My next blog was to be about me leaving my role at What Mobile after what feels like a million years, to start on a new venture. However, I’m so angry about what has happened over the last three nights, I feel compelled to write something about it, even if only one or two people ever get to see it.

I have followed the events closely since the troubles began, getting to sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning, and being up early to see what I missed. Watching the troubles in areas where I used to live and work (Enfield, Wood Green and Tottenham). I’ve been involved on forum discussions that have quickly become the most popular threads on Digital Spy, ever.

I am shocked not just by what I’ve seen, but the action (or inaction) that followed. There’s no need to write loads about this (it’s not because I’m lazy, or not intentionally at least) as everyone else has seen the same thing. This isn’t meant to be a news story; there are other sites so much better at that.

Hearing Theresa May effectively giving the green light for people to carry on breaking the law, given the police are to continue to be hands-off, made me livid. She talked about how we need to re-engage with the community, yet it’s the communities that are BEGGING for the police to get tough.

The offenders aren’t part of any community. They’ve been led to believe that there is no law and it’s a free-for-all. They’re right too.

The children of Tony Blair have grown up with a soft police service, a weak judicial system and all the fun of goading powerless community support officers and parading their pathetic ASBOs. They think they’re above the law because all evidence seems to show that they are.

(Now, before this sounds too much like a Daily Mail rant; there are exceptions – but the last three days pretty much prove that they are just that, exceptions).

Nor is this a political rant simply to blame the last Government, as the current one is just as clueless and ineffective – a reflection of our views on society and how to deal with problems. The Government appears too scared to allow the police to take firm action, in case a photo of a looter being hit ends up on Twitter and sparks anarchy.

Well, we’re pretty much there already. Instead, we’re getting pictures and videos of people and property being attacked with impunity.

What’s more, the ‘communities’ aren’t going to rise up and bring down the Government if the police is given permission to do what any police force needs to do in these situations. It doesn’t naturally follow that being tough on looters is one small step away from us living in a police state with people rounded up and executed.

This isn’t a request for police to get tough with people who are drunk and disorderly, these are people looting, burning down property, mugging members of the public and even breaking in to residential properties.

Theresa May speaks of policing by consent, so get out and take action. We all consent.

The promise to punish hard in the future using plain clothed officers with cameras and CCTV footage doesn’t help rebuild society does it?

It’s easy to become outraged and say something stupid (I don’t believe the reintroduction of the death penalty or snipers on the roof picking looters off at random are good ideas, nor is Rambo or Robocop really going to come and save the day) but I actually find myself almost siding with the opinions of the Daily Mail, as it is probably fairly likely that many of those arrested in the coming days and weeks will get pathetic sentences.

But once again, how does the possibility of punishment later on deter people taking part in the ‘fun’? By trying to make our police force look approachable and friendly, every criminal now knows what they can get away with – and it’s a lot.

It also highlights a real problem with police tactics. After the student protests, G20 etc, it seems they have one just tactic; round up protestors and kettle them, then hold them until they want to go home. Job done.

Well, that doesn’t work when people are roaming all over, helped by Twitter and BBM, to keep one step ahead of the police – and, more importantly, organise the next move quickly when the police do turn up.

The police can gather intelligence but, for the most part, they can only react. So when they do, they need to get involved and take firm action. Just moving people on to another street to continue the pillaging isn’t an answer.

I voted Conservative, to get rid of a Government that I felt had bankrupted us through poor control of the bankers, and being soft on crime. Instead, I got a coalition that has not done anything to prove it will be any harder.

We still think we can reason with people? That might be true if these people were protestors standing with placards and demanding something, or fighting for a cause – but that is the only time you engage and listen, even if it’s to say something the protestors might not want to hear. That’s democracy.

Speaking to looters who want to get a free TV and kit out their wardrobe? What exactly do you want to say to them? Come on, I’m listening (they’re not, by the way, as they’re up the road emptying out Comet).

Now people are feeling that they have no choice but to take the law into their own hands. Local communities, the ones Theresa May says the Government will be speaking to, are out to protect their shops and businesses – in some cases attacking the looters themselves.

It’s the sort of thing we expect to see on TV, happening somewhere else in the world. It is when we can look down our noses at these backward nations that haven’t got the same values and respect as us. Now it’s here.

We need hard action, and fast. What is wrong with using force? What is wrong with getting the army out to accompany the fire brigade to get in and protect property?

We also need the police to reconsider its repertoire of tactics ahead of the Olympics, as it seems like it is rather limited. Yes, the event is almost a year away and people will forget – at least if it stops soon – but it is a valid concern.

The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to disorder by the Met has failed spectacularly, and the Government seems to have discounted all the most sensible ideas for the sake of what it believes is positive PR. From where I’m sitting, it has been a massive fail for the Government and the Met.

• There is a way you can get involved in helping clean up the aftermath of the riots; www.riotcleanup.com
• Even if the justice system is pretty useless, let’s at least help the police catch the criminals; catchalooter.tumblr.com
• Join in the debate at Digital Spy

You can see what I’m currently spending most of my time working on by visiting the What Mobile website.