Riots could return without more effort to reach young people

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that last summer’s riots may return unless the government and civil society do more to reach out to young people.

Writing in the Guardian, Dr Rowan Williams attributed the unrest in part to “massive economic hopelessness” and a lack of opportunities for young people.

He said that many of the rioters were people who had “got used to being pushed to the margins and told they are dispensable”.

“Too many feel they have nothing to lose because they are told practically from birth that they have no serious career opportunities,” he said.

While the Archbishop acknowledged the selfishness of the rioters’ actions, he said that demonising destructive young people would not help to address the problem.

Instead, he went on to suggest that greater consideration be given to the impact on young people in debates over spending cuts, adding that the idea of cutting provision to youth services was “manifestly indefensible”.

He also called for a change in approach to education to pay more attention to character building.

“We have to support our hard-pressed educational professionals in creating and sustaining environments in which character is shaped and imagination nourished, in which we not only raise aspirations but also offer some of the tools to cope with disappointment and failure in a mature way – an education of the emotions is badly needed in a culture of often vacuous aspiration.”

With youth unemployment widespread and more austerity on the way, the Archbishop warned that Britain could face more outbreaks of "futile anarchy”.

"It isn't surprising if we see volatile, chaotic and rootless young people letting off their frustration in the kind of destructive frenzy we witnessed in Augus," he said.

The Archbishop was writing after the release of a Guardian report yesterday which concluded that discontent with police, particularly over stop and search, was a "key factor" in the riots.