I have just been struck by lightning

And that’s not the worst thing that’s happened this week..!

Holy cow! I just got hit by lightning. Well almost… The crack of thunder was the loudest thing I have EVER heard in my life… and I’ve stood right next to the base speakers at Global Gathering !
Poor old Esme did not know what to do. She went into full on Guard-dog mode! Dogs hate lightening. And now my TV is on standby mode but has not yet recovered from the shock to work properly again. I know how it feels! To top it all, I then go on a video call with my colleague Scott who is clearly surrounded by sunshine with not a cloud in the sky. He’s been to Scotland, ostensibly to attend a wedding.

However, final travel plans demanded a subsequent tour of the whisky producers… well, you would, wouldn’t you! His daughter wanted to see some Highland Cows. As it turns out the Glenfiddich Distillery has its own herd, so where better to got to see them? Honestly Scott, you’re not fooling anybody! Unlike Scott, I am a teetotaller. Although recent events have been enough to drive anyone to drink. We are coming to the end of a week. A week that could have been a week of protest, but actually turned out to be a week of riots. Looking at some of the CCTV from our retail clients, the realities of this situation have been appalling to see…

In one incident a group of youths, under the misapprehension that a pub was “racist” donned balaclavas’, took their baseball bats and any other suitable implement and set about totally trashing the pub. I mean absolutely wrecking it. The pub was right next to one of our retail client’s stores, which somehow escaped unharmed – scant comfort. Our officers have not only been a calming presence in retailer stores, supporting staff and de-escalating situations. Unfortunately, they have also themselves been the subject of racists abuse. One officer in particular, a British Citizen ‘appearing’ of Asian ethnicity, was told in terms strewn with profanities (so I will paraphrase) to “go home to his own country” by a group of youths. Sadly, the incident bore all the hallmarks of racist abuse that I hoped was a thing of the past. I expected that the violence/protests would peak last Saturday. And that in the week leading up to the publication of this article would be a slow return to normal.

Some prison sentences have been meted out and received widespread news coverage. That has certainly been a deterrent, as you would expect. And the use of facial recognition by the police to track troublemakers travelling from town to town has also perhaps made people think twice before getting involved in the disorder, even with face masks. Communities have also been coming together to ease the tension. One shopkeeper in Southport was reported as having had his small retail shop trashed by rioters. The next day the community turned out in force to repair windows, clear up mess and local businesses even donated stock and point of sale equipment. Leading the clean-up are Imams, community leaders and elders of every hew. I also think that the start of the football season is helpful.

The Charity Shield a welcome distraction. You will remember that the original attack took place in Southport and that that town as well as the City of Liverpool were places where rioting was felt early on. Well Scott was at Anfield on Sunday to watch Liverpool’s last friendly game against Seville before the season started, despite reports that largescale trouble and civil unrest was expected. There were 62,000 people there. A two minute silence to remember the little girls killed and injured in Southport was held. The game went off. He saw no trouble from anyone. Will things now return to normal. Sadly, I don’t think so… I do think that the rioting and racially motivated attacks will end. I don’t think we will continue to see the mindless violence, abuse and looting. However, I know from my own community people feel things have changed… perhaps for good.

I live in Birmingham. It is well known as a highly diverse region of ethnicities. My neighbour is Hindu. My other neighbour Muslim. People who have lived here harmoniously for 20 years are now saying that they want to leave. They do not feel safe on the streets. Every youth on an electric scooter wearing a face mask is now seen as a potential threat (although they all wave thank you to me as Esme and I get out of their way to let them pass on our morning walks). It is a great shame. Recently I watched the new Planet of The Apes film on Disney. Their society is divided into different clans who vie for power. If we do not do something to restore our feeling of community, I fear that this new film might be rather prescient! Maybe we need aliens to land and unite our Planet as a whole!?