Surely the cost of clean-up/rebuilding, over-time for an extended police force, riot-control gear, ammunition etc., and jail and court (for who knows how many when the final count is in after witch hunts through Facebook photos and whatnot) will out weigh the costs of those programs that were rudely cut for those at the bottom of the economic scale.
There is obviously some power in the anger of the downtrodden. Too bad it's anarchy. Britain right now is almost in a situation of civil war - between unemployed youth and an employed middle class. (The upper classes are probably all vacationing out of the country.)
I'm not saying I support the riots, not at all, and I'd be one of those mothers yelling at the kids smashing and burning and stealing, but I surely don't support the fiscal decisions of the government cutting funding to centres and programs for these young people either.
The straw that broke the camel's back?
