The riots were triggered after London police gunned down Mark Duggan, a young man in Tottenham. But arsonists who claim to be taking revenge have had little sympathy. Activist Mosa'ab Elshamy said: "Egyptians and Tunisians took revenge for Khaled Said and Mohammed Bouazizi by peacefully toppling their murdering regimes, not stealing DVD players."

Jay Howard from Leeds does not buy the spending cuts argument. "I have been unemployed and broke for three years now. I have never taken to the streets, smashed property or looted a shop. Unemployment, poverty and disenfranchisement are just lousy excuses for thuggish behavior," he wrote in an web forum.

There are those who point to a history of the London metropolitan police unfairly singling out youths from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in certain areas for stop-and-search operations, even on their way back home from school.

While some question what the parents of adolescent rioters are doing to control their kids, others point to social deprivation. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), social mobility in Britain is worse than in any other developed country.

Back in London, the streets were calmer on Tuesday night. This was thanks not only to bolstered police presence but also due to a "community fightback" led by the Sikhs of Southall and the Turks of Dalston patrolling the streets, cricket bats and sticks in hand.

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