Riots probe blames adverts

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron. Photo / AP

An inquiry ordered by British Prime Minister David Cameron into last year's riots will demand action against aggressive advertising aimed at young people, citing evidence that rampant materialism was an underlying cause of last year's lawlessness.

The Riots, Communities and Victims Panel, set up by Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the wake of the riots, will highlight the role of big business in creating a damaging consumerist culture in some of the most deprived parts of the country.

The violence last August was characterised by the looting of stores including Foot Locker, JJD Sports, Orange, O2 and adidas. When it publishes its final report on Thursday, the panel is expected to make recommendations to limit the impact of advertising on the young and vulnerable.

That problem is one of four underlying causes the panel will highlight, along with lack of economic opportunities, a breakdown in community ties and loss of trust in the police and public sector.

The findings on advertising will place pressure on the Prime Minister to tackle big business again in the wake of his decision to impose a minimum price on alcohol.

A source said: "This isn't about damaging the economy or stopping people from selling goods, but about big brands having corporate social responsibility commitments. The brands should be an influence for good."

The riots panel visited six deprived areas - four where rioters lived and two not involved in the disturbances - to isolate the cause of the widespread robbery and violence in which 15,000 took part and five people died last August.

A survey by the panel, appointed on a cross-party basis, found:

Sixty-seven per cent of people in the deprived areas believe that materialism among young people is a problem where they live;

Seventy-seven per cent felt there was too much advertising aimed at young people;

Eighty-five per cent felt advertising pressured young people to possess the latest products;

Seventy per cent felt steps need to be taken to reduce the amount of advertising aimed at young people.

Darra Singh, the panel's chair and a former chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, will say this week that unless there is an urgent response to his findings the violence of last year is likely to be repeated.

Along with the issues caused by aggressive advertising to the young and deprived, Singh will also call for Government intervention to bolster confidence in their communities and the state.

The panel's Ipsos Mori survey, which questioned 1200 people, found that four out of five felt that youth unemployment was a problem in their area; around two-thirds believed that their communities were not tight-knit while antisocial behaviour was a problem; and more than half felt that nothing would happen if they made a complaint against the police.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said he had been shocked by the "nihilism" of the riots and linked it to schools failing to teach basic literacy and numeracy.

The impact on many people in the worst-affected communities is still being felt as small businesses try to recover.

"The majority of rioters were 24 or under," said Singh. "Most had poor academic records. Nine out of 10 were known to the police and a third had already been in prison."

The panel found that "70 per cent of suspected rioters came from 30 per cent of the country's most deprived areas. Communities also told us that some rioters' behaviour could ultimately be ascribed to poor parenting, and that shared values in young people should be promoted."

- Observer