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Britain's gold medal rush leaves London estate cold
LONDON (Reuters) - While much of Britain glows with pride at what is likely to be its best ever medal tally at the Olympics,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], there is little sign of celebration just down the road in one of London's most deprived neighbourhoods.
In the Pembury housing estate, where a year ago masked youths attacked policemen and set cars alight during Britain's worst riots in a quarter of a century, the national team's success has been noted but has done little to relieve the grind of poverty.
"I am proud of Team GB but the Olympics are the Olympics and most of the kids round here don't have no jobs," said Malkit Singh, 22, who has been on state benefit for four years.
"They don't have a lot to look forward to or to brighten their future," said Singh. "I'm searching for a job but can't find one."
Sporting fever has swept big swathes of Britain in recent days as Britain has shot to third place in the Olympic medal tally, behind only China and the United States.
"Hep,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], hep hooray,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," declared the best-selling tabloid Sun newspaper after Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon on a gold-rush Saturday that saw six British golds, the country's biggest single day haul since 1908.
But on the Pembury estate in Hackney,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the main topics of conversation are a lack of jobs or hope and overzealous policing - the main reasons residents cite for the unrest that made their estate a symbol of "broken Britain".
BROKEN BRITAIN?
Despite attempts to improve it by cracking down on drugs gangs, youths in masks went on the rampage last August following riots in nearby Tottenham that started after a peaceful protest against the killing of a 29-year-old local man by police.
Police blamed inner city gangs, while politicians decried wanton criminality and newspapers referred to Britain's "feral youth" - angry,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], alienated, poor, and up for the chance to loot a few LCD TVs and pairs of expensive sneakers.
Prime Minister David Cameron,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who is trying to cut spending on the welfare state in order to reduce borrowing while kickstarting a $2 trillion economy which shows little sign of growth,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], has spoken of Britain's "broken society".
Decades of British politicians have grappled with what to do about pockets of alienated urban poor who depend on state benefits but feel they get little from London's position as the financial capital of choice for the international rich.
"I don't think the kids here give a damn about these Olympics or who wins the medals - these Games are not for people like us," said Ian, who has been living in Hackney for 38 years and refused to give his second name.
"They are nearby, yes,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but that is because there was some space nearby. The kids I see and know don't care about Team GB."
The blocks of flats, many of which date from Britain's other two major periods of austerity in the 1930s and 1950s, house some of London's poorest residents: up to a third of young people in Hackney are unemployed.
For some, drugs and crime are a career choice. The Olympics could just as well be happening in a different country.
"The kids here don't feel (anything) because the drugs they are smoking are too strong even for me to smoke," said Darren Coyle,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 38, begging on the streets near Hackney Central accompanied by his stocky terrier, Angel.
"I mean that seriously . It doesn't really relate to them," said Coyle, who has been begging "on and off" since he was 16. His conversation was studded with colourful expletives.
DEADEND LONDON
While the estate is freckled with satellite TV dishes, its nearest church,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], The New Testament Church of God,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], has protective wire covering its stained glass. The modest automobile choices of some residents contrast with a smattering of sporty Mercedes and BMWs worth years of state benefits.
One youth in a baseball cap and tracksuit threatened violence when asked for comment on the British team. Five others refused to be filmed or said they didn't speak enough English,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
The anger of some contrasted with the optimism of the well-dressed church congregation, who praised Jamaican runners Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
"Every day - morning,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], day and night - I have been watching it just for Bolt and Blake. I am proud of them and I am proud of Great Britain too. I am very proud," said Jadie Bolton, 18,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who is studying to become an airline cabin crew member.
"Before everyone was in their houses and scared to come outside. Now everyone is coming out and enjoying it," she said after a service at the church.
But Sadie King,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a resident of the estate and chair of the campaign Stop Criminalising Hackney Youth which was set up to combat perceived police harassment after last year's riots, said many young people felt they had no opportunities.
"They have had their aspirations raised all their lives. and now that is over for them, that's what the riots were about: they no longer believe in the opportunities being presented to them," she told Reuters.
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