[Osem]

Heard a black police officer who'd been serving in E. London last night being intereviewed earlier. He said that he'd been on duty with a Sikh colleague and a handful of other officers and had witnessed a lot of shopkeepers, mainly Asian, who'd locked up early and were stood outside their shops with bats etc. in readiness for trouble. Apparently a group of mainly black youths appeared and ran down the street trying to kick in shopfronts and start trouble but were seen off by the business owners in no uncertain fashion. I've also heard of residents in another area who set up their own barricades to prevent trouble in their street and we preventing people from passing through. I have a very nasty feeling this sort of thing is going to escalate and people are going to start being killed unless drastic and decisive action is taken by the authorities and I think it's clear that the police cannot cope with the demands being placed upon them in London and drawing them from elsewhere will only lead to the yobs moving elsewhere to take advantage of the lack of police.