The figures are in. At this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, a total of 334 arrests were made by the Metropolitan Police. Up from the previous year’s 275 arrests, this included dozens for an assault on an emergency worker and possession of an offensive weapon. Along with the 50 police officers injured, there were eight stabbings, with three people left with in a life-threatening condition – including a 32-year-old mother who was with her child on so-called ‘family day’. One person who was arrested turned out to be wanted for attempted murder in Hackney.
The staunchest defenders of the Notting Hill Carnival will point to ‘the scale of the event’ – that those responsible for the violence and other acts of criminality represent just a tiny sliver of attendees and are ‘par for the course’. While it has been said that Notting Hill Carnival attracts in the region of two million visitors, there is no official confirmation of this based on a sound methodology.
The argument that only a minority of people are involved in the criminality is scarce consolation for those fighting for their lives in hospital with severe stab wounds. Neither is all this ideal for residents who feel they have no choice but to leave their own neighbourhood during Notting Hill Carnival, nor for businesses which keep closed and are boarded up to avoid damage to private property. Such is the level of distress caused to elderly and vulnerable members of the area, older folk in Kensington & Chelsea have been sent to the coast as part of a council scheme to provide them ‘respite’ during the Carnival weekend. This hardly portrays the event in a positive light from a ‘community-building’ and ‘social-cohesion’ perspective.
And that is what this really boils down to – Notting Hill Carnival has increasingly become divorced from its wholesome, inclusive, and educational roots. There is no doubt that it is an iconic fixture in the British cultural calendar, which stems back as far as 1959 – the ‘Caribbean Carnival’ was held in the wake of the 1958 Notting Hill riots. This was a social response to the problematic state of UK race relations and racist attacks on migrants of Black Caribbean heritage by the likes of the Teddy Boys. Held indoors at St Pancras Town Hall and televised by the BBC, it was organised by journalist and activist Claudia Jones, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago. Jones sadly passed away not too long before the first organised outdoor event, which took place shortly after England were crowned football world cup champions at Wembley. This hippie-inspired festival was a more diverse affair, strongly emphasising the importance of cultural unity and fighting racial discrimination (with the Race Relations Board being created the same year).
The level of knife-related violence, aggression towards emergency workers, and on-the-street debauchery we have witnessed in recent times is a fundamental betrayal of Notting Hill Carnival’s heritage and origins – as well as the traditional values of law-abiding, dynamic, and enterprising Windrush migrants who strove for a fairer, safer, and more cohesive Britain. The two-day event is arguably the most high-profile and well-known expression of Caribbean culture and identity in modern Britain. With the crime figures (understandably) dominating the media coverage, how can it be possibly considered as a powerful agent of community cohesion and racial solidarity? Is Notting Hill Carnival – in its current form – the finest and most authentic representation of Caribbean culture that can be offered in our country?
While those who wish to provide cover for the level of violence and criminality should be rejected, others who are calling for Notting Hill Carnival to be banned ought to be ignored too. There is a happy medium to be struck – one which ensures it remains an exciting part of the British cultural calendar whilst prioritising family-oriented attendees and wider public safety.
One option is relocating Notting Hill Carnival to a more spacious area to avoid unsafe levels of human congestion and allow for more effective policing – such as Hyde Park. Another possibility is rejuvenating the Carnival’s indoor roots which stretch back to 1959.
Considering the public costs associated with the current model (which includes the deployment of 7,000 police officers), holding it as a streamlined, ticket-only, self-sustaining celebration which is equipped with private security (including metal detectors) would provide a safer environment for all and be much kinder to the public purse. It may well attract family-friendly visitors who are after a more culturally enriching and intellectually stimulating experience – restoring Notting Hill Carnival as an iconic community-spirited event of national pride.
Both those who wish to brush violent criminality under the carpet and others who want Notting Hill Carnival to be consigned to the dustbin of history, do not have the answers. There is a way forward – but reform is the key.
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