Britons ask: What caused the outburst of violence?

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Members of the community lay flowers at the scene of a hit and run following civil disturbances in the Winson Green area on Thursday in Birmingham, England.

Martin Fletcher, NBC News Correspondent 
LONDON – It was awful to see: four teenagers in black sweaters and hoods beat a young man, kicked him twice in the face and stole his backpack. The victim was left bleeding on the ground as the thugs strolled away.

It was another scene of terrible violence after days of rioting and looting across the U.K. that’s left at least four dead.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the violence is “simply not acceptable, and it will be stopped. We will not put up with this in our country. We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets."

He sees the immediate issue as one of crime and punishment: “If you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment,” he said.

London’s Mayor Boris Johnson agrees, calling for government to drop it budget plans to cut the number of police by 16,000 – ironically, the exact number of police on the streets in London.
But the media and community workers are still agonizing over the causes, over what turned a segment of the population into muggers and looters.

Abandoned by society?
One column that ran in the Independent newspaper has been universally praised. In it Camila Batmanghelidjh wrote "Caring costs – but so do riots. These rioters feel they don't actually belong to the community. For years, they’ve felt cut adrift from society.”
Sixteen thousand police were on London’s streets, every available person, and they put the lid back on the pot. But the problem is still there.
The young man I saw being mugged put his finger on it. We recorded the conversation. Here is the exact transcript, and remember, I’m a Londoner.
Me: “Oy mate, what happened to yer.”

Him (bleeding, panting): “”I got mugged. They nicked the lot. Camera, wallet, keys, everything. Bastards.”

Me: “Yeah, I saw, he kicked you in the face.”

Him: “Why didn’t you bloody ‘elp then?”

Me: “Good point, mate.

Actually we were too far away to help. But why hasn’t society helped the young people, before it got to this crazy outburst of violence and looting?
It begins at home.

Max Nash / AFP - Getty Images

Azim Mohamed looks at the charred remains of his business on Wednesday following disturbances in north London. Click on photo see a slideshow of pictures fromt the riots and their aftermath.

Where are the parents?
Community workers complain of a lack of strong parental guidance, over-stretched school teachers who place little emphasis on discipline and traditional social values, and weak communities with little moral leadership. Its members are left behind by society’s more successful strata. Left to their own devices, jobless youngsters hang around aimlessly and, in the violent outburst we have just witnessed, loot, steal and mug.
Where are the parents? A Reuters reporter began his report on the riots with this:
“Residents of a London housing estate laughed at a televised plea by police for parents to call their children and help rein in the youths who looted and burned swathes of the city.” He went on to write that some parents took part in the riots. 
So far there has not been one report of angry parents returning stolen goods.
But unfortunately there are some things you can count on here these days.
As we drove away to file our report, down a side street, we saw a flurry of arms and legs like a pin cushion rolling along. It was a man being beaten and mugged.

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Could it happen here? Britons reflect on Norway tragedy

By Marian Smith, msnbc.com

LONDON - Multiculturalism has become a contentious issue in the U.K., especially since Prime Minister David Cameron declared in February that it had failed and was partly to blame for fostering Islamist extremism. But the tragic bombing and shooting in Norway on Friday has thrown a new spotlight on the issue here: Anders Behring Breivik claimed to have connections to British far-right groups like the English Defence League and said in his manifesto that he wants to “save” Europe from Islam.

Msnbc.com spoke to a variety of Britons to hear their reactions to the tragedy in Norway and their views on multiculturalism, extremism and the potential threat of a violent attack by far-right extremists on British soil.

Bernard, 67, retired oil industry executive
“I agree with him, I’m sorry. I’m fed up with political tolerance. This is a Christian country, you abide by those rules. When I lived in Dubai you couldn’t have a church, you couldn’t wear a cross. It’s a double standard. Muslims are trying to take over the world, I’m sorry.

David Arnott for msnbc.com

Jazmin Hafeez, above, sits outside a cafe on Edgware Road, in London on July 26th 2011.

“I think he is a narcissist… I don’t agree with what he’s done but his feelings, a lot of people feel like that here. This country has changed over the past 20, 30 years. A lot of people here think the way that guy does.”

Story: 'Islam is regarded as the biggest threat to Europe for many Europeans'

Jazmin Hafeez, 22, student
“I don’t think there is [a chance it could happen here]. The U.K. is so multicultural. There’s a large number of Muslims in Europe, but they’re not going to take over. But you probably get different views from the generation above us.”

Metropolitan police spokesman
Although the British police would not get into specifics, a spokesman said: “We have seen, through arrests, prosecutions and convictions, an intention by violent extremists, which includes right-wing extremists, to cause harm. We treat right-wing extremism as seriously as any other form of violent extremism.”

David Arnott for msnbc.com

"If [multiculturalism] is handled well it works beautifully," Patrick Lamb says.

Ghaffar Hussain, head of outreach at the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think tank in the U.K.
“There’s a new form of extremism, focusing exclusively on Muslims and Islam and a perceived threat. It’s about people creating an atmosphere of hate and paranoia. [The far-right groups] create the mood music, they allow individuals to get engrossed in that view, but they don’t promote violence.

“An attack here is possible; I think it’s likely within the next five years. Not at that scale, but something will happen. Already few mosques have been attacked, there have been isolated incidents.”

Patrick Lamb, 74, manager of a hatmakers shop
“I did feel [an attack like this] was going to happen sometime. People can be frightened of multiculturalism, afraid of outsiders and don’t assimilate well. If it’s handled well it works beautifully. But I didn’t think it would be such a bloody reaction. I can accept that what happens on one side of terror can happen on the other side of terror.

“The fact that it happened in Norway, the most liberal of countries, means it could happen anywhere. [In the UK] there is an unspoken fear that we’re being overrun by immigrants. They live cheek by jowl but they don’t mix.”

Elizabeth Delves. Edgware Road, London, UK. July 26th 2011.

Elizabeth Delves, 31, teacher
“On the whole I think (multiculturalism) works. I work with young people from all sorts of different nationalities and they all get on really well. It definitely can work. You’re always going to get animosity – you can get animosity amongst any group, whether it be about ethnicity, whether it be religion… it could be anything. But this generation is much more open-minded.

“It definitely could happen here. People like that just need an excuse to do these sorts of things.”

Dr. Taj Hargey, chairman and chief executive of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford and imam
"We should be vigilant about Muslim extremists but we should be vigilant about all extremists. We’re so concerned about Muslim extremists, but seem to be unperturbed by right-wing fascists. This guy in Norway labels himself as a Christian conservative. We have Islamist terrorists – why don’t we call these people Christianist terrorists? 

“In Britain you don’t have this culture of random violence… but we’re in for a rough time. The government and the press need to go after the English Defence League and the British National Party with same vigor as they’re going after al-Qaida and the Taliban and militants.”

Story: Islamists raise fears of violent 'clash of cultures' in Europe

English Defence League statement
The rightwing English Defence League  issued a statement the day after the attacks in Norway, saying: "Yesterday's tragic events are an alarming eye-opener as to what could happen within our own shores if we are not careful and don't clamp down on groups and individuals that express extremist beliefs, be it Islamic or far-right extremist views."

David Arnott for msnbc.com

Mohammed al-Hussein stands in front of his convertible near Edgware Road in London.

One day after that, the EDL issued a second statement defending itself after it emerged that Breivik claimed to have had contact with the EDL: "No form of terrorism can ever be justified and the taking of innocent lives can never be justified. We are proud to stand strongly against all forms of extremism and we will continue to speak out against the biggest terrorist threat to our nation, Islamic extremism."

Story: Demystifying Islam in a strained Britain

Mohammed Al Hussein, 60, retired executive 
“There is surprisingly unfertile ground for that in the U.K., though there is a strong, widespread conservative attitude that Old England is under threat. But people here have come to terms with it (multiculturalism).”

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