2011 England riots the maker of the BlackBerry, are reported to have contacted the police to offer help in investigating the use of their system for the organisation of riots. According to "The Independent", the costs to the Metropolitan Police of policing the disorder and disturbances in London are expected to exceed £34 million. This could be more than their total bill for the policing of all major public disorder events in the year from April 2010 to March 2011. By 15 August 2011 around 3,100 people had been arrested, of whom over 1,100 had appeared in court. On 25 August the BBC
AKA... What a Life! alongside "If I Had a Gun...", which was released as a North American (digital) single on 31 August 2011. It was later physically released as a CD single, 7" vinyl on 17 October 2011. It reached number twenty on the UK Singles Chart. On 1 September 2011, a minute and thirty second preview of "...What a Life!" was released through a sponsorship commercial by Vauxhall on YouTube, which supposedly gave attention to the commercial. "AKA...What a Life!" is only available for digital download in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Originally the single was to be called "Ride the Tiger" but