I think it is political, but those participating don't know it's political.
I'd guess most of those involved are either unemployed or have poorly paid jobs with little prospects. They live in areas that are not being serviced very well by the government in terms of creating jobs and decent housing, they look around and have nothing to aspire to unless it's somebody local who made it big on X-Factor. They have nothing to lose, they won't end up in jail for this and they don't have anything else to risk. They want the nice things you can buy but either can't or won't work for it so this comes as a perfect storm sort of scenario.
It's not the current governments fault, they are not helping things by cutting services etc, it's not their fault but it's their problem. If they don't sort it quickly, bring in the army to deal with it, the riots will spread and keep spreading.