Young people have no right to riot, but they have a right to be angry

„Could we do more? Yes. Many of these young people rioting on the streets have dropped out of education. We've lost touch with them and when that happens kids can go downhill, fast. Educational institutions need to be prepared to keep underperforming students for longer, to work with a wider range of frontline youth groups to engage difficult students in more creative ways – and colleges also need to offer more flexible learning hours so that a young person can fit in schooling around their work shifts. It isn't ideal, but neither is working 30 hours a week flipping burgers to keep your head above water because your EMA is gone.

I also believe we need to give students the chance to train in practical skills from a much earlier age, to offer them a profession that they can see a future in. For some kids the traditional academic route is a foreign world, just plain weird – and yet they are made to sit there, year after year, bumping along the bottom of the class until the day they can leave. Would you want to stay?

We have to adapt to conditions on the ground in austerity Britain. We have to give young people purpose, hope and a stake in society if we want them to take part in it. This isn't limp-wristed liberal talk, it's plain common sense. And now it's time for the adults to step forward. Instead of playing the blame game we must act now, together, to prevent the loss of a whole generation. Like it or not, these kids are not someone else's problem. They are ours and it's high time we welcomed them back home.”