Tottenham MP: Riots are ‘mindless’
David Lammy, Tottenham MP, brands riots "mindless" and laments the effect on local people:
"A community that was already hurting has now had the heart ripped out of it. Mobile phone shops, council buildings that deal with customer complaints, smashed to pieces by mindless people last night, many of whom are not from Tottenham.
"What happened here on Thursday night raised huge questions and we need answers. But the response to that is not to loot and to rob. This is an attack on Tottenham, on people, ordinary people.
"There are questions about the nature of the escalation of this violence last night and the nature of the policing that led up to it. It seemed to go on for many hours before we saw the kind of policing that I thought was appropriate. I think small skirmishes we saw initially should have been stopped far more quickly.
"To see a high road that I've used, visited with local people devastated like this is deeply, deeply painful. We now need restraint and calm."
