It would appear we are not the only ones concerned about future disorder on the streets of Britain. ComRes released figures this week from a poll of MPs taken last month. The poll of some 151 MPs found over half of them believe that the events of August will not be unique in this parliament - a worrying statistic.

This week's release of the crime statistics for England and Wales paint a bleak picture. They brought to bear some of our concerns and vindicated many of our warnings. I by no means welcome this. The police recorded crime statistics show a 4% overall decline.

Handing power from central government over to a handful of individuals to set plans, hire and fire chief officers, including chief constable, and manage the multi-million pound police budget without any pilot scheme is a risky business.