After three nights of rioting, London’s cities were relatively calm. The political establishment and the larger society are now trying to come to terms with some of the worst violence the nation has seen in recent times. The unprecedented violence in London poses one of the biggest political challenges for the coalition government headed by David Cameron. The violence also raises a host of questions about the way Scotland Yard has handled the situation so far.

The rioting was triggered by the fatal police shooting of a black resident of North London. But unrest had spread as far as Salford, adjacent to Manchester, and West Bromwich in the English Midlands. In central London, the police were out in full force to cow looters and reassure their potential targets. But rioters had set fire to a large clothing store in the centre of Manchester, suggesting that the measures taken in the capital city— drawing in extra officers from neighbouring police forces to boost their presence on metropolitan streets — had not been able to completely avert a fourth night of arson.

Facing a critical situation, the prime minister was forced to abandon his holiday and return to London to take charge of the situation. Cameron pledged that an additional 10,000 police officers would be deployed on the streets of London. He recalled an emergency session in parliament to discuss the riots. In order to counter public rage at what many perceived to be indecisive official response to the violence, the prime minister toured Croydon, which was one of the worst-hit areas.

In Birmingham, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, was given a hostile reception by young people. When London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, visited Clapham, people harangued him and remained unimpressed by his assurance that rioters would “face punishment they will bitterly regret.” It is not good for any government to be seen as losing control of the streets. It is particularly problematic for a Conservative government that boasts of its strong credentials on law and order. The prime minister, too, had strong words for the rioters. He went on to suggest that he had “this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law and if you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishment.”

There is growing anger at the way the Metropolitan Police have handled the situation. Stung by public outrage, the Metropolitan Police cancelled all leave, flooded London with 16,000 officers, and promised tougher tactics — including the use of plastic bullets for the first time on the British mainland — in a belated bid to reclaim the streets. It remains to be seen if this would be enough to assuage public anger at the police’s ineffectual performance.

A debate has started on the causes of the riots. Though many are blaming the growing socio-economic inequalities in Britain — apparently exacerbated by the austerity measures undertaken by the Cameron government — for the recent events, there appears to be a consensus that the majority of the rioters are thugs, and that the anarchy was a result of the police ceding control of the streets to criminals. The breakdown of the family structure in the larger society and the lack of discipline in young Britons are also being looked at as underlying reasons for growing criminality and lack of respect for authority among the youth.

Whatever the real cause, the violence has dented the global reputation of Great Britain, especially at a time when London is preparing to host the Olympics. How speedily and effectively the British government is able to restore normalcy to London and other cities will be a real test of its will and commitment to public safety and security.