It’s five years since the English riots, but the rifts in society are wider than ever

In London young black men are still three times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts. Social housing has all but collapsed in the last five years, meaning that thousands of families are living in overcrowded and inadequate housing without any real prospect of improvement in their situation, never mind affording a home of their own.
Far from being unique to Tottenham or the capital, this a familiar tale across the country. Five years ago people tried to dismiss the riots as black v white, but the truth is far more complicated than a racial divide.
Despite the post-Brexit rhetoric about a north-south divide, across the length and breadth of the nation we are seeing the gap between an asset class and an underclass growing ever larger. Last year 38% of workers earned less than the amount the average homeowner “earned” from the increase in the value of their home. This chasm between the haves and the have-nots looks set to become increasingly vast for future generations.
When it comes to a “legacy”, I think of the people of Tottenham who have rebuilt our community, the businesses that have reopened and gone from strength to strength and the young people who have shrugged off the stigma and gone on to great things. But if millions still feel as though they have no stake in society, social order becomes fractured and the peace is fragile. A sense of hopelessness and powerlessness that spans generations and defines entire areas does not breed respect for society or its rules. When people have so little to lose, desperation can quickly turn to anger and violence. This was the lesson of the riots – let it not go unlearned.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/05/tottenham-riots-british-streets-burn-again-david-lammy?CMP=fb_gu