People who tick the first box seem to think that talking about the causes of such extreme disaffection lets the rioters off the hook, and excuses them from personal responsibility. But going for the second option isn’t the same as saying ‘riots, yay!’ and cheering on the swarms of underdogs finally getting the shoes that they deserve. I’m not sure what scenario people are imagining when they talk about making people take responsibility. If I had a family member of a friend getting involved then yeah, I wouldn’t say to them “Well, I understand that you have legitimate grievances, so I’m not going to hold it against you that you’ve made people homeless, destroyed people’s cars and terrified families and kids. Now can I have some discount trainers please?” But, I don’t. This isn’t about when we get to vent our fear and frustration. The choice that we have to make as a society is what to do.

If we base our actions on the ‘mindless thuggery’ analysis, then what do we do? Bring in the water cannons and the curfews, militarise the police, throw a few hundred teenagers into prisons and young offenders’ institutions, increase stop and searches even more, listen even less.

If we base our actions on the second analysis then we’d do something rather different. We’d tackle the inequality that’s been growing for years, redress the unfair distribution of the cuts which penalise poor communities more than rich ones, build community cohesion through allowing for real participation in democracy, hold the police accountable for racism and violence, give poor kids too the chance to go to college and university by bringing back EMA and scrapping tuition fees and improving schools, investing in libraries and youth workers.