London riots risk map

What role did poverty play in the London riots? The Guardian Datablog mapped suspects’ addresses with poverty indicators to shed its brand of light on the subject.

The interactive risk map covers the whole of England. As you’ll see by navigating the map, indicators in Manchester and London show that most riots started in poor areas.

Earlier this year, Home Office research revealed that those appearing at court tended to be from more deprived backgrounds than the wider population. Thirty five percent of the adults involved were claiming out-of-work benefits, for example, while 42% of school attendants brought before the courts had free school meals (which are only available in England to the 16% of secondary school pupils from the poorest backgrounds).

And yet, David Cameron, quoted in the Guardian, said: “These riots were not about poverty. That insults the millions of people who, whatever the hardship, would never dream of making others suffer like this.”