>Hi Nicholas.
>
>Off topic, but how are you getting on in London right now? Are you being affected by the riots?


No

I am currently cycling from outer to central London every day.

The only riot damage I have seen is looting in Wood Green (which was mobile phone shops , Boots the chemist, Sports footwear shops and opticians (for sunglasses I assume)).

I think the reporting is giving a much more dramatic picture than the reality.

Its certainly nowhere near as bad as the Paris riots in 2005 when 9000 vehicles where burnt out and nearly 3000 arrested.

Personally (though I'm a lefty liberal) I'd be happy for the police to take a more robust approach to nip it in the bud. Use of baton rounds , heavier vehicles, water cannon and snatch squads to extract ringleaders.

The police seem a bit leaderless at the moment and this may partly be due to the News International problems removing the head of the Met and public feeling about how the police have handled some of the recent (legitimate) political public demonstrations.

BTW this is not a black/white issue , I've seen plenty of pictures of white kids looting and interesting in some areas ethnic minorities have been turning out to keep the looting gangs out of their areas. (I noticed this in Haringey which I also cycle through and where not a shop has been touched and there is a large Turk/Kurdish population.) .