London and UK riots day three aftermath: live coverage

• First fatality as man shot in Croydon dies
• David Cameron announces 16,000 police in London tonight
• Firearms officers may use plastic bullets
• England friendly against Holland at Wembley cancelled
• Twitter movement #riotcleanup gets under way

House of Reeves furniture store on fire in Croydon. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

1.48pm: Police reinforcements to boost the number of officers in the capital are pouring in from the north.

The Lancashire and Greater Manchester police forces have sent support units to aid the Metropolitan Police.

Around 100 officers from Greater Manchester Police trained in dealing with public disorder were deployed to London earlier.

More than 70 officers from three police support units (PSUs) of Lancashire Constabulary and a Public Order Commander are also assisting, along with colleagues from Cumbria Constabulary.
(The Guardian, UK, 9 Aug 2011)

What started off as a riot in Tottenham has spread to the rest of London.  This is sheer madness, and with London due to host the Olympics in 2012, unrest  of such scale is never good publicity, especially when the riot continues unbated for three days.

Social issues,as the London riots have shown, could be as frightening as external threats to a country.