We have been told by a phalanx of left-wing pundits that these riots are a symptom of the ‘underclass’ lashing out against a society that excludes them by offering no opportunities to escape from their ’situations’.

The truth is much scarier than that and indicates how much the moral fabric of this country is torn and frayed. Included in the many in court today are, according to The Mirror, a primary school teacher and a someone who completed an ICT B-Tech at Hackney Community College and was due to have an interview for an apprenticeship on Tuesday. Another was due to start a college course in September.