What does Cameron smoke?
He doesn’t get how social media works. His government can’t figure a policy to tap the social media for better intelligence and riot control. He and his top colleagues don’t bother with it. So, when rioters use it for communication, in stead of tapping in and harnessing social media, he responds like any autocrat would – ‘block them when needed.’
Then he goes out and claims that it was the return & presence of him and his top ministers that got the riots under control. Yes, they were patrolling the streets in their superhero capes while the police were hiding in their stations. This comes from a prime minister who didn’t face the public in presence of media lest the heckling be telecast publicly. The police, the opposition and, now, even most of the public realise that the police numbers on streets of London are already low and cannot be reduced further. He, however, prefers to cut them further and instead wants them to ‘update their policing techniques’.
Well, there are only so many ways for the police to react when they are outnumbered 20-to-1 by rioters on the street. One is what they did – abandon some areas and protect others. Another is to go the way of middle eastern authorities – baton charges, water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and, if nothing else works, live ammunition. Or, perhaps, they could just offer the PM and his top colleagues to the rioters as hostages and peace will return. I prefer the 1st one, but if that doesn’t work, I’d rather have option 3 before the 2nd one.
What London needs is a continuance of its low-force, community policing policies. What it also needs is more boots on the ground, not conservatives in power cutting the good services in the country.
Finally, I’m tired of this PM shouting from the rooftops that everyone needs to take responsibility for their actions, coming as it does from the fella who refused to take any responsibility in l’affair Murdoch for a long time despite pressure from all sides.