The riots were my fault.

I'm a Green Party activist. The riots were my fault. You see, I've been undermining the police and I'm feeling guilty about it. I have looked at the way they have behaved in many high profile cases over the last decade such as the Stockwell shooting, Ian Tomlinson, Fortnum & Masons, student kettling. Of course the police have a duty to protect people and property but it did look like they were picking and choosing which people and property they were protecting. It is easy to think that way. The police have done themselves no favours in this by (for example) their mistreatment of the Fortnum & Mason peaceful protesters who did no damage but were arrested on mass while black bloc anarchists were left to run riot. I bet the riot police this week were missing a bit of gentle UKuncut activity. However the bit I got wrong was to always presume the police are there only to protect the interests of big business. The recent riots were a stark reminder of their wider role. I'm guessing it was a reminder to the acting metropolitan police commissioner too. Pity for him that this has happened on his watch due to most of his colleagues leaving their posts for one reason or another. (That's another story).
I have faith in the majority of people to do the right thing. I believe that given the right opportunity people will reward you for putting your trust in them. This is central to my vision of how a more equal society will work in the future. I have argued long and hard that if you give people a greater sense of liberty their sense of self worth will be enhanced for the benefit of everyone. This liberty can only work if everyone feels a sense of belonging to the community. If they are left outside of society then they have nothing to lose if the society crumbles. We need to create a more equal society first before liberty for all becomes a free for all. While the wealth of the Nation remains in the tight fists of the few this can never happen. So, perhaps a little bit more reality in terms of responsible policing and responsible politics when talking about policing is in order. The police aren't all saints, but they are not all sinners either. I'll try to keep that in mind.

I'm a former Labour Minister. The riots were my fault. We spent 17 years watching the Thatcher/Major governments dismantling society. We got our chance do make a change and we bottled it. We slipped straight into the shoes of our Conservative predecessors and found them strangely comfortable. I found I could make good friends in the City. We got on so well and at one point (before things went wrong) we were collecting 28% of the treasuries income from the City and all they wanted was to be left alone and cut some of the regulatory red tape. It seemed too good to be true. It doesn't look so good now. If we get another chance before another 17 years go by I hope we wont bottle it again. I'm not going to promise anything.

I'm a Conservative backbencher. The riots were my fault. It was hard to stomach watching the looters parade in front of the media with bravado as if to say "we're untouchable". It was hard to stomach because it reminded me of our frontbenchers who bragged, yes bragged, about the cuts we were going to inflict on the public. The cuts to the police force are currently the favoured topic of the press. Many other cuts (forestry sell-off, NHS reforms, Prison sentencing) were subject to what the looters are now seeing - a public backlash. Having second thoughts now, maybe we should start thinking of the destruction we cause. It's just as real. Just not so easy to show on TV.

I'm a Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister. The riots were my fault. The deal was pretty straight forward. I was to rein my coalition partners back from their policy of looking after their chums at the top of the social pyramid. I got caught up in the whirlwind of the media spotlight and while I was spinning I forgot about my election promises and tried to impress the big boys. It didn't take long for the public to spot the failure. Since then I've been busy keeping my fool mouth shut. The public wont let me get away with that either, I suspect. The people who voted for us to avoid a Conservative government certainly wont.

I'm a Public Relations supremo of the Police Force. The riots were my fault. The guys on the front lines make mistakes sometimes and when they do I seem to make the situation gets worse. When we got the wrong guy in Stockwell tube station, we told the press that Jean Charles de Menezes was a terrorist who leaped the ticket barrier to evade arrest. We lied. We were caught. When Ian Tomlinson died after being pushed by a police officer we denied it was anything to do with us. We were caught again by video evidence. Every time we try to hide the truth, public confidence is eroded. When Mark Duggan was shot in Tottenham our silence intensified the anger. When an outraged woman was pushed back by a policeman in front of an angry crowd, the touch paper was lit. After that, everything became too late very quickly. Well you know what? This is what you're vulnerable to when you cut the resources down to the bare bones. My opposite number at the Fire Brigade is saying the same thing. They were dismissed by the media as social pariahs when they had to go on strike to protect their working practises a few years ago. The cost of these cuts are taking their toll.

I'm a Green Party activist. I do what I think is best for everyone, and not just myself, in any given situation. I'm lucky my circumstances, education and moral compass mean I never have to stoop to looting. Some are not so lucky. We can work to eradicate inequality. For arsonists, and opportunist theft, we need a respected police force. For all that to happen, we need a Government with integrity. We haven't had one of those for a long, long time.
That is why I'm a Green Party activist.