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Today's top ConservativeHome features

ToryDiary: Cameron can win the riots debate but only if he stops Labour from outflanking him on policing

Parliament: Theresa May highlights Britain's "deep-rooted" social problems in her Commons statement on the riots

Robert Halfon MP on Comment: I am deeply uneasy about riot police restricting Blackberry Messenger and other social media

Hector George: These riots have shown us that immigrants are the jewels in the crown of Britain today

Local government: Localism Bill will not allow councils to ban smoking in open spaces and Thurrock Labour councillor apologises for riots comments

Today's top ConservativeHome newslinks

Downing Street accused of overspinning PM's involvement in change of police tactics

"A “spin obsessed” David Cameron pushed for military involvement in the operation to quell the riots but met stiff resistance from ministers, police chiefs and the Mayor of London." - Times (£)

APCO's Sir Hugh Orde says it was the police service, and not MPs, who devised the "more robust" approach that restored calm after four nights of rioting in England - BBC

Cameron on collision course with police after he criticised "insufficient" response

"Senior police officers quickly made clear their anger with ministers. "David Cameron blamed the police for not having a crystal ball and not anticipating the most serious set of circumstances ever seen," one senior police source said. "The confidence of the police leadership in the government is at an all-time low. Cameron dumps on the police when it suits him, to deflect blame from himself." - Guardian

• Cameron says police were far too slow to respond during riots - City AM
• Cameron urged to use Police Service of Northern Ireland’s ‘lengthy experience’ - Belfast Telegraph

Ed Miliband calls for rethink on police cuts after Cameron speech - Metro

In a powerful article for The Telegraph David Ruffley MP sets out how much money is wasted in the police budget and how the existing police numbers are badly used.

The Times leader (£) thinks there IS room for cuts: "With only about 12 per cent of officers on the beat at any one time, and many others caught up in paperwork, it should be possible to make savings while still policing effectively and letting officers see action... To put it in context: officer numbers are historically fairly high. Last March there were 143,734 police officers in England and Wales. If the cuts are implemented in full, that number will fall back to only about 127,000, or the level of 2002."

BUT Steve Richards in The Independent doesn't think these arguments will be enough: "The case for efficiency savings is overwhelming, but the demand for frontline officers is likely to increase during a period of economic austerity, not least after the recent events. Already Cameron faces a powerful coalition against him that includes Labour, Boris Johnson and some of the Tory press."

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Cameron should popularise the idea of "police hours on the streets" to counter Labour's populism on police numbers

Young yobs back on the streets despite David Cameron's pledge

"Despite David Cameron’s promises that they would face “punishment”, a string of juvenile criminals have been allowed to return home with their parents... The sentences being handed down have dismayed police and MPs after the Prime Minister’s promise that rioters would “pay for what they have done”. Further undermining Mr Cameron’s tough rhetoric, Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, backed the courts. He rejected the Prime Minister’s call for new sentencing rules." - Telegraph

The Sun also attacks "soft riot justice".

In a leading article The Telegraph says Ken Clarke still plans to soften sentences.

America's most fearsome policeman, Bill Bratton, has been appointed David Cameron's top adviser on gang warfare - Daily Mail

Pester power has the beating of Glasgow's gangs, says policeman - Scotsman

Labour unlikely to oppose crackdown on BlackBerry and social housing for looters

"On the broader issue of liberty, Labour is unlikely to be a brake. Miliband has long attacked the way in which use of CCTV is being constrained under Clegg's freedom bill. Labour is also unlikely to oppose specific restrictions on BlackBerry Messenger service, so long as it does not trip into a wider censorship of social media. Similarly, there is not much dispute between Labour and Tory over punishing rioters in social housing. Indeed it has been Labour councils, such as Greenwich and Manchester, that have in recent days said they will evict convicted rioters." -Guardian

• The call for wider curfew powers is straight off the autocrat's traditional wish list - Independent leader

Rioters will soon not be able to hide behind their masks and face scarves, David Cameron pledged yesterday as he vowed to do “whatever it takes’’ to restore order to the streets - Express

In response to question from Tory MP Andrew Leadsom, David Cameron has not ruled out allowing police to spray rioters with dye so they can be identified and arrested later - Mirror

Uninsured can claim compensation under the Riot Damages Act - Which?

The hunt for explanations

• The Coalition should commission a proper sociological analysis of the rioters and what they did to our country this week - Martin Kettle in The Guardian
• In The Telegraph Peter Oborne says the rioters are no worse than MPs and bankers: "The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation."

E-petition calling for rioters to lose their benefits will become the first to be considered for Commons debate - BBC

Text of petition: "Any persons convicted of criminal acts during the current London riots should have all financial benefits removed. No tax payer should have to contribute to those who have destroyed property, stolen from their community and shown a disregard for the country that provides for them."

George Osborne has warned that excessive global debt meant "the recovery will take longer and be harder than hoped" - BBC

George Osborne has indicated that he will take on the “vested interests” of trade unions as he attempts to stimulate the economy by overhauling employment laws - Telegraph

> Yesterday's Parliament: Osborne tells Commons that Britain would be thrown into a "financial whirlpool" if it retreated from deficit reduction

Liberal Democrat MP, Simon Hughes, confirmed yesterday that he is to sue News International over News of the World phone hacking - The Guardian

'Student debt nears £60,000 for 2012 university freshers, survey predicts'- The Guardian

And finally .... Danny Alexander and a parrot called Elmo

Treasury Number 2, Danny Alexander is assisting his constitutent in Inverness, Dawn Plummer, a former missionary in Nigeria who bought Elmo whilst working there. The Scotsman writes that "despite the British government's approval, she was prevented from flying home with her feathered friend. Under the current law in Nigeria, the parrot should not have been sold to her in the first place." - The Scotsman

Yesterday on ConservativeHome

ToryDiary: Cameron should popularise the idea of "police hours on the streets" to counter Labour's populism on police numbers

AUDIO AND VIDEO:

• "There has to be a price to pay"; Grant Shapps warns that looters could lose their council house
• Boris Johnson: 'We cannot be complacent over riots'
• David Cameron's riot statement to Parliament

On Comment:

• Downing Street declines to provide a minister for tonight's special edition of BBC Question Time
• Nick de Bois MP: Now is the time for our party to reclaim its heritage on law and order
• Andrew Lilico: There's less to learn from the riots than you might think

Local government: Money from DCLG to help shops hit by riots get back in business

Parliament:

• Osborne tells Commons that Britain would be thrown into a "financial whirlpool" if Coalition retreated from deficit reduction
• Labour MP Rob Flello speaks in the Commons without a jacket
• Full text of Cameron's statement to Commons on riots