Subduing the Riots

So far we have avoided using rubber bullets and water cannon when dealing with rioters on our streets. This though has become the lead option in an opinion poll currently being run by the Spectator. At the time of writing my preferred option, more police on the street, is a distant second. If you want to vote the link is here http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7154298/coffee-house-poll-what-is-the-best-method-for-quelling-the-riot.thtml. I prefer more police on the street as nothing has happened so far that is a game changer which requires us to abandon our traditional ways of dealing with riots, other than of course the use of twitter, blackberry messaging etc. by rioters to inform  others of their ilk of the latest go to spot to loot, burn, start a fire and fight the police and firemen. If the extra 10,000 police on the streets using more robust force as in the days of yore does not do the trick today then I agree we should deploy water cannon and rubber bullets tomorrow. Regretfully I will have been wrong. Contrary to others I thought Cameron's statement to the media after the Cobra meeting he chaired this morning was pitched about right. I also thought Boris's article in the Evening Standard today was pitched about right as well. Can you imagine the smarmy crap we would have had to listen to if Blair or Obama were Prime Minister! Can you imagine the embarrassment if Brown were still in charge? Cameron has had a tough first year but in general has so far acquitted himself well and his recall of Parliament is a deft move. We'll see who turns up and what MPs like Chris Williamson, who tweeted that it was all the fault of the Government, have to say.