Cameron pledges tough fight

British prime Minister : David Cameron The prime minister has said the "fightback" is under way, after cities in England suffered a fourth night of violence and looting threatening sustained police measures.David Cameron said every action would be taken to restore order, with contingency plans for water cannons to be available at 24 hours' notice.  Mr Cameron, speaking after a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee, said police had the legal backing to use any tactics necessary to bring the situation under control, including using baton rounds.  But president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, ruled out using water cannon or baton rounds for now, saying the tactics were not suited to the current unrest.
"Water cannon are used to deal with fixed crowds to buy distance," he said.
"The evidence... is showing very clearly these are fast-moving crowds, where water cannon would not be appropriate."
He added that baton rounds would only be deployed when his officers' lives were under serious threat.
The possible use of water cannon and baton rounds on English streets marked a major escalation in the government's response to the unrest. Water cannon have previously only been used in Northern Ireland, where Irish nationalists waged a decades-long campaign against British rule. These were extraordinarily strong words, and would mark the first time such an arsenal would be used on mainland Britain.
Cameron said that increased police presence on the streets has resulted in more people being arrested, charged and prosecuted and said more detentions would follow.  There are pockets of our society that are not just broken but, frankly, sick... when we see children as young as 12 and 13 looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of an injured young man with people pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear there are things that are badly wrong in our society," he added the police faced a “huge challenge” from what he depicted as a new kind of unrest, with “lots of different people doing the same thing in different places.”
The government is expected to face similar criticisms in an emergency session of Parliament on Thursday. Members were summoned from their summer recess, in Mr. Cameron’s words, “so we are all able to stand together in condemnation of these crimes and stand together in determination to rebuild these communities.” ”
In other newsHundreds of volunteers took to the streets again today carrying brooms and cleaning supplies, and by 11 a.m. the streets of one neighborhood were clear of debris, shop windows boarded, and little was left in the way of obvious reminders of last night's violence.
The same way that twitter has been blamed for helping looters and vandals organize, many people are following the Twitter hashtag riotscleanup for the latest updates on where help is needed.
One of the organizers behind the massive effort to clean up the streets is calling for a public debate into why the streets of Britain’s capital have erupted in violence.“Everyone’s a bit shocked by it,” he said of the destruction in neighborhoods across London. “But they’re also not surprised. There’s been an undertone of anger and disenfranchised youth around London for many years. It’s not something new.”
“I think we need to understand why this is happening,” he said.“That’s the bigger issue.
One of the volunteers was Father Andrew Moughtin-Mumby, rector of nearby St Peter’s Church, who witnessed the looting.
‘What was really shocking was that it was like a carnival atmosphere, it was surreal,’ he said.
‘This clean-up was completely spontaneous. This gives London some hope.
‘It also shows there’s still a real sense of community, the people are reclaiming the streets.’