Difficult call

The most difficult meeting of David Cameron's career takes place this morning. He will have to emerge from No 10 with a serious and credible plan to deal with what has become "recreational rioting".  It's not often one picks up on a Daily Express headline, but "Flaming Morons" gets close to expressing what most of the country thinks.

There will, too, be guilty parents, noticing new trainers, phones, etc.  However, many will be as intimidated by their offspring as the rest of us.  

Most of the offenders look under 18; the majority last night under 16.  "Cracking down" on them - which most people would interpret as "taking them off the streets" is not possible under law.  Fining them is generally ineffective.  Curfews are for the rest of the world, surely  - and the last thing you want when investor confidence in UK plc is on a terrifying slide ?  But there's a long way to before the end of the school holidays, and the sense of impunity that these kids have has to be ended.

The options are limited; there is no guaranteed strategy in the handbooks. This is a big test.