Theresa May displays an extraordinary lack of understanding of modern Britain, if she thinks the old model of permissive policing continues to be the way forward for dealing with these rioters.

Her generation, which is also mine, may well continue to have a life long respect for the police, but can this be said of many of the young people in this country? – I think not.

Witness the drunk behaviour of many thousands of our young people on our streets every Friday and Saturday night and the abuse our police officers experience when dealing with them. Witness the speed with which groups of jeering and abusive youths collect wherever police officers enter a rundown housing estate in pursuit of boy racers, or yobs on illegal motor bikes.

If these young people have no respect for the rule of law, or for the police officers charged with enforcing it, then in the short term, a different and possibly more aggressive, or even brutal, approach is needed.

Those arrested for any form of public order offence, should receive a good deal more than a police caution or an ASBO, both of which are worn as badges of honour by these often feral youths. Persistently drunken behaviour should always be rewarded with a 7 day stay in a drunk tank. Lower level criminal behaviour by an under 25, should see the culprit delivered in to the arms of disciplinarians and educators, based in a boot camp. Very expensive suggestions yes, but what’s the alternative, sweep it all under the political carpet and pretend it’s just a few bad eggs?

Longer term, we need to fix the broken society that has created these non- citizens, before they go on to spawn another lost generation.