Manchester Proactive Policing

New video footage shows the moment officers from Greater Manchester Police's Tactical Support Unit caught up with looters after a night of violence in the city.

The officers have no hesitation in bundling their criminal suspects from their bicycles into an undignified heap on the ground, throwing in a few baton strikes for good measure. I commend them for their hardline approach and hope they don't hesistate to use the same force tonight if trouble persists.

Their tough tactics follow the Prime Minister's stern warning yesterday that mindless criminality would not to be tolerated on the streets of Britain. Directly addressing those at the centre of violence, theft and arson the PM warned: "If you're old enough to commit the crime, then you are old enough to face the punishment."

David Cameron addressed the nation again this morning, confirming the Government's resolve to dispense swift justice and meet the needs of the police. He confirmed senior police officers were already authorised to use baton rounds and water cannon could be deployed within 24 hours if needed.

With 16,000 Met Police officers strategically positioned around the capital the streets of London were much quieter last night.

Beneath Contempt

This amateur video footage is being broadcast by the television news channels this afternoon.

It shows a young man lying wounded in the street surrounded by a pool of blood. As he stands, apparently helped to his feet by a bystander, it becomes apparent that blood is coming from his mouth. He is clearly dazed and confused by whatever has just happened.

Just then another bystander calmly unzipped the injured lad's backpack, rummaged around the contents and then stole some personal electronics.

A truly despicable act of criminal exploitation.

The Met Police has this afternoon published CCTV images of people they want to speak to in connection with London's violent disorder.

London Riots: If I Were Cameron

For the third consecutive night terror reigned on the streets of London with criminals smashing, burning or stealing anything in their way.

Shops were looted, cars and homes burnt, years of priceless family history and hard work erased at the hands of arsonist scum. They indiscriminately targeted and wrecked property with such speed and ferocity that outnumbered police stood powerless to act. Like opportunist vermin they grazed the streets looking for easy pickings simply because they could.

I worry that the law abiding majority will see these images of carnage on their TV screens, the police stood impotently agog, and decide to take the law into their own hands. Vigilantism, though I'd completely understand their sentiment, could lead to an even greater escalation of violence as criminal retaliation came to the fore.

Prime Minster David Cameron is chairing a meeting of COBRA this morning. He will be advised by some of the sharpest minds in the business, yet they will be dipping their toes tentatively into unchartered waters. Never before has spontaneous violence on such a massive scale, orchestrated by mobile media, swept the streets of our cities.

There's no doubt that the Government has to take tough and decisive action, but they will want to avoid upping the ante by flooding the streets with riot shields and armoured vehicles.

If I was the PM this is what I would be doing immediately:

1. Recall Parliament: We might need to make rapid new legislation to deal with the unfolding situation. All MPs are to be back in Westminster within 24 hours.
2. Call curfew: Anyone on the streets of London without reasonable cause (e.g. medical emergency or legitimate employment) after 9 pm faces arrest and prosecution.
3. Authorise greater force: The police would be authorised to proactively target and disable (literally if necessary) those clearly identified as criminal aggressors. The public would completely understand and accept if petrol bomb and stone hurling yobs were bundled from the streets. Justice must be seen to be done. The images of unchallenged violence and looting is as damaging as the actions themselves.
4. Advise the judiciary: The courts are to deal with cases swiftly. Those found guilty of mindless criminality are to face the full force of the law with ruthless deterrent sentences. So what if the prisons are full? Imprison them in overcrowded squaller.

Good luck, health and happy hunting to the police.

Pandora's Box Releases Evil Over London

Tonight I am ashamed to be British.

Thousands of criminals are terrorising the streets of our capital. Their destructive rampage has seen windows smashed, homes burnt, shops looted and the innocent majority terrorised in their own homes.

Hardworking law abiding people stand helplessly as their properties and livelihoods are engulfed before their eyes. Irreplaceable memories, belongings and peace of mind disappear in flames as the police stand by seemingly doing nothing.

Tonight a very grave situation is unfolding on the streets of London. Decisive action must be taken to stop the continuing terror of these rampaging thugs. Their primeval animal instincts demonstrating the very worst of humanity.

They commit their heinous acts because they know they can. The laws of this nation, eroded by years of political pandering to minorities, impotent to distinguish between what's right and wrong. The fundamental human rights of the victim come after those of the aggressor. The law excessively enforced on the compliant majority, yet habitually flouted by the criminal minority.

That this abhorrent minority integrates seamlessly into society is an offence to all right minded British people. That they accept our hospitals, schools and welfare state with one hand, yet destroy that same society with the other is an outrage.

Pray that good people are safe in their homes tonight.

Tonight I am ashamed to be British.

Tottenham Riots

The streets of Tottenham saw the worst civil unrest in a generation last night, with hundreds of troublemakers committing arson, theft and public disorder on a massive scale.

The protests stem from the death of local man Mark Duggan last Thursday, who was killed in an armed confrontation with Metropolitan Police officers after one of their colleagues was shot. The circumstances surrounding Mr Duggan's death are the subject of an ongoing Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation.

Mark Duggan... making funny finger gestures.

Several hundred family and friends of Mr Duggan gathered for what was billed as an evening of peaceful protest outside Tottenham Police Station, which sadly degenerated into an all out riot as darkness fell.

News of the trouble broke shortly after 10 pm last night, with the 24 hour news channels carrying live coverage soon after that. By midnight Tottenham High Road was strewn with burnt out vehicles, shattered glass and broken concrete as several of the nearby buildings burnt helplessly. Missiles, including petrol bombs, rained down on police lines as the protest escalated into the early hours.

Buildings burn on Tottenham High Road.

Hooded louts were seen goading the police and hurling bricks at the passing riot squad vans and fire engines.

Demonstrating the worst of humanity, local criminals exploited the chaos by looting the homes and businesses of their neighbours. As morning broke whole families, including children too young to know the wrongness of their actions, were seen pushing trolleys of stolen goods away from looted shops.

A middle aged woman calmly removed stolen trainers from JD Sports, took them from the box and slipped them onto the feet of her son right before the camera crews. Elsewhere ordinary hardworking families were left destitute as the remains of their homes and belongings smoldered into dust.

A family outing to steal from JD Sports.

I find it rather sickening that the animal instincts of criminal scum come to the fore with such spontaneity. The sad thing is that the police know who the majority of these people are, but are bound by red tape and inane political correctness from dispensing rapid summary justice. If last night's rioters ended up in traction today they wouldn't be so keen to reoffend tonight.

Tonight the police will be ready for them and I wish them the best of luck for a safe and productive hunt.

The End of the World

Britain's leading Sunday tabloid rolled off the presses for the final time last night, as the News of the World came to a sudden and premature conclusion.

The newspaper, famed for its hard hitting investigative journalism and barbed headlines, has been embroiled in accusations that former employees illegally hacked into the voicemail messages of high profile personalities and the victims of crime.

Ironic that the NoTW, which has exposed the criminal wrongdoing of countless individuals, stands squarely in the dock accused of criminal wrongdoing.

Last week it came to light that police were investigating whether the voicemails of 13-year-old murder victim Milly Dowler had been hacked by NoTW journalists, giving her family false hopes she was alive. The investigation is also focusing on whether the dodgy journalists snooped on the messages of British service personnel killed in action.

These latest twists in the phone-hacking scandal sent the NoTW's popularity into freefall, with several of their leading advertisers pulling the plug. With the brand irreparably tarnished parent company News Corporation decided to call it a day, bringing down the shutters on 168 years of tabloid history.

Heinous as the NoTW's phone-hacking actions were it is a sad day for the British free press. Not to mention all of the honest journalists tied up in history through no fault of their own.

There is a feeling that media mogul Rupert Murdoch has sacrificed the NoTW to save the skin of News International boss Rebekah Brooks, who occupied the editor's chair at the peak of the paper's phone-hacking activities.

I'm curious as to why he rates her so highly.