1,168,738 Londoners can’t be wrong

Since this is a follow up to my last post, I’m not going to give much opinion so much as present some information that I think is an excellent direction to sway the conversations we’ve all been having with people who hold that all measures should be taken against the belligerent, entitled group of rioting youth in London and across England.

You could do a simple google ™ search of the Bullingdon Club but allow me to fill you in.

The Bullingdon club is an unaffiliated Oxford fraternity established over 200 years ago. It is ultra aristocratic and therefore ultra exclusive. Although it was originally for young men who liked to hunt it has always been most notable for their elaborate public outings and competitive destructiveness. Throughout the last few decades there has been regular anecdotes about the Bullingdon Club booking a restaurant under a fake name, drinking themselves silly, completely trashing the place- breaking every glass and window-then leaving and destroying everything in sight. This has happened more recently with them destroying a 15th century pub and a country home. They do this because their parents are rich, because they can pay for it.

This article depicts a certain event in 1987 when 4 of 6 in the club were arrested for throwing clay pots through store windows.

Belligerent, entitled, rioting youth.

you may or may not know that two of the members of the 1987 Bullingdon Club are Boris Johnston and David Cameron. For those not up on your anglo politics that is the current Mayor of London and Prime minister of England respectively. 10,703,754 people voted for Cameron and 1,168,738 Londoners voted for Johnson knowing their ‘violent pasts’.

"DESTROYING PROPERTY IS BAD! BAD POOR PEOPLE!"

Regarding the current state of the riots Mayor Boris Johnson notes:

“These are the actions of criminals who took part in premeditated acts of violence and theft… [N]othing can excuse the wanton destruction of property belonging to people who have been responding to the recession by working harder and getting up at 5am to prepare their shops.” 

Similarly, Prime Minister David Cameron notes:

“you will feel the full force of law… and if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face punishment…[T]his is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated.”

Regarding the good ol’ days of Bullingdon one of Johnson and Cameron’s colleagues looks upon a photo of the group fondly noting:

“A lot of people feel it’s frightfully embarrassing. But the more I look at it, the more I start to think it’s charming and quaint. We look like schoolchildren. It’s like a sort of page out of a high-school yearbook.”

Quaint indeed.

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