Recession could spark riots and civil disorder

Recession could spark riots and civil disorder, minister warns

By James Chapman
Daily Mail, Last updated at 1:02 AM on 30th April 2009

Riots could threaten society as a result of the economic downturn, a Government minister has warned.

Unrest may spill on to the streets with cars and buildings set alight amid 'naked competition for jobs', unless urgent action is taken to tackle the effects of recession, Hazel Blears said.

The Communities Secretary explained how riots in Brixton and Birmingham in the Eighties and Nineties showed the power of recession to 'fracture community spirit'.

Warning from the past: Britain could see a repeat of the 1981 Brixton riots, above

Already, several senior Labour MPs, including the former welfare minister Frank Field, have warned that the recession raises the prospect of unrest.

But Miss Blears is the first Cabinet minister to reinforce the message publicly.

'Economic recession has the power to do one of two things to a society,' she told Community Service Volunteers last night.

'It can either drive people apart, with an increase in distrust between individuals, more naked competition for jobs, and a fracturing of community spirit.

A police van is pictured blazing on Railton Road as rioters look on during the Brixton Riots of April 1981

'We witnessed this in the 1980s and early 1990s, and at its most extreme, it culminated in cars and buildings burning on the streets of Brixton, Birmingham, and Liverpool.

'Or economic recession can be the catalyst for communities to come together, for neighbours to construct new forms of collaboration, and for citizens to discover new reserves of courage and kindness.'

Miss Blears is proposing that Britain adopt a version of the U.S. Community Investment Act, in which financial institutions plough a share of profits into communities.

She believes the Government should give residents power to collaborate on lifting areas out of economic decline.

Prelude to more violence? G20 protests showed how much public anger there is

Seen as a keeper of the Blairite flame in the Cabinet, Miss Blears made an impassioned plea for ministers to let go of the levers of central control.

They were right to use the state's power to protect jobs, homes and businesses, she said.

But citizens given more control over their affairs 'make good decisions... act with fairness and compassion, and work together to solve problems'.

Solution: Hazel Blears says volunteers must be given more resources to stop communities being driven apart

The outcome of the recession would depend on Labour's willingness to 'create space' for local projects, added Miss Blears, setting out plans to transfer to community groups disused buildings such as shops and leisure centres.

She also proposed a duty on councils to respond when petitioned by a fixed proportion of voters, and set out plans for 'participatory budgeting', in which residents are given powers to allocate part of public budgets.

'My conviction is that our route through this recession must be characterised by greater devolution of power, and more opportunities for communities to take control.'

Recession meant all public spending would have to be justified, she added.

This year a report warned Britain was not immune to the danger of serious social unrest and public disorder following the economic crisis.

Globally, in the next two years, bouts of social unrest are likely to disrupt economies and topple governments, the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

It named 95 countries as being at high or very high risk. The UK's risk was rated as 'moderate'. In previous years, western Europe would almost automatically be 'low risk'.

Tory communities spokesman Caroline Spelman said: 'Hazel Blears talks about community empowerment to combat recession.

'This is exactly what David Cameron and the Conservative Party have been calling for for years.'