London Riots: Police Cuts Will Bring Further Riots to Streets of London Says Mayor

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called on Prime Minster David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May to have a rethink on the depth of police cuts as the scale of the damage and violence of four days of riots in London becomes clearer.

MP's are said to be eager to get to parliament on Thursday to question David Cameron over his plans for police cuts amid the wide scale of violence that London has seen since Saturday night. MP's are said to be concerned of the adequately resourced to deal with violence.

16,000 police patrolled the streets of London last night and the streets were kept calm with only minor disturbances reported in Canning Town and Woolwich. However, many local residents are concerned that if the threat of riots continues across the UK the 13 forces that have been deployed from outside of London will have to be recalled.

"If you ask me whether I think there is a case for cutting police budgets in the light of these events then my answer would be no," he said. "I think that case was always been pretty frail and its been substantially weakened," Boris Johnson said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

"If you look at the position in London, obviously we've been able to make significant savings, we've been able to move money around and expand numbers," he added.

Boris Johnson has also said that the police have lost the right to impose discipline in the capital and across the UK.

"Let's face it, what's happened in our city and in our country in the last three or four days has been a massive own goal. Here in London you had people behaving with a complete lack of restraint and a complete lack of respect for the police. It was chilling," he said.

"The lesson is that over 20, 30 years we've got into a situation where we have allowed people an endless sense of entitlement. Give adults and give teachers back the right to impose authority," he continued.

Cabinet ministers including Theresa May are said to be angry at Boris Johnson comments but they are not surprised by the outburst. Boris Johnson is under pressure after failing to immediately return from his holiday to show solidarity with London residents and was heckled when he toured Clapham on Tuesday afternoon.

Vigilantes are springing up across the country to help aid the police effort. People have taken to the streets of Enfield where over 70 men patrolled the streets on Tuesday nights. Some members of the Enfield community have taken a stand against rioting and are said to be standing with the over stretched police force.

The vigilantes are prepared to take a stand against the civil disorder that took over some of London's town on Monday night. Thus far the members of Enfield have come together to protect their streets in a responsible way to prevent any more damage happening to shops and places that are parts of their community. Do the police have the trust of the population to defend London?

For more information on Tuesday's riots click here

For more information on vigalante operations in London click here