My first thought on reading After the Riots, the newly published UK government report on the riots of 2011, was that it was written by The Onion. It could certainly use as a subheading the title of one of John Cage’s brief essays, ‘How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)’.

Hari Kunzru is the author of the novels Gods without Men and The Impressionist. He lives in Hackney, east London. He has kindly given permission to republish his Guardian article on the recent riots. There’s nothing like fear and hatred to sharpen the senses. The riots have shown Britain some unpalatable truths about itself, making […]