These survey results are sick and sad but unsurprising. It's the job of society's leaders and the older generation in general, to keep its youth gainfully occupied and provide opportunities for growth that give them a real expectation that they will be fully functional members of a productive community.

So it's not surprising that those who have utterly failed in that responsibility because they didn't understand the responsibility in the first place now see violence as the answer. This facile resort to violence has been a feature of government foreign policy since Blair took office and now a violent society's neglect of its own responsibilities at home is being exposed.

In the same way that violence didn't work in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, it won't work at home. Solutions to problems like this should exercise the mind. It's testimony to the primordial condition of mankind that a so-called developed nation when faced with a collapsing society cannot summon its imagination and intellect to find answers. The editor of the nation's leading daily newspater no less, unequivocally rejected the need or desire to understand what is going on last night in an appearance on Newsnight. If you want to understand what's really wrong with Britain you need look no further than Kelvin McKenzie and the entire establishment as they rant about the need to bring the rebellious youth to heel with force.

A. Cole: surely the problem IS that the only language these kids know is aggression? I'm no Christian but they sure have one thing right that an eye for an eye never solved anything.

I echo the disgust at the idea of using live rounds. We are spending millions of pounds bombing regimes for opening fire on their own citizens. It is wild talk with no place in the mainstream. Police in numbers did the job it seems; rational and proportionate.

I want to know the stats by neighbourhood. We all know the rich want real bullets. But what about the rest

Stupid, stupid bigots out there.
1. Tasers can't be used against groups, only individuals
2. Using live ammo -> people retaliating by shooting police
3. Curfew -> vigilantes jailed -> tabloid outcry
4. Water cannon: useless against mobile crowds
5. Tear gas: didn't stop anything in France in 2005, or Greece in 2009. People would wear gas masks, making identification harder. Also, tear gas was used in Hackney
6. Plastic bullets: useless except at fairly close range, only a few know how to use them and they wouldn't be in the right place; risk of 2) if someone was killed.

These right-wing fools don't realise they're starting the whole problem. The bigots start a social war with their police brutality, murders by police, impunity for police, CCTVs, ASBOs, stop and search, and all the other atrocities, backed up by forcing people into crime by taking away education and benefits. Then they whine about the fact that the people they're waging social war against start to fight back, and aren't all that careful about what targets they choose (because you haven't earned their respect). "OMG THEY BURND MEI KAR HERP DERP SHOOOOT EVRY1 LOLOLOL". Here's the thing: the bigots started the war, they need to start the ceasefire - else there won't be peace, there'll be more of the same. Let's begin with an amnesty for the 'rioters', since there's so many mitigating circumstances. This is your choice: peace now, and give up your bigotry, or keep up your current path and dig your own grave - this unrest will happen again and again.

PS: if a Muslim says "shoot them all" they go to jail. If a white bigot says "shoot them all" they get ignored, not even censored on news sites, and 33% public approval. So much for equality before the law.

RJD is the only comment above which is worth reading.The rest is to the level of the "Daily Mail". If these stats are true, then the myth that Britain is a tolerant, reasonable, fair-minded society can finally be debunked.
As RJD says, this is a warning that this society is in free fall.If we, as a nation, cannot come up with an intelligent discourse about what we do about it and if our only response is the use of guns on our own population, we are in serious trouble indeed.
The idea that we can dismiss the whole thing under "criminality" and blow away all these criminals show how thin the veneer of "civilization" really is.What next? cutting of hands for the looters?
If these young people are all criminals, surely the question to ask is : why and how do we have so many young criminals among us? how is this society producing so many kids who think nothing of breaking into shops and looting them?
If we don't ask that question, this country is doomed. Judging from the comments above, I am very pessimistic.

1. Cameron speaks of a 'culture of fear'. Who created that culture? Governments. Who impose that culture? The Police

2. The first riot was a natural combustion. Due to an innocent man being murdered by police. And its looking more like a frame up everyday.

3. Gaddafi threatened the UK a few months ago that he would send his bees and locusts to sting the UK.

4. It is a biblical prophecy for these last days of the end times.

5. It was also predicted by Nostradamus.

Basically, due to the hard tactics of the police force, it forced the community to get stronger and stronger to the point of dauntlessness.

When you have nothing, no future, no opportunity. 2 out of every three jobs going to immigrants. On top of being bullied by police and government henchmen. The day comes when the community simply explodes like it did in India. It took Gandhi to go on a hunger strike to put a stop to it.

The fact of the matter is that the police have no respect for the communities that they police. Everyone is a criminal in their eyes.

Now people are guilty and have to go to court to prove their innocence. When I was growing up it was the opposite.

Everyone as a responsibility Melanie, everyone as allowed this country to go to pot. Everyone allowed Brown to sell the countries gold and allowed him to get away with introducing over 100 stealth taxes.

The people of this country have to wake up.

Its going on all over the world. Welcome to the Aquarian Age of nonconformity. The fact of the matter is that governments do not have the solutions and there is far too many stakeholders that wish to keep the status quo in place.

This youth know that the big corporations are not paying taxes, they were more knowing then most people give them credit for.

It was Obama that was saying 'Yes, we can', now they think its yes we can to everything".

When government leaders are lawless and make war with other nations, what message does that give to the youth of today?

Last but not least this is known in Europe as the Ramadan Riots.

The greatest losers from these riots is the political-left. Quite frankly very few are prepared to listen to the lefts excuses anymore regarding criminality. Watching Harriet Harman on News-Night was quite nauseating she is everything that is wrong with modern progressive politics.

Tazers have a maximum range of 30 foot, there has to be two police when one is used, if someoens got a gun or petrol bomb when they are used then the police have to within reason, First make sure the gun isnt' pointing at someone indescriminatley

there's no suching as Tear gas, IT's CS Spray a liquid not a vapor

Gordon

The left are wrong on this one. The rioters have been identified as students, teachers, hairdressers and grammar school girls....this is not representative of the so-called 'underclass'.

Thanks to a mindless bunch of twats, the weekends football is now starting to be postponed, total dick heads

It is sickening that more violence is being called for when it is the systematic political and economic violence enacted on these communities that is the true cause of the rioting.

We need community leaders who are willing to help guide our youth away from rioting and to organising instead. We would like to see people like Darcus Howe involved in this capacity, lending support to the disaffected youth.

Now is the time to unite on the side of justice, not to perpetrate further injustice with the torture and cold-blooded murder of young people who have expressed their anger at their conditions

www.sistersofresistance.org

Sista Resista

Darcus Howe represents all that is wrong with the black community. He is an absent father with a love of violence.

Darcus should have been deported long ago to the decadent island from which he came.

Just goes to show that a goodly proportion of the public want their heads examined. Only a short step from that sort of thing to full scale civil war. And innocent people *would* be caught in the crossfire - you can absolutely guarantee.

A. Cole and Crutchbender are, I hope, just trying to provoke. Sista Resista its all well and good considering the causes, but what is to be done while the riots are happening. Is it OK for the police just to stand by and watch? These weren't 3 year olds having a temper tantrum. They were burning people out of their homes and destroying peoples lives. They had to be stopped.

They do.

a country falling apart.too much cake for the rich.nothing for anyone else.

Its a pretty boring and predictable list of what should be permitted. How about withdrawl of the protection of PACE and Human Rights legislation for those on the streets and the banning of Channel 4's Street Summer programs - as obviously the mainstream media's bowing down to "youth" culture has been to no ones benefit.

if you shoot the looters then you
have to shoot some bankers,fair innit.?
keep shooting,i see crooked,expense
rorting, parliamentarians.
that is all looting!!

"Imagine you're 14 years old, and live in a flat 4 storeys up. It's the summer holidays and you don't have any money. That's your life. What will you get up to today? Go to a football game? No - you're talking £30 to £50. So what do you do? You hang around the streets and you are bored, bored, bored. You look around. Who isn't bored? Who isn't hanging around because they have no money? Who has the clothes, the cars, the power?" - David Cameron, 2006

These violent kids are the product of a violent society. The mob baying for their blood gave rise to them.