EIU report warns recession may spark public disorder globally

Though placed at ''moderate'' risk Britain may not be immune to the danger of serious social unrest and public disorder as a result of the ongoing global economic crisis, a report has warned. An Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) analysis says that globally, bouts of social unrest are very likely to disrupt economies and topple governments over the next two years.

The EIU report named 95 countries as being at ''high'' or ''very high risk,'' with the United Kingdom rated as being at "moderate" risk. The report, however, clarified that the ''moderate'' rating was "far from a clean bill of health."

This is already a remarkable change from previous years when western European states would almost inevitably have featured in the "low risk" category.

"Popular anger around the world is growing as a result of rising unemployment, pay cuts and freezes, bailouts for banks, and falls in house prices and the value of savings and pension funds," said the EIU paper, entitled ''Manning the Barricades.''

"As people lose confidence in the ability of governments to restore stability, protests look increasingly likely. A spate of incidents in recent months shows that the global economic downturn is already having political repercussions.

"This is being seen as a harbinger of worse to come. There is growing concern about a possible global pandemic of unrest."

The report said that this economic downturn, the most serious since the 1930s, was already driving up poverty and unemployment. This was spurring demands for protectionist policies which, in turn, would only serve to deepen the recession into a lengthy depression.

The reports pointed in the direction of the United States of America saying much depended on how president Barack Obama handled the pressure to save American jobs and companies against foreign imports.