Marf at the end of an eventful week
More of Marf’s work can be found at http://www.londonsketchbook.com/
ICM: Just 30pc say Dave has done “good job” on riots
Another poll has voters backing the police over politicians The Guardian has an ICM poll just out asking for reactions on the riots. It was carried out online and the fieldwork finished last night – so it’s much more up to date than the YouGov numbers featured here this morning. The “good job/bad job” figures are shown in the chart above with Dave on 30% for “good job” to 44% for “bad job”. Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin, meanwhile has a…
Will the Tories conspire to lose the Law and Order battle?
Henry G Manson on the riots aftermath The Conservatives should win the law and order debate hands down. Always. Their MPs traditionally go further than any other party and understandably there’s a huge appetite for tough action on those involved in rioting. Yet the failure to budge on the 20% cuts to policing leaves the government wide open to attack from Labour and parts of the Conservative-inclined press too. There are so many things to be said about the recent…
The riots: How politicians are rated compared with the police
Will the police always come out on top? Following the previous post about the reported police reaction to the PM’s criticisms over their handling of the riots I’ve dug up the above YouGov polling that was published on Wednesday. The question was: “Thinking about the recent riots in London and other cities in Britain. How well or badly do you think each of the following are dealing with situation? – The police/Cameron/Boris?” Things have moved on sharply in the past…
Has Dave gone too far in criticising the police?
Is it wise to open rifts with top cops? The main lead in tomorrow’s Guardian is on the reaction of senior police officers to the wholesale criticisms of their approach to the riots in speeches from the PM and other Tories in today’s commons debate. One of them is quoted as saying: “David Cameron blamed the police for not having a crystal ball and not anticipating the most serious set of circumstances ever seen. The confidence of the police leadership…
Should social network sites be curbed during riots?
Aren’t we in danger of going a bit too far? The home secretary, Theresa May, has just told MPs about plans to curb social networking sites such as Twitter during periods of serious unrest. On the face of it this sounds like a good idea – but don’t these sites also provide an invaluable service providing direct information at times of turmoil like we saw a few night ago. They also provide information to the police. My elder daughter was…
The riots – the Commons special session
Will Labour get behind its leader on the riots?
Is trying to make excuses a dangerous strategy? So far during riot week Ed Miliband has played a very straight bat and has been careful not to be seen to be making excuses for the arson, looting, mugging and now murder. His rhetoric has been focussed on the need to restore public order combined with calls practical help and cash. As Michael White puts it in the Guardian his approach has been to treat it as if the rioting was…