The work of hooligans?

Has Britain’s reputation been seriously damaged as a result of widespread rioting and looting? This week, we look at reaction in the business press.

London's riots

The Financial Times writes that the riots and looting in London have destroyed local businesses and damaged the city’s reputation just a year before it hosts the Summer Olympic Games in August 2012.

... This is no time for loose talk about public spending cuts being responsible for the violence. The youths who looted shops in search of flat-screen TVs and trainers knew exactly what they were doing. [Prime Minister David] Cameron is right to say that anyone old enough to commit these crimes is old enough to face the full force of the law. ...

London is burning

The Wall Street Journal says that the outbreak of violence in England is not a reaction to social injustice, but an example of “hooliganism pure and simple”.

…There is a notion that the criminality is the product of poverty or government spending cuts. That’s false. The British government is spending as much as it ever has in history, and the poor in Britain have access to a social safety net that is remarkably generous by any standard. …