UK: Rioting in north London

The US media is still mostly full of the economy, US loss of AAA, and the stock market slide. Thank God for BBC America and the internet.
This stuff is truly appalling. The police seem to be totally ineffective in controlling the looting, burning, etc. I know nothing about law enforcement policies but wouldn't a few rounds of tear gas early on cooled this down? They're only beginning to mention water cannon but Mrs. May seems reluctant.  
Hope everyone is safe and things calm down soon!

I think if they go in too heavy it could be bad, really bad. Especially in areas affected by the riots of 25+ years ago..

What is doing my head in, is during relatively peaceful protests, they kettled people in for hours. Yet couldnt (wouldnt??) get these yobs kettled early on. I thought thats what kettling was designed for, breaking the troublemakers.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and this mess dies off.

There's really been no coverage or even mention of this on the news here (as far as I've seen...I haven't been glued to the TV or anything though), which is weird.

What is doing my head in, is during relatively peaceful protests, they kettled people in for hours. Yet couldnt (wouldnt??) get these yobs kettled early on. I thought thats what kettling was designed for, breaking the troublemakers.

We were discussing this at work, i think its partly to do with the different groups in different areas and they also keep mentioning how the rioters are so familiar with the areas they are in they are running up and down various alleyways and in and out of buildings etc to avoid getting caught....... Frustrating though!

Also, look at the map Leah linked to. There were dozens of hotspots all over the city, not one big focal point to concentrate police efforts on.

What is it they're saying today? 20,000 calls to the police last night? I'm not sure it's possible for police to respond to that effectively, short of a curfew and lockdown.

Regarding comments about the coverage in the US media - I did put on CNN's The Situation Room last night (we get the last hour of it in the UK) and they had a small feature on it. I also saw something on Fox News on Sunday about it.

As to tear gas and water cannons, I believe that whilst their use has previously been sanctioned in Northern Ireland it hasn't on the mainland, although this could be what is being discussed at the emergency government meetings.

They need to use whatever means they can to get this under control, it infuriates me that during the miners strike the government had no problems turning out the troops, but with this they *bleep* foot around.

They need to use whatever means they can to get this under control, it infuriates me that during the miners strike the government had no problems turning out the troops, but with this they *bleep* foot around.

Absolutely! I understand they don't want to use strong arm methods but they just look like a bunch of wimps for having let this go on for so long.

As to tear gas and water cannons, I believe that whilst their use has previously been sanctioned in Northern Ireland it hasn't on the mainland, although this could be what is being discussed at the emergency government meetings.

On BBC last night a man whose name/office I didn't catch said that water cannons have never been used in mainland UK and that, if they did authorize their use they'd have to be brought over from N.Ireland.

On BBC last night a man whose name/office I didn't catch said that water cannons have never been used in mainland UK and that, if they did authorize their use they'd have to be brought over from N.Ireland.

Yeah, and apparently N. Ireland wouldn't be happy about losing their cannons during Marching Season.

I can not believe that I go to Florida for 3 days and come home to the earth falling down in London.  My heart goes out to all the people who have suffered due to this seemingly mindless rioting. 

I'm still catching up on it all, so please excuse me if calling it mindless isn't the correct word. 

On the BBC, they're starting to get reports it's starting up again sporadically.

Be careful and safe everyone. 

Is there some type of up to the minute thing you can follow some where?  I know the obvious answer is the news dummy - but something that I can read easily at work?

I just got back from Ealing Broadway and everything was closed. Lots of shops were boarded up but it's hard to tell if this is for protection or because they were hit last night. People were milling around and taking pictures. The police were out in force, but hard to tell what will happen later.

Sscarlet, the BBC has a live text running on its website. news.bbc.co.uk

Thanks!

I'm still catching up on it all, so please excuse me if calling it mindless isn't the correct word. 

No, I think that sums it up.

The Guardian website has a live blog as does the BBC