What does Attis Think?: About the riots
It's not the riots that count, it's the response. How the world sees Britain.
Whenever there are violent incidents in Britain that get reported around the world, there is always concern about any negative impact on our international visitor economy.
In 2017, three terrorists attacked people in bars and restaurants at Borough Market near London Bridge. They killed eight people and injured over 40 more. Those who died included three French, two Australians, one Spaniard, one Canadian and one person from Britain.
Just 18 months earlier, Paris had suffered a series of terrorist attacks which left 131 people dead, including 90 victims in a siege at the Bataclan music venue.
In the aftermath of the London Bridge attacks, monitoring of world media coverage showed an unexpected view emerging.
Instead of warning people not to travel to Britain, the global press was saying "terrorism is happening all over the world. In France it took two days to end the incidents. In Britain, all three terrorists were shot dead within 10 minutes of their attack starting. Britain is safe to visit."
And as Britain faced down rioters last week - just as governments have had to do throughout Europe in recent years - it's the response that counts. Yes, Britain had riots. But the response was fast and effective. Britain is a safe place to visit.
And this time the response was not just by the Government, the police and the courts. What was most strikingly was the response of the British people. They came out onto the streets and said this is not how we act in our communities. We will not allow this to continue.
Every country has its extremists. But the British people, as well as the British state, will not tolerate intolerance. That’s our message to the world.
Britain remains one of the safest places in the world to live, visit, study and do business.
Paul Barnes is Managing Director of Attis and CEO of the Association of International Retail (AIR)
What other Attis Directors and Partners think:
Leighton De Burca, 24 Hour Economy Director of Attis
"A big part of that community message is driven by people seeing their high streets boarded up against the riots. This showed that these riots are directly damaging their communities and the communities came out to stop them"
"For too long, debate has been dominated by loud, extreme minorities, crowding out the mainstream and no-platforming anyone who disagrees with them. What we saw last week was the start of the silent majority raising their voices and reclaiming their platform. That has to be the way forward."
Hugh Stevenson, Brand Director of Attis
“Often the views of a vociferous minority influence mainstream perception, good and bad. What's at stake here is the UK's brand. A huge part of our appeal internationally is our tolerant and progressive culture. Undermining this perception will mean less money in the till over the long term. The majority must be heard.”
Elio Fang, Social Media Partner of Attis
"Trying to police the internet is a bit King Canute-like. What these riots have shown us is that the best response is to overwhelm the views of minority extremists with the views of the majority of good people. Challenge, call out lies. Good will always win.”
Gary Reeves, BIDs Director of Attis
"The message for BIDs seems to be, don't attempt to downplay what is happening - face up to it and show you are in control as community leaders."
Tony Nash, Security Director of Attis
"The response of police and security is critical in these rare occurrences. But on their own they are not the long term solution. We need to encourage the 99.9% of the community who are good people to stand-up to these minority of criminals. Policing and security matters. But the police, security staff and the community working together matters more."
Carlos Kytka, Special Projects Director of Attis
"It's Britain's relaxed approach to multiculturalism that makes the UK such an attractive destination for international visitors. Ironically, by creating an opportunity for Britons to state their support so publicly, the short-lived rioting may have reinforced that message world wide."
Jackie Bedford, Recruitment and Training Partner of Attis
“Our experience shows that, with good management practices, employers get an extra boost from their investment in people by having a diverse workforce working an a safe and inclusive environment. It’s great to see the British public coming out and saying so publicly that Britain is a safe and inclusive country to live, work and visit.”
