign of things to come.

Social networking sites have become breeding grounds for grave crimes such as these. What has the world gone into?! And Have you guys read about the infamous set of hackers that is about to bring apocalyptic end to all social networking sites such as Facebook? They said that it's gonna end at November 5th. What do you think about all of this?! Everything on the world of Net has gone completely mad!

I'm very surprised Walkingaround hasn't popped up on this thread with one of his ridiculous "we Britons" posts.