As reported previously, on Thursday 18 July, rioting broke out in Harehills – a suburb in Leeds – after the police violently intervened in the removal of five children from a Romani household.
They were met with fiery resistance, fuelled by the anger and fear that had been left to accumulate over decades of mistreatment in this working-class community.
The following weekend, members of the RCP in Leeds visited the area as correspondents for The Communist.
We spoke directly with workers, residents, and shop-owners, and heard the views and perspectives of those affected by the events. This immediately cut through the lies and smears of the bosses’ media.
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Harehills, the second most deprived ward in Leeds, has long suffered the abuses of the sick system.
Among the range of issues facing the community are a crumbling hospital, the highest unemployment figures in Leeds, entirely inadequate policing, and ill-equipped social services.
Budget cuts and understaffing at the St James’s University Hospital in Harehills mean that A&E patients can expect to wait an average of over six hours and a half hours to even be seen.
A group of residents told us that they had experienced waiting times of up to twelve hours to be seen by medical professionals. And even when they were seen, they did not receive adequate support.
What’s more, ONS statistics show a 6.2 percent rate of unemployment, and 39.6 percent of the adult population living on Universal Credit in the area. These figures come in far above the national and regional averages.
“This area doesn’t have any support,” one Romani resident told us. “Not a lot of people can survive with this amount of money they have.”
Profits have been placed before the people of Harehills time and time again. The failures of capitalism couldn’t be more evident for them.
Police presence
As we walked the area, we saw no less than six riot vans – half of which appeared to be loaned from the Greater Manchester Police force, who are themselves embroiled in a police brutality scandal.
As one resident noted, this presence is a sharp contrast from the state’s long-term neglect of this community. “I have been here 23 years and never seen police here like this.”
Some business owners, when interviewed, expressed that they actually felt relief at the heavy police presence following the riot after “fearing for [their] safety”.
Other residents, however, told a different story.
“Not every police officer is a good cop,” one woman said. “Some of them are racist as well. Most of [the rioting] happened because of the police”.
Community united
The events surrounding the riot itself have been widely distorted by the bosses’ media and right-wing hatemongers like Nigel Farage, who place the blame on a criminal minority intent on public disorder.
Such distortions are clear attempts at dividing the working class, by whipping up anti-immigrant rhetoric against a diverse community of Asian, white, black, and Romani residents.
These demagogic attacks seem to have only united Harehills in solidarity against the establishment, however.
The politics of the subcontinent are currently playing out on the streets of Leeds. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 18, 2024
“Some of us don’t speak the same language,” replied one worker when asked about local attitudes. “But yes, the community is tight. We help each other out a lot.”
In fact, it was the closeness of this community that led to the initial resistance against police. One shop worker asked: “What kind of mother would you be to let someone else’s child go through that?”
The initial causes of the riot were explained to us.
“People made a blockade to stop the police taking the kids,” reported an eyewitness, “but the police used batons to get through them.”
“More than 15 police were used to collect the children,” they continued. “And when people resisted, the number of police grew quickly to 30 or 40.”
Fearing further social explosions, the authorities have now returned the children back to the family. The ominous presence of riot vans and uniformed officers on each street corner has likewise been walked back.
Arrests have still continued, however. Members of the Roma community claim that a 15-year-old child died trying to escape social workers after their arrest following the riot.
If this is confirmed to be true, any goodwill secured by the police and social services will be squandered. Further unrest will be inevitable at some point.
Discrimination
The issues faced in this suburb are just one example of the discrimination and prejudice directed against minority communities across Britain.
Recent investigations have revealed a systemic lack of understanding and cultural competency within the child care services in England towards Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) families.
Separation of GRT children from their families is disproportionately high not only in England, but across all of Europe.
Residents we spoke to could not imagine the same heavy-handed treatment being dished out to white British families.
One resident continually asked: “Why didn’t they just go through all the steps? Why didn’t they talk to the family?”
Talking with witnesses to the event that sparked this recent rioting, it was evident that these families felt greatly misunderstood.
“It’s normal for kids to be playing out in the street in Romani culture!” explained one neighbour. “And the police, having taken all the kids away, are not making the situation better.”
Pressure building
The fierce resistance of the community may have been sparked by heavy-handed police intervention.
But it is the long-term exploitation and neglect of Harehills that provided the conditions for this social explosion.
Everywhere, the failures of capitalism have been etched into the landscape – from shuttered shop fronts, to crumbling infrastructure. Poverty, racism, and deprivation seeps into everyday life.
Harehills is not alone. There are many towns, suburbs, and inner-city areas like this that feel like they are gasping for air; experiencing in the fullest, sharpest way the death agonies of capitalism.
We can expect new explosions to come, as the pressure on these communities builds. All of this anger and resentment finds no adequate expression from the establishment parties, nor the leaders of the labour movement.
Comrades of the RCP in Leeds will continue to reach out to this community, and connect their concerns with our revolutionary programme.
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Entire families of all backgrounds and ages are being radicalised by state brutality, and are seeking ways to protect their community.
But no safety will be afforded these communities under capitalism. We must channel this energy and growing awareness towards real, revolutionary social change.
