Compare and contrast

Interesting to compare the police and government responses the the Grauniad's 'reading the riots' study/conference. Not for the first time, I'm struck by the reasonable tone struck by the MET who, apparently, recognise they must do things differently in the future, and acknowledge that there is a significant problem around stop and search. Whether this translate into real change remains to be seen, of course.

Theresa May, however, seemingly can't climb out of her ideological hole, insisting that any attempt to uncover reasons for the riots amounts to 'excuses'. This know-nothing attitude totally bemuses me. Should we never seek to try and understand things that we can condemn (or, alternatively, only seek to understand things of which we approve)? Gangs get another airing, too, despite all the evidence to suggest that this really wasn't about gangs at all. At least she, too, seems to reluctantly agree we might have a problem with stop and search, and has launched a review.

Ed Milliband, by contrast, said much to agree with (including criticising the government's "simplistic" response to the riots). Let's hope his approach signifies a genuine shift in Labour thinking and a move away from crime policies that have all too often amounted to attempts at outflanking the Tories from the right.