London Riots: Hackney Heroine Pauline Pearce Warns Government to Stop Attacking the Poor [VIDEO]

On the second anniversary of the London riots, the "Hackney Heroine" who became a YouTube star for lambasting looters and rioters has admitted that she would think twice about doing it again.

Pauline Pearce, 48, became an overnight poster girl when she shook her walking stick at rioters in Hackney two years ago. The video went viral and was viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

Since then, Pearce has become active in politics, a TV pundit and even has ambitions of becoming an MP.

But her experiences since that night mean she would do things differently if the riots happened again, she says.

Pearce told IBTimes UK: "I would think twice – they'd probably say 'there's that loudmouth, let's get her,'" she joked.

"If it happened again I would get hold of as many media as I could to get the message out.

"It's a really disturbing feeling for me to think what could have happened. But I do look back on it with some pride - not so much the swearing though. But the point had to be made and if there was any time for swearing it was then."

Her outburst amid the chaos and flames in Hackney gave Pearce a platform which she has occupied ever since.

"Every day people remind me of it," she said. "I'm still very concerned about the community and I want to build bridges. People tell me to keep up the good work and to keep speaking up for the poorer class.

"Some do not like it so much because they think I've sold out by getting involved in politics. I do get a bit of a blasting."

Today Pearce, who is herself an ex-offender, is active in the Liberal Democrats and is even mulling becoming a candidate at the general election in 2015.

But isn't it awkward assuming the mantle of community spokesperson, while being a member of a government party responsible for policies that are hitting impoverished Hackney residents hard, such as the so-called bedroom tax?

"Nick Clegg is not prime minister, he's the deputy," is Pearce's loyal reply. "I feel it's good as if we were not in coalition with the Tories, they would have done much worse to the poor classes."

But she admitted: "The bedroom tax has upset a lot of people."

What Pearce has to say about the legacy of the riots is likely to upset some in Hackney - and in Westminster too.

She can understand why rioters did what they did on those terrifying four nights in early August two years ago.

But her stance jars with the official line, which was illustrated in the extremely low-key release of a key government report on the riots and how to stop future unrest.

Whitehall's Riots, Communities and Victims Panel was chaired by Darra Singh to examine the background and lessons of the 2011 riots. Its 60 recommendations included helping high-street businesses and fostering community relations.

Whitehall agenda moves on

But Tottenham MP David Lammy accused the government of neglecting the findings by quietly publishing it without a ministerial statement. In response, Downing Street said many of the measures were being put in place.

So while the Whitehall agenda has moved on, Pearce remains at the scene. She warned against any notion of the riots issue being neatly tied up by the report.

"People are getting restless. Silent rivers run deep and in the silence you do not know what's brewing.

"After the riots, everyone was pelting people on benefits and saying 'get a job' but there are no jobs out there and there are so many setbacks.

"People feel nothing is going to be done for them, so they think its just the same old story. They do not have any vision of anything happening for them.

"We need to stop the failing promises and give people something to believe in. Everyone speculates about whether the riots will happen again and I've always said if the government do not pull up their socks and ease off the poor people then it's going to crash."

On the two-year anniversary of the London riots, the Hackney heroine is a lonely voice against the consensus version of events.