Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post is reporting that British Prime Minister David Cameron has had enough of the riots in London as Day 4 of the melee continues. On Wednesday, Cameron said "nothing is off the table" to regain control of British streets — telling the nation that rubber bullets had been authorized and water cannons were on standby after violence and looting hit Manchester, Birmingham and other British cities.
London, the capital, was mostly quiet overnight. But the riots that began last week after a police-involved shooting continued to rock other British cities. Under fire for the government's handing of the disturbances, Cameron said that the relative calm in London spoke to the forceful deployment of 16,000 troops on the streets.
More than at any time since the riots began, Cameron talked tough. He said it was clear that something was "sick" within British society, calling the crisis "a moral problem as much as a political problem." In an effort to track down offenders, he vowed to publish images of rioters captured by closed-circuit cameras, and not to "let any phony concerns about human rights get in the way.
“This continued violence is simply not acceptable, and it will be stopped,” Cameron said. “We will not put up with this in our country. We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets.”
Wow, no regard for human rights? Maybe the prime minister is taking cues from the reporter who confronted rioters. We understand getting the riots under control, but threats to that level may spur more violence. The sickness that he refers to is chronic unemployment and poverty.
A culture of fear does not just involve fear that invokes riots but also the fear of not eating, living on the streets or being unable to provide for your family. There is a culture of fear that goes beyond rioting. Tough talk from the prime minister on this issue should be matched with tough talk on the issue of solving unemployment and the economic crisis. In this case, rioting is not the answer, so what is?
Read more at the Washington Post.
In other news: Moody's: Student Loans May Be Next Financial Crisis.