LSE governor slams 'naive' report into summer riots

12 April 2012

A London School of Economics governor today criticised the university's "naive" report into the summer riots.

Conservative MP Margot James said she was "particularly disappointed" at a major piece of research which found anti-police feeling was a key factor behind the violence and looting which swept England.

Ms James said the main finding from the study, which was based on interviews with 270 rioters, should have come as no surprise because people were trying to justify their illegal behaviour.

"Quite a lot of people are in denial about the fact that what they did was fundamentally wrong on a number of levels - particularly the damage to their communities," she told the Standard.

"Once the dust settles it is hard to find people who acknowledge they have contributed to that loss of lives and loss of homes so they seek to rationalise their behaviour..."

She added: "For the LSE researchers to automatically conclude that this was anger at treatment at the hands of the police without commenting on the likelihood that a lot of people are going to post-rationalise that behaviour and find excuses for it was naive."

Ms James's comments come after the joint LSE inquiry with the Guardian revealed that anger at police treatment lay behind many rioters' conduct - with 85 per cent describing anger at stop and search and other policing practices as a motivation.

Professor Tim Newburn said: "The research found that resentment of the police was just one of several factors behind the disorder.

"However it was brought up so often by interviewees as to be clearly significant. Researchers were well aware that people might use a range of explanations - and sometimes excuses - for their behaviour.

"However, great care was taken in the study, the only detailed investigation of rioters' motives, to get beyond this and to understand the complex causes of the August riots."

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